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Preserving news (newspapers, news broadcast and wire service content) in the 20th century posed significant challenges for libraries and archives. Issues of publication frequency, physical size and poor paper quality, multiple editions, and title changes conspired to hamper library efforts to comprehensively preserve and catalog newspaper back files.  Collaborative programs like the Foreign Newspaper Microfilm Project [2], the United States Newspaper Project, and the International Coalition on Newspapers (ICON) [3] were created to meet these challenges. Focusing on long-term accessibility, these programs promote systematic cataloging and strategic preservation of newspapers in print and on microfilm.

 

The past two decades have seen the production and consumption of news change dramatically. The “life cycle” of news (from sourcing of content to distribution of news products) is no longer a linear process culminating in a fixed, tangible "edition," as it was in the print era. It is now a continuous loop of gathering, processing, versioning, output, response, and update. Therefore preserving the record of digital journalism calls for new strategies.  CRL's 2011 report Preserving News in the Digital Environment: Mapping the Newspaper Industry in Transition  [4]explores in detail the new life cycle of electronic news, and suggests implications of this new life cycle for preservation.

Some national libraries, research libraries, and historical societies have in fact begun to ingest digital news content.  Pilot programs are testing ways of collecting the electronic equivalent of the “paper of record.” To date, however, those efforts capture only a small fraction of the ouptut of the major news organizations, and very little of the content produced by “citizen journalists,” bloggers, and the like.

Legacy content, on the other hand, is becoming widely available as digitization efforts provide web access to historic news collections. Here there is little uniformity of practice, however, as a host of commercial and non-profit players implement a variety of metadata applications, create “silos” of content that prevent cross-searchability, and impose often restrictive conditions of use and licensing terms.

Libraries might bring considerable collective resources to bear on these challenges through concerted action on several fronts: by "collectivizing" the library market for commercially produced news databases;  working with publishers, aggregators, and other repositories to ensure adequate archiving of digitized legacy content; increasing the amount and granularity of available information on the newspapers and news content held and digitized by libraries, aggregators, and publishers; and by encouraging persistent archiving by the producers of electronic news.

A June 2013 forum produced a new strategic agenda for news preservation, which is outlined in the Summer 2013 issue of CRL's Focus on Global Resources newsletter [5].

CRL Collections

CRL has vast holdings of newspapers from all regions of the world; and collections of scripts, transcripts, and translations of news reports, produced or compiled by the British Broadcasting Corporation, CBS, the Foreign Broadcast Information Service, and the Voice of America.

Newspaper holdings include over 16,000 titles, more than 10,000 of which are published outside the U.S. CRL endeavors to collect extensive and, whenever possible, complete runs of newspaper titles, and its holdings of some titles are the most complete in existence. All newspapers can be searched in CRL’s catalog [6]. The catalog's newspapers "scope" also allows users to browse by country or state of publication. 

Within CRL's U.S. newspaper holdings, some major strengths are:

  • African American newspapers [7]
  • Civilian Conservation Corp. Camp papers [8]
  • Underground and alternative press [9]
  • U.S. ethnic newspapers [10]

CRL collecting in this domain continues.  CRL has current subscriptions to news titles, purchases and produces microfilm of selected international publications, licenses and digitizes [11] collections, and obtains additional acquisitions through CRL’s purchase programs [12].

The references below feature strengths of CRL’s holdings. Links point to more detailed descriptions in our catalog, as well as digital versions of the content or digitized finding aids for microfilm where available. 

African-American Newspapers

Black newspapers
1925-present (varies)

In 1965, the Center began subscribing to about 20 papers intended primarily for Black communities in major U.S. cities. The Center maintains current subscriptions to numerous titles.

State City Title Link Dates
California Los Angeles Los Angeles sentinel (#9505770 [13]) 1946-  
Illinois Chicago Muslim Journal (#12063707 [14]) 1985-  
Louisiana Shreveport Shreveport sun (#20606995 [15]) 1966- 
Maryland Baltimore Afro-American (#7642696 [16]) 1915-47; 1988-  
Massachusetts Roxbury Bay state banner (#6749070 [17]) 1972- 
Michigan Detroit Michigan chronicle (#2264134 [18]) 1943- 
Missouri Kansas City The call (#16736831 [19]) 1925- 
New York New York New York Amsterdam news (#13416782 [20]) 1962- 
Ohio Cleveland Call and post (#9964681 [21]) 1934-
Pennsylvania Philadelphia Philadelphia tribune (#2266077 [22]) 1912-
Tennessee Memphis Tri-state defender (#9578018 [23]) 1951-

 

CRL has retrospective holdings of many additional Black newspapers. See the CRL Catalog [7] for full details.

  Uncataloged

Radical or Alternative Press

British Contemporary Press
Primary Source Microfilm

This set complements the Underground and Alternative Press and The Left in Britain collections by offering contemporary grass-roots and radical literature published in Britain.

  Catalog Record [24]  

Underground and alternative press in Britain.
Harvester Press
1961–1997

The initial compilation of this fiche and microfilm set covered titles from 1961 to 1972. Since then, an annual update has been issued with additional holdings and titles.

CRL holds the microfiche edition [25] (1961-1988) as well as the microfilm collection [26] (1971/72-1997).

  Catalog Record [27]     Online Guide [28]  

Underground newspaper collection.
Micro Photo [ProQuest]
1963–85

This collection contains underground newspapers originally compiled by the Underground Press Syndicate, mostly published in the U.S., but also from Canada, Latin America, and Europe. Individual titles cataloged separately.

  Catalog Record [29]  

Underground newspaper collection. Hoover Institution supplement
University Microfilms International

This set supplements UMI’s Underground newspaper collection by adding missing issues and other titles from the holdings in the Hoover Institution on War, Revolution, and Peace.

  Catalog Record [30]  

Radio Broadcast Reports and Transcripts

British Broadcasting Corporation. Home Service. 9 p.m. news.
Chadwyck-Healey
1939–45

This microfiche edition of approximately 60,000 pages of newsreaders' scripts from 1939–45 offers insight into contemporary reactions to WWII.

  Catalog Record [31]  

British Broadcasting Corporation. Monitoring Service. Summary of world broadcasts.
University Microfilms, U.K.
1974–85

CRL’s holdings of these reports in microfiche cover 1974–85. Starting with 1983, the fiche is issued in the following area editions: Eastern Europe; Far East; Middle East, Africa, and Latin America; Soviet Union; monitoring report.

  Catalog Record [32]  

Columbia Broadcasting System, Inc. Monitoring service reports from Aug. 28, 1939-May 23, 1945.
Library of Congress
Aug. 28, 1939–May 23, 1945

This set includes microfilm of reports of foreign broadcasts monitored by CBS.

  Catalog Record [33]  

Voice of America. [Radio programs].
Library of Congress
1953–80

This microfilm set features Voice of America broadcast scripts from the U.S. Information Agency from 1953 to 1980.

  Catalog Record [34]  

U.S. General Circulation Newspapers

U.S. general circulation newspapers
1843-present (varies)

The Center acquires microfilm editions of general circulation newspapers published in the U.S. Listed below are titles received on microfilm, with dates of coverage up through 2017 (see Notice of Discontinuation [35]). Holdings may not be complete; backfiles are eligible for demand purchase.

State City Title Link Dates
California Los Angeles Los Angeles times (#3638237 [36]) 1886-2017  
Colorado Denver Denver post (#8789877 [37]) 1909-2017  
Florida Miami Miami herald (#2733685 [38]) 1911-2017 
Illinois Chicago Chicago tribune (#7960243 [39]) 1864-2017  
Maryland Baltimore Sun (#7909813 [40]) 1843-2017  
Massachusetts Boston Boston Globe (#1536853 [41]) 1872-2017  
Michigan Detroit Detroit free press (#10345127 [42]) 1871-2017  
Missouri Kansas City Kansas City star (#3555868 [43]) 1885-2017  
  St. Louis St. Louis post-dispatch (#1764810 [44]) 1878-2017  
New York New York Daily news (#9541172 [45]) 1920-2017  
Ohio Cleveland Plain dealer (#7742580 [46]) 1885-2017 
Pennsylvania Philadelphia Philadelphia inquirer (#8733259 [47]) 1860-2017  
Texas Dallas Dallas morning news (#9475176 [48]) 1885-2013  

In addition, CRL has retrospective holdings of U.S. newspapers from every state, in original format and in microform. See CRL Catalog for details.

  Uncataloged

United States. Foreign Broadcast Information Service

Daily report, foreign radio broadcasts.
Sept. 4, 1941–1995

The collection contains translations of news and commentary from broadcasts, news agency transmissions, and some newspapers and periodicals.

  • Daily report (United States. Foreign Broadcast Monitoring Service)
    [Sept. 4, 1941-July 28, 1942] [Catalog Record [49]]
  • Daily report (United States. Foreign Broadcast Intelligence Service)
    [July 29, 1942-Dec. 4, 1945]  [Catalog Record [50]]
  • Daily report, foreign radio broadcasts
    [Feb. 24, 1947-Dec. 29, 1951] [Catalog Record [51]]
  • Daily report : 1952-1969
    [1952-Mar 1969]  [Catalog Record [52]]
  • Daily report. Supplement
    Jan 5-Dec 20, 1966  [Catalog Record [53]]
  • Daily report : 1970-1979
    [Jan 1970-Apr 1974]  [Catalog Record [54]]

For other reports, see separately cataloged records for area editions, 1946--47 and 1974--95.

  Catalog Record [55]  

Daily report, foreign radio broadcasts. European section.
Library of Congress
Jan. 3, 1946–Feb. 21, 1947
  Catalog Record [56]  

Daily report, foreign radio broadcasts. Far Eastern section.
Library of Congress
Jan. 3, 1946–Feb. 21, 1947
  Catalog Record [57]  

Daily report, foreign radio broadcasts. Latin American section.
Library of Congress
Jan. 9, 1946–Feb. 21, 1947
  Catalog Record [58]  

Daily report. Africa (Sub-Sahara)
Foreign Broadcast Information Service
June 1987–Sept. 1988
  Catalog Record [59]  

Daily report. Asia & Pacific
Foreign Broadcast Information Service/NTIS
April 1974–Dec. 1980
  Catalog Record [60]  

Daily report. Asia & Pacific
Foreign Broadcast Information Service
Jan 1981-May 1987
  Catalog Record [61]  

Daily report. Central Eurasia
The Service
Jan. 1992–1995
  Catalog Record [62]  

Daily report. China
Foreign Broadcast Information Service/NTIS
Apr. 1981–1995
  Catalog Record [63]  

Daily report. East Asia
Foreign Broadcast Information Service
June 1987–1995
  Catalog Record [64]  

Daily report. East Europe
The Service/NTIS
June 1987–1995
  Catalog Record [65]  

Daily report. Eastern Europe
Foreign Broadcast Information Service/NTIS
1974–May 1987
  Catalog Record [66]  

Daily report. Latin America
Foreign Broadcast Information Service/NTIS
Apr. 1974–1995
  Catalog Record [67]  

Daily report. Middle East & Africa
Foreign Broadcast Information Service/NTIS
Apr. 1, 1980–May 1987
  Catalog Record [68]  

Daily report. Middle East & North Africa
Foreign Broadcast Information Service
Jan. 1974–Mar. 1980
  Catalog Record [69]  

Daily report. Near East & South Asia
Foreign Broadcast Information Service
June 1987–1995
  Catalog Record [70]  

Daily report. People's Republic of China
Foreign Broadcast Information Service/NTIS
1974–Mar. 1981
  Catalog Record [71]  

Daily report. South Asia
Foreign Broadcast Information Service/NTIS
Apr. 1980–May 1987
  Catalog Record [72]  

Daily report. Soviet Union
Foreign Broadcast Information Service/NTIS
Jan. 1974-Jan. 3, 1992
  Catalog Record [73]  

Daily report. Sub-Saharan Africa
Foreign Broadcast Information Service
Apr. 1974–Mar. 1980
  Catalog Record [74]  

Daily report. Sub-Saharan Africa
The Service, National Technical Information Service
Sept. 1988–1995
  Catalog Record [75]  

Daily report. West Europe
The Service, National Technical Information Service
June 1987–1995
  Catalog Record [76]  

Daily report. Western Europe
Foreign Broadcast Information Service/NTIS
Apr. 1974–May 1987
  Catalog Record [77]  

Related Resources

 

Reports - News Databases and the Preservation of Electronic News

The "State of the Art" : A Comparative Analysis of Newspaper Digitization to Date [78] (April 2015)
Prepared in advance of the 2015 ICON Summit (see below).

Broadcast News Transcripts in Academic News Databases [79] (June 2013)
Comparison of six academic databases regarding the extent and accessibility of broadcast transcripts for national and international news.

Survey of African online newspapers [80] (February 2013)
Results of a survey of African newspapers distributed online, assessing the availability of current news content from Africa in electronic format for researchers at North American institutions.
Dataset - African newspaper titles studied [81] (Excel spreadsheet)

Survey of electronic news databases subscribed by CRL member libraries [82] (April 2012)
Updated final version.
Results of a website survey of CRL member institutions' subscriptions to commercial news databases. The spreadsheet displays 290 products and/or individual titles and the percentage of take-up by large- and small-sized institutions (determined by library materials expenditures). 

Preserving News in the Digital Environment: Mapping the Newspaper Industry in Transition [83]
This new report maps the “lifecycle” of news content and information published in newspapers and online. It provides an overview of news workflow and production systems, suggesting strategies for libraries to preserve news in electronic formats.

Outline for an Agenda for North American Libraries [84] based on the report from the Center for Research Libraries "Preserving News in the Digital Environment."

Events, Workshops, Forums

Investing in the Persistence of News: an eDesiderata Forum [85]
CRL's 2017 eDesiderata Forum explored "access to news in the new electronic environment." Presentation slides and a summary report are available on the event page [85], and suggestions how CRL may respond are described in a post [86]on CRL's Common Knowledge blog. 

Framing a Common Agenda for Newspaper Digitization and Preservation: An ICON Summit [87]
CRL's 2015 event brought together national and academic libraries, commercial producers, and other stakeholders to consider the present state of international newspaper digitization and preservation, and to identify ways to better align future library and commercial efforts, investment and funding in these areas. 

Beyond the Fold: Access to News in the Digital Era [88]
CRL's 2013 Global Resources Roundtable on cooperative library strategies to support current publishing practices and new scholarly uses of news content (print, broadcast, and web-based).

“On the Record” : A Forum on Electronic Media and the Preservation of News [89]
CRL’s 2008 Global Resources Network Forum on emerging challenges and cooperative action toward preservation and access to electronic news.

Collections Webinar: “News: Paper, Film, and Digital” [90]
This 2010 event examined changes in how researchers are using paper, broadcast, and electronic news. It also assessed emerging digitization programs, and suggested strategies for “bridging the void” between microform and digital preservation.

News Digitization Programs

World Newspaper Archive [11]
A collaborative effort of CRL member libraries and Readex to preserve and provide persistent access to historical newspapers from around the globe.

ICON list of newspaper digitization projects [91]
A comprehensive list of digitization efforts, by country.
See also: UIUC Newspaper Database [92] (University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign); NewspaperCat [93] (University of Florida)

ICON Rights document [94]
A draft set of recommendations for rights to be acquired a) from publishers for use in digitization, and b) in agreements for third-party distribution of a library’s microform content.



See also the CRL resources below related to Newspapers:

FOCUS

CRL’s quarterly publication examining the challenges of preservation and access for primary source materials in various fields.

Assessing News Databases, Fall 2014 - This issue of FOCUS reports on recent CRL efforts to support libraries' decision-making on investment in developing and maintaining library newspaper holdings and the purchase of commercially...
[95]
Newspaper Preservation, Summer 2011 - The new issue of CRL’s FOCUS on Global Resources newsletter provides various takes on a form of historical evidence of central interest to CRL and its community: the newspaper.
[96]
News Preservation, Winter 2008-09
[97]

Topic Guides

Providing insights on key source materials in areas of special interest to CRL libraries.

Official Gazettes
[98]

CRL Programs

Communities of interest working under the CRL umbrella.

ICON - The International Coalition on Newspapers (ICON) is a multi-institutional effort to promote the accessibility and preservation of international newspaper collections by gathering and providing...
[99]

CRL Reports

Preserving News in the Digital Environment - This report is based on a study undertaken by the Center for Research Libraries in 2010 and 2011, to map the “lifecycle” of news content published in print and on the Web; and to clarify the...
[100]
Newspapers [101]
All Topic Guides [102]

Source URL: https://www.crl.edu/collections/topics/news

Links
[1] https://www.crl.edu/collections/topics/news
[2] https://www.crl.edu/focus/article/463
[3] http://icon.crl.edu
[4] https://www.crl.edu/sites/default/files/d6/attachments/pages/LCreport_final.pdf
[5] https://www.crl.edu/focus/article/9559
[6] http://catalog.crl.edu/search~S3/
[7] http://catalog.crl.edu/search~S2/X?SEARCH=d%3Aafrican+american&searchscope=3
[8] http://catalog.crl.edu/search/a?SEARCH=civilian+conservation+corps&searchscope=3
[9] http://catalog.crl.edu/search~S3/X?SEARCH=d%3Aunderground+press+publications&searchscope=3&submit=search
[10] http://catalog.crl.edu/search~S3/X?SEARCH=d%3Aethnic+newspapers&searchscope=3
[11] https://www.crl.edu/collaborative-digitization/world-newspaper-archive
[12] https://www.crl.edu/collections/collection-building/cooperative-resource-development
[13] http://catalog.crl.edu/search/o?SEARCH=9505770
[14] http://catalog.crl.edu/search/o?SEARCH=12063707
[15] http://catalog.crl.edu/search/o?SEARCH=20606995
[16] http://catalog.crl.edu/search/o?SEARCH=7642696
[17] http://catalog.crl.edu/search/o?SEARCH=6749070
[18] http://catalog.crl.edu/search/o?SEARCH=2264134
[19] http://catalog.crl.edu/search/o?SEARCH=16736831
[20] http://catalog.crl.edu/search/o?SEARCH=13416782
[21] http://catalog.crl.edu/search/o?SEARCH=9964681
[22] http://catalog.crl.edu/search/o?SEARCH=2266077
[23] http://catalog.crl.edu/search/o?SEARCH=9578018
[24] http://catalog.crl.edu/record=b1540569
[25] http://catalog.crl.edu/record=b1401262~S1
[26] http://catalog.crl.edu/record=b1621767~S1
[27] http://catalog.crl.edu/record=b1401262
[28] http://catalog.crl.edu/record=b1765516~S1
[29] http://catalog.crl.edu/record=b1036825
[30] http://catalog.crl.edu/record=b1094179
[31] http://catalog.crl.edu/record=b2738317~S1
[32] http://catalog.crl.edu/search/a?SEARCH=British%20Broadcasting%20Corporation.%20Monitoring%20Service%2C%20publisher&searchscope=1&x=6&y=16
[33] http://catalog.crl.edu/record=b1135376
[34] http://catalog.crl.edu/record=b1932747
[35] https://www.crl.edu/sites/default/files/attachments/pages/Domestic%20Newspaper%20Cancellations%202017.pdf
[36] http://catalog.crl.edu/search/o?SEARCH=3638237
[37] http://catalog.crl.edu/search/o?SEARCH=8789877
[38] http://catalog.crl.edu/search/o?SEARCH=2733685
[39] http://catalog.crl.edu/search/o?SEARCH=7960243
[40] http://catalog.crl.edu/search/o?SEARCH=7909813
[41] http://catalog.crl.edu/search/o?SEARCH=1536853
[42] http://catalog.crl.edu/search/o?SEARCH=10345127
[43] http://catalog.crl.edu/search/o?SEARCH=3555868
[44] http://catalog.crl.edu/search/o?SEARCH=1764810
[45] http://catalog.crl.edu/search/o?SEARCH=9541172
[46] http://catalog.crl.edu/search/o?SEARCH=7742580
[47] http://catalog.crl.edu/search/o?SEARCH=8733259
[48] http://catalog.crl.edu/search/o?SEARCH=9475176
[49] http://catalog.crl.edu/record=b1398748~S1
[50] http://catalog.crl.edu/record=b1398750~S1
[51] http://catalog.crl.edu/record=b2564317~S1
[52] http://catalog.crl.edu/record=b2282492~S1
[53] http://catalog.crl.edu/record=b2564318~S1
[54] http://catalog.crl.edu/record=b2282491~S1
[55] http://catalog.crl.edu/search/Y?SEARCH=foreign%20broadcast%20information%20service&searchscope=1&x=2&y=13
[56] http://catalog.crl.edu/record=b1044145
[57] http://catalog.crl.edu/record=b1044392
[58] http://catalog.crl.edu/record=b1044395
[59] http://catalog.crl.edu/record=b1063753
[60] http://catalog.crl.edu/record=b2000148
[61] http://catalog.crl.edu/record=b2000150~S1
[62] http://catalog.crl.edu/record=b1400735
[63] http://catalog.crl.edu/record=b1174416
[64] http://catalog.crl.edu/record=b1063750
[65] http://catalog.crl.edu/record=b1073661
[66] http://catalog.crl.edu/record=b1205672
[67] http://catalog.crl.edu/record=b1246606
[68] http://catalog.crl.edu/record=b1214504
[69] http://catalog.crl.edu/record=b1026664
[70] http://catalog.crl.edu/record=b1074605
[71] http://catalog.crl.edu/record=b1246607
[72] http://catalog.crl.edu/record=b1214505
[73] http://catalog.crl.edu/record=b1246645
[74] http://catalog.crl.edu/record=b1587237
[75] http://catalog.crl.edu/record=b1103148
[76] http://catalog.crl.edu/record=b1073669
[77] http://catalog.crl.edu/record=b1248201
[78] https://www.crl.edu/sites/default/files/d6/attachments/events/ICON_Report-State_of_Digitization_final.pdf
[79] https://www.crl.edu/sites/default/files/images/tg/Broadcast%20Transcripts%20Review%202013%20final.pdf
[80] https://www.crl.edu/sites/default/files/attachments/tg/African_online_newspapers_study_2013.pdf
[81] https://www.crl.edu/sites/default/files/attachments/tg/Africa%20-%20online%20newspapers%202013-01-25.xlsx
[82] https://www.crl.edu/sites/default/files/attachments/misc/News%20Database%20survey%202012-03%20final.xls
[83] https://www.crl.edu/sites/default/files/attachments/pages/LCreport_final.pdf
[84] https://www.crl.edu/sites/default/files/attachments/tg/Section%203%20brief%20rev%202013.pdf
[85] https://www.crl.edu/events/investing-persistence-news-edesiderata-forum
[86] https://www.crl.edu/blogs/sustaining-access-news-what-we-learned-edesiderata-2017
[87] https://www.crl.edu/events/framing-common-agenda-newspaper-digitization-and-preservation-icon-summit
[88] https://www.crl.edu/events/8896
[89] https://www.crl.edu/events/6321
[90] https://www.crl.edu/events/6454
[91] http://icon.crl.edu/digitization.htm
[92] https://www.crl.edu/UIUC%20Library%20Newspaper%20Database
[93] http://www.newspapercat.org/
[94] http://icon.crl.edu/PDF/rights.pdf
[95] https://www.crl.edu/focus/fall-2014
[96] https://www.crl.edu/focus/summer-2011
[97] https://www.crl.edu/focus/winter-2008-09
[98] https://www.crl.edu/collections/topics/official-gazettes
[99] https://www.crl.edu/programs/icon
[100] https://www.crl.edu/reports/preserving-news-digital-environment
[101] https://www.crl.edu/facets/newspapers
[102] https://www.crl.edu/collections/topics