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Guide to: Newspapers

General Newspaper Resources

In addition to this guide, the following sites have useful lists of online newspapers and how you can access them: 

Research Strategies

General Strategies 

Who(se Voices)? 

Similarly to academic articles, there are some very general tools that you can use to search primary sources broadly. However, it is usually more productive to work out in advance....

Who do you want to hear from...

This could be a perspective, a category of people, a specific group/organization, a geographic area or country, etc.

...And where are they? 

Next, figure out where your voices "live" in the historical press. 

  • Proximity to the event matters. For example, if you were researching Indian Partition, you might find it easier to locate and read articles in papers such as the New York or London Times -- but their coverage will differ drastically from what you would find in Indian or Pakistani papers. 

    If you are unable to locate or use nearby news coverage, look for the next best thing. For events in California, a small paper based in Oregon might still be better than the New York Times (depending on the topic). 
     
  • Not all newspapers are the same! In addition to location, newspaper coverage can be impacted by factors such as: the papers' funding sources; the current editorial staff; the local history or culture; the intended or actual audience of the paper; the extent of the paper's reach (ex: the Boston Globe has international reach while the Uxbridge Times is mostly read in Central Massachusetts); etc. Two papers published out of the same city might present very different perspectives. 
     
  • Newspapers have different components. Some perspectives are more likely to appear in news articles; others may not make the main pages but appear in letters to the editor, classifieds, etc. Many newspaper databases allow you to focus your search to one or more of these component sections. 

Searching for Primary Sources

Looking for primary sources is a bit different than searching for academic articles -- here are some pro-tips! 

Keywords: 

When searching for primary sources, think carefully about the vocabulary you are using.

  • Remember that the names we use in hindsight to describe historical events (for example, "World War I"), might not have been used at the time. 
  • Consider and look for other 'quirks' of the historical language. You might find that words are used to describe items, places or groups of people which we no longer use today. 
    • One common example: the use of full first and surnames in newspaper articles about individuals is a relatively recent practice. In newspapers before the mid-20th century, a woman named Mary Hooks is more likely to be referenced as "Mrs. Hooks" or even something like "Mrs. Raymond Hooks" [with her husband's name]. The same is true for men, who might often be referenced as Mr. Hooks, Dr. Adams, Rev. Mossom, etc. 
  • Don't forget to consider, for example, the renaming of streets and other changes over time.   You may want to use the worksheet below to help you brainstorm and organize your research for primary sources: 

Browsing: 

Some research tools for historical sources lend themselves easily to precise searching; many do not.  Commit to taking plenty of time with your sources and browsing through lists of results, even if what you're looking for doesn't rise immediately to the top. It may appear further down, or there may be other clues in your result that can help you correct your search in the right direction. Likewise, what you are looking for may be present but not immediately apparent -- that blurb about the shop you're researching, for instance, could be buried at the bottom of a vaguely-titled newspaper article covering many pieces of local news. 

Because the phrasing (and digital scanning) of historical records is so variable, it's often more effective to keep your search simple, sort by date order, and let your own eyes take you the rest of the way! 

Choosing a Search Tool

As historical researchers, we might use... 

The Library Catalog [or CrossSearch]

  • May contain many types of sources (scholarly, non-scholarly, multimedia,etc., both secondary and primary) 
  • Covers a variety of subject areas; 
  • Best place to find books for background on your topic. 

General (Article) Databases [or CrossSearch]

  • May contain many types of sources (scholarly, non-scholarly, multimedia,etc., all typically secondary)
  • Cover a variety of subject areas; 
  • Good places to begin research OR to do research on an interdisciplinary topic. May not be specific enough for advanced research. 
Subject (Article) Databases
  • May contain many types of sources (scholarly, non-scholarly, multimedia, etc., all typically secondary)
  • Focus on a specific subject area or areas;
  • Include tools designed for specialized research (e.g., ability to search by historical period).
Primary Source Databases​
  • May contain a variety of source types (newspapers, manuscripts, etc.) or be limited to one
  • Typically focused on the basis of one or more of the following: date; place; type of source; and/or topic. 
  • Usually includes tools specifically designed for searching primary sources

In order to choose an appropriate database, you should consider your research needs. What do you need at this point in time? Are you still becoming familiar with your topic, or are you trying to fill specific gaps? 

For example, most primary source collections are categorized by date, geography, genre and/or topic.  So if you are hoping to find news reports on the Nepalese Civil war, you need a resource that: 

  1. Provides access to newspapers;
  2. Includes resources published in/near Nepal (if available in English); and
  3. Covers the 1990s and 2000s, specifically between 1996 and 2006. 

Sometimes you can't meet all of these conditions due to language, digitization or other barriers -- but the more, the better! 

Not sure which tool to use? Ask a librarian or your professor!