LibGuides: History: An Introduction: Newspapers

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Center for Research Libraries (Open Access) Resources

Digitaised Newspapers, mainly in the vernacular languages of the region

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Newspapers are an invaluable source of evidence of what happened and/or to find out the prevailing public opinion on an issue.

With digitisation, many newspapers are available online, but the layout and design aspects of a daily paper are not captured. Neither are ephemeral aspects such as advertisements.

Recent newspapers

Factiva
- A business information resource that allows searching for news articles from major national and international newspapers, trade journals, and wires.
- Includes Straits Times, Business Times, Channel NewsAsia, TODAY, The Edge as well as Asian Wall Street Journal, International Herald Tribune, Financial Times and so on.
- It is updated daily.
Nexis Uni
- Provides full text of hundreds of news sources including newspapers, magazines, and newsletters.
- It is updated daily.
Gale OneFile News
- A full-text database collection of over 2,300 major U.S. regional, national, local, and international newspapers. It also includes thousands of images, radio and TV broadcasts and transcripts.
- It is updated daily.

Historical Newspapers

English and Malay Newspapers published in Singapore and Malaya:

Jawi Transliteration Project, 1930-1941
Jawi-script newspaper and magazine articles published between 1930-1941 in the Straits Settlements and the Malay Peninsula, transliterated into romanised Malay.
NewspaperSG
NewspapersSG is an online resource of current and historic Singapore and Malaya newspapers created by the National Library Board. Please use Factiva or Nexis Uni to search for newspaper articles after 1991.
NLB Microfilm Collection
NLB's microfilm collection contains newspapers that has not been digitized. You will need to head to NLB at Bugis to view them.
NUS Library's Press Clipping Collection
These press clippings on Singapore, Malaysia, Brunei and ASEAN are from the Straits Times and Business Times. They are arranged by broad subjects and are great if you want some sort of curated look at that particular person/subject.
Qalam, 1950-69
Qalam is a Jawi-script newspaper that was published in Singapore and distributed in Malaya, Singapore, Indonesia, Borneo and the Southern part of Thailand. It provide researchers with invaluable information on the activities and thoughts of Muslims living in the Malay world in the 1950s and 1960s

Chinese Newspapers Published in Singapore

NUS Libraries Digital Gems - Chinese Newspaper Collection (Singapore)
- Digitized newspapers include: Zhong Xing Ri Bao (1949-1957), Guang Hua Ri Bao, Hua Qiao Ri Bao, Nan Qiao Ri Bao, Nanfang Wan Bao, Guo Min Ri Bao, Ye Deng, Yu Le, Shao Nian Er Tong Bao, Guang Shi Wu Bao, Xin Li Bao, Xin Bao, Xin Min Zhu Bao, Xin Yi Qun Bao, Yi Qun Bao & Fan Hua Bao

Chinese Newspapers Published in Malaya/Malaysia

NUS Libraries Digital Gems - Chinese Newspaper Collection (Malaysia)

Proquest Historical Newspaper is a database that holds key international newspapers around the world.

Proquest Historical Newspapers includes:

Gale NewsVault includes:

Here are Newspapers that are published in America:

America's historical newspapers
This collection provides images and full-text content access to more than 650 historic newspapers listed in Clarence Brigham's authoritative bibliography, History and Bibliography of American Newspapers, 1690-1820, and in additional subsequent bibliographies. Chronicles the evolution of American culture and daily life from 1690 to the recent past.
British Columbia Historical Newspapers 1865-1924
University of British Columbia project providing access to 24 historical newspapers from British Columbia dating from 1865 to 1924.
Chronicling America: Historic American Newspapers
This digital repository from the Library of Congress allows you to search historic newspaper pages from the U.S from 1836-1922. It also provides a Newspaper Directory with information about American newspapers published between 1690-present.
Foreign Broadcast Information Service (FBIS) daily reports
FBIS Daily Reports issued by the U.S. Government. Translations of broadcasts, news agency transmissions, newspapers, periodicals, and government statements from nations around the world
NewspaperCat
NewspaperCat offers online digitized historical newspaper content from newspapers published in the United States and the Caribbean. It currently covers over 1,500 full-text newspaper titles.
Opinion Archives
The Opinion Archives platform allows you to search historical and current newspaper content and links to the full text article. It covers a list of American newspaper titles.

You can find newspapers published in Asia here:

French National Library Digital Newspapers for IndoChina
This free database contains newspapers from French Indochina. The coverage for the newspaper varies.
Himalayan Times (1947-1963)
Published in Kalimpong, India, this newspaper represents a major historical source for research into the political and social developments in the Eastern Himalayas after World War II. The editorials, articles, and news reports provide an important local perspective on peoples' lives in the border region between India, Nepal, Tibet, China, and Bhutan, as well as their encounters with Europe and the West.
Hoji Shinbun Digital Collection
The Hoji Shinbun Digital Collection is currently the world’s largest online archive of open-access, full‑image Japanese American and other overseas Japanese newspapers. All image content in this collection has enhancements added where possible, thus rendering the text maximally searchable. The holdings of each title are also browsable by date, with each title cross searchable with other titles on the platform. This collection today contains over eighty newspapers titles published in Hawaii and the Americas. Most publications present a mix of content in Japanese and English, with formats and the proportionality of Japanese/English often changing as a reflection of shifting business and social circumstances.
The North China Herald
The English-language North China Herald is the prime printed source in any language for the history of the foreign presence in China from around 1850 to 1940s. During this so-called ‘treaty century’ (1842-1943) the Western Powers established a strong presence in China through their protected enclaves in major cities. It was published weekly in Shanghai, at the heart of China’s encounter with the Euro-American world in a city at the forefront of developments in Chinese politics, culture, education and the economy. As the official journal for British consular notifications, and announcements of the Shanghai Municipal Council, it is the first -- and sometimes only -- point of reference for information and comment on a range of foreign and Chinese activities. It also regularly features translations of Chinese official notifications and news.
Old Hong Kong Newspapers
The Old Hong Kong Newspapers Collection is a selective collection of major old Hong Kong Newspapers published from early Hong Kong to nowadays, aiming at preserving historical news reporting of Hong Kong for reference and research.
Ren Min Ri Bao 人民日报 (1946 - Present)
People’s Daily is the official voice of the central government and the Communist Party of China. It provides the single location where the central government and the Communist Party announce their respective policies and disseminate governmental, political, and economic messages to the public and the world. Most importantly, since its inception the newspaper has been the true barometer of the political climate of Chinese society on a daily basis. Directly from the People’s Daily Press, this database contains the complete run of the past daily issues covering from 1946 to today’s issue
Royal Netherlands Library Digitised Newspapers
This free database contains numerous Dutch-language newspapers from the former Dutch East Indies / Indonesia from 1744 to 1958.
Shen Pao 申报 (1872-1949)
Shen Pao is one of the key Chinese Newspaper in China prior to the CCP taking over mainland China.
Sin Po
Sin Po was a Chinese-Malay (Peranakan) publication that was first published as a weekly newspaper by young Peranakan Chinese in Jakarta on 1 October 1910. Sin Po became a daily newspaper in 1912 to meet increasing demand and shortly became one of the largest Malay newspapers in the Dutch East Indies. The political objective of Sin Po was to promote Chinese nationalism and to take a strong stance against Dutch colonialism. Sin Po played a crucial role in the development of language and culture. It provided a space for writers to contribute their articles or stories, which exemplified the current debates of society at that time. Sin Po also contributed considerably to form what is today referred to as Bahasa Indonesia. Many Chinese (mostly Hokkien, a dialect in Chinese) words have become an integral part of the Indonesian language. Sin Po also includes advertisement typically on natural/alternative medicines, beverages, cosmetics, clothing, tobaccos, etc.

The Bangkok Recorder 1844-1845 (Thai language)

The first modern newspaper produced in Thailand. It was founded and produced by Dr Dan Beach Bradley, a American missionary.

Here is a list of newspapers published in the United Kingdom:

17th-18th Century Burney Collection Newspapers
This collection of early English newspapers contains 1 million newspaper pages. It covers newspaper titles from London, the British Isles, and colonies. The collection is full text searchable.
17th and 18th century Nichols newspapers collection
Features the newspapers, periodicals, pamphlets and broadsheets that form the Nichols newspaper collection held at the Bodleian Libraries in Oxford, United Kingdom. All 296 volumes of bound material, covering the period 1672-1737 have been digitized. This collection charts the history of the development of the press in England and provides invaluable insight into 17th and 18th century England.
The Nichols Collection consists of 280 newspaper and periodical titles and approximately 300 monographs.
British Library Newspapers
British Library Newspaper database that has many 19th century British Newspapers.
The British Newspaper Archives
British Library's (BL) project digitizing various local papers from across the United Kingdom as held in BL's collections. Do note that a personal subscription is needed to use this.
The Independent historical archive, 1986-2016
Ever since it was launched in 1986, The Independent has enjoyed a reputation for quality and innovation, something Andreas Whittam-Smith and his two co-founders, Stephen Glover and Matthew Symonds, made as a guiding principle when they conceived the idea of a new, upmarket British newspaper.
International Times Archive
Online archive of the International Times, the pioneer in the British underground press. The website made by the Underground Press Archive Group provides access to issues of the International Times published in the years: 1966-1980; 1982; 1986 and 1994.
Mirror Historical Archive, 1903-2000
Gale's Mirror Historical Archive, 1903-2000 features more than 800,000 pages of brand-new, full text searchable, scans of the complete run of the Mirror from 1903-2000, including the Sunday Mirror.
The Nineteenth Century Serials Edition (ncse)
The Nineteenth-Century Serials Edition (ncse) is a free, online edition of six nineteenth-century periodicals and newspapers. ncse includes full runs of the first five titles, and a decade only of the Publishers' Circular. Titles are represented as completely as possible, including multiple editions, advertisements, wrappers, and supplements where these could be found. Titles are:
Monthly Repository (1806-1837) and Unitarian Chronicle (1832-1833), Northern Star (1838-1852), Leader (1850-1860), English Woman's Journal (1858-1864), Tomahawk (1867-1870), and Publishers' Circular (1880-1890). All six journals are segmented to article level, and can be downloaded freely.
The Tablet: The International Catholic News Weekly 1840 to date
Full text searchable digital edition of The International Catholic News Weekly published in London. Covers the entire archive from 1840 to date
The Telegraph Historical Archive, 1855-2016
Launched in 1855, the Telegraph was the first daily morning paper. By 1876, the Telegraph was the largest-selling newspaper in the world, with a circulation of 300,000. Under the editorship of poet and Orientalist Edwin Arnold from 1873 to 1899, the newspaper published widely on foreign affairs and foreign cultures. Its dedication to foreign news coverage was evidenced by its employment of several renowned special correspondents over the years
Welsh Newspapers Online
Welsh Newspapers Online Beta is a free online resource from the National Library of Wales which currently lets you search and access over 250,000 pages from 24 newspaper publications from years 1844 to 1910. It will grow to over 1 million pages as more publications are added during 2013.

Here is a list of newspapers published in Mainland Europe:

ANNO - Austrian Newspapers Online
Anno from the Austrian National Library allows you to browse through digital facsimiles of around 500 Austrian newspapers and magazines from 16th Century to the 1940s. For the period 1704-1872, there is full-text searching available in their Beta system. Note: the newspapers are in German.
Gallica – La presse quotidienne
Gallica, the digital library of the Bibliothéque nationale de France, hosts numerous newspaper titles from the 19th and early 20th centuries. Titles currently include Le Figaro (1830-1942), Le Temps (1861-1935), La Croix (1883-1944), L'Humanité (1904-1944), La Presse (1836-1858), and Le Journal des débats (1814-1912). (Newspapers in French)
The Journal de Genève 1826 - 1998
A digital edition of The Journal de Genève, the French-language daily paper, published in Geneva. Searches may be carried out by keyword, date or period, with the possibility to limit a search by period or content (articles, titles of articles, images, advertising). You can then view the page or the specific item you want. (French)
La Gazette de Lausanne
Provides access to word searchable facsimiles of La Gazette de Lausanne, the Swiss newspaper, and its predecessors, from 1798 to 1998. (French)

Newspapers published in Australia and New Zealand :

Australian Newspapers (The National Library of Australia)
Australian online resources: books, images, historic newspapers, maps, music, archives and more. Includes historic Australian newspaper pages from 1803 -1954, digitised as part of the Australian Newspaper Digitisation Project
Papers Past (The National Library of New Zealand)
Papers Past contains more than one million pages of digitised New Zealand newspapers and periodicals. The collection covers the years 1840 to 1915 and includes publications from all regions of New Zealand.

Associated Press Collections Online
Associated Press Collections Online is a publishing program focusing on making the varied treasures of the Associated Press Corporate Archives, AP Images, and AP Archive available to libraries worldwide. Exploring the history and back story of the venerable Associated Press—decades' worth of wire copy, correspondence, memos, internal publications, and more—the Associated Press Collections Online meets the research needs of a variety of disciplines, and offers a cutting-edge platform designed to support that research