Research Guides: How to Find Newspaper Articles: From A Specific Newspaper (2024)

If you do not have citations for newspaper articles in the specific publication, you will need to find an online version of the newspaper, use a newspaper index, or browse for articles.

Find an onlineversion of the newspaper

1. Search the library catalogfor the newspaper title.
2. Look for a record that says Online
3. Click into the record and look at the dates in the "View It" sectionto see whether the time frame you need is available for searching.
4. Click on the link for the correct time frame.
5. Enter your search terms. The results should include only articles from the newspaper title you chose. If not, look for a publication title limit or database selection option to choose the needed title.

If you don't see an online version in the library catalogor it is the wrong time period,try findingfreely available digitized versions through:

• WilliamsWorldCat
• International Coalition on Newspaperslist ofnewspaper digitization projects
• Google NewsArchive Search

Note: if you find an online newspaperthat allows free searching, but doesn't provide the full text of the article for free, don't pay for the article. If it provides the full citation (article title, newspaper title, date, page numbers), use request a scan through interlibrary loan.

Use a newspaper index

If an online searchable version of the newspaper is not available, there may be an index available to help you identify articles on your topic. Some indexes are created by a public library for their local newspaper or by a company for largerregional/national newspapers. To find an index:

• See the Library of Congress list of U.S. Newspaper Archives &Indexes
• Search WilliamsWorldCatfor [name of newspaper] index (e.g., Boston Globeindex)
  Look for formatjournal/magazine or newspaper. Be sure to look at what years the index was published. Most indexes are issued on an annual basis, so you may need to look at multiple volumes if your research topic covers several years.

If you find a print index, you can try requesting the year(s) you need through interlibrary loan, but you may need to visit a library that has itor contact librarians at that institution for assistance.

Browse for articles

If there is no online version or indexing available, you will need to go through the newspaper (most likely on microfilm) yourself to find articles of interest. This process is easier if you are looking for articles about a particular event so that you can limit your browsing to a few issues before and/or after the date. If you are looking for a general topic (e.g., women during the civil rights movement) such browsing will be very timeconsuming. In this case, take advantage of research that has already been done on the topic. Search for scholarly articles or books and examine their footnotes to find citations.

If the library doesn't own the newspaper:

1. Search theCenter for Research Libraries (CRL) newspapercatalogor WilliamsWorldCatto determine whether it is available onmicrofilm.
2. Request the month(s) and year(s) you need through interlibrary loan.

​Since browsing through newspapers can be time consuming, limit your request to 10 reels at a time (1 reel is approximately equivalent totwo weeks for a daily newspaper).