LAMP (Latin American Materials Project) has digitized the Brazilian newspaper Diario de Pernambuco from the University of Florida's microfilm collection.  The holdings of the newspaper that were digitized include November 1825 - September 1924 and these were contained on 276 reels of microfilm.  The University of Florida is the only institution except Brazil's Biblioteca Nacional to hold this complete set of microfilm, so it was seeing heavy use from interlibrary loan and visiting researchers.  In order to make the collection more accessible to the broader scholarly community, and also to reduce the handling of the microfilm, Richard Phillips (now retired from the University of Florida libraries) proposed that LAMP digitize this material and make it openly accessible.  Paul Losch, current Head of the Latin American and Caribbean Collection at the George A. Smathers Libraries at the University of Florida has continued the work of guiding this project.

The Diario de Pernambuco is acknowledged to be the oldest newspaper still in circulation in Latin America. The issues from 1825-1924 offer insights into early Brazilian commerce, social affairs, politics, family life, slavery, and other topics. Published in the port city of Recife, this title contains numerous announcements of maritime movements, crop production, legal affairs, and cultural matters. Newspaper issues from the 19th century include reporting on the rise of Brazilian nationalism as the Empire gave way to the earliest expressions of the Brazilian republic. The early 20th century in Brazil were years of economic and artistic change, with surging exports of sugar and coffee pushing revenues and allowing for rapid expansions of infrastructure, popular expression, and national politics.