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This page explains how to find news sources in the library. Newspapers are the principal news source collected by libraries, but research libraries increasingly collect broadcast news recordings, newsreels (originally shown in movie theaters), and newswire reports.
Learn more about using newspapers in historical research:
UIUC Newspaper Database
To find a specific newspaper, or to identify newspapers published in a specific year or place, or newspapers published for a specific audience (e.g. African Americans, farmers), use the University of Illinois Library Newspaper Database:
- University of Illinois Library Newspaper DatabaseA catalog of newspapers at the University of Illinois Library. Lists newspapers in all formats--print, microfilm, and digitized. You can search for newspapers by title, or identify newspapers by place of publication, date of publication, or by the newspaper's subject or intended audience. Only includes newspapers that are either the original print publication, or else facsimile reproductions of the original print publication.
Major Metropolitan Daily Newspapers
For the major metropolitan newspapers of the post-Civil War era, and especially the twentieth century, the best place to begin is ProQuest Historical Newspapers:
- ProQuest Historical Newspapers
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Dozens of major metropolitan newspapers, like the New York Times, the Chicago Tribune, the Los Angeles Times, the Washington Post, major African American newspapers like the Chicago Defender, and more. Especially strong coverage of the 20th century. Click here to see a complete list.
The following are some of the major titles in this collection:
- ProQuest Historical New York Times1851-2018. Part of ProQuest Historical Newspapers.
- ProQuest Historical Wall Street Journal1889-2004. Part of ProQuest Historical Newspapers.
- ProQuest Historical Washington Post1877-2008. Part of ProQuest Historical Newspapers.
- ProQuest Historical Chicago Tribune1849-2012. Part of ProQuest Historical Newspapers.
- ProQuest Historical St. Louis Post-Dispatch1874-2003. Part of ProQuest Historical Newspapers.
- ProQuest Historical Los Angeles Times1881-2015. Part of ProQuest Historical Newspapers.
- ProQuest Historical Boston Globe1872-1990. Part of ProQuest Historical Newspapers.
- ProQuest Historical Christian Science Monitor1908-2010. Part of ProQuest Historical Newspapers.
- ProQuest Historical Detroit Free Press1831-1999. Part of ProQuest Historical Newspapers.
- ProQuest Historical Philadelphia Inquirer1860-2001. Part of ProQuest Historical Newspapers.
Non-US Newspapers
- Times Digital Archive, The This link opens in a new windowFull-text and full-image articles from the Times of London for the years 1785-2006. It is a digital reproduction, cover to cover, of the paper in PDF files.
- Japan Times Digital Archive, The This link opens in a new windowThe Japan Times Digital Archive features the best, easy-to-use interface available for discovering deep archive content of any Japanese newspaper (English or Japanese). The online search tools allow users to search the Main newspaper, Extra issues, Supplements or All issues by Imperial Period (Meiji, Taishō, Shōwa, Heisei), publications dates, and keywords.
- World Newspaper Archive This link opens in a new windowWorld Newspaper Archive chronicles the history and politics of diverse peoples and cultures during the 19th and early 20th centuries. This expanding online resource was created in partnership between Readex, a division of NewsBank, and the Center for Research Libraries (CRL)-one of the world's largest and most important newspaper repositories-and includes historical newspapers published in Africa, Latin America, Slavic and East Europe, South Asia and other regions.
- Access World News This link opens in a new windowAccess World News from NewsBank provides full-text information and perspectives from over 600 U.S. and over 700 international sources, each with its own distinctive focus offering diverse viewpoints on local, regional and world issues. Date coverage varies with individual newspaper
Other News Sources
This section lists sources of foreign news services, as well as US newsreels, television news, newswires, and public opinion polling services.
- Foreign Broadcast Information Service (FBIS) Daily Reports, 1941-1996 This link opens in a new windowFBIS Daily Reports, 1941-1996 constitutes a one-of-a-kind archive of transcripts of foreign broadcasts and news that provides fascinating insight into the second half of the 20th century. Many of these materials are firsthand reports of events as they occurred. Digitized from original paper copy and high-quality microfilm, this definitive online collection features eight full-text databases, from Africa, Asia and the Pacific, South Asia, Eastern and Western Europe, Latin America, the Middle East and the Soviet Union. Fully searchable for the first time, this unique digital collection features individual bibliographic records for each report and highlighted events to assist researchers.
- American History in VideoNewsreels (commercial and governmental), archival footage, public affairs footage, and documentary films. Includes global coverage of the 20th century, though from an American perspective. Videos were sourced from the Works Progress Administration, the Black Panther Party Library, the Library of Congress, United Newsreel, Universal Newsreel, Chronoscope, United States Information Agency, National Archives and Records Administration, and more.
- World Newsreels Online, 1929-1966Collection of film newsreels shown in movie theaters. Newsreels produced by news agencies like Universal Newsreels, Les Actualites Francaises, Nippon News, Time, United Newsreel Corporation, and more.
- Associated Press Collections OnlineDocuments selected from the Associated Press Corporate Archives. Collection includes 26 Associated Press Directories from the period 1894-1944; almost 2,000 issues of the Associated Press's internal staff bulletin from the period 1942-2005; Over 200 issues of the A.P. Log, an irregularly published bulletin that described the activities of the A.P., and distributed to member newspapers from the period 1935-2002; over 1,000 issues of miscellaneous serial publications that were distributed internally from the period 1945-2004; 89 issues of the Service Bulletin, an in-house periodical from the period 1904-1927; the Angus M. Thuermer Papers, 1938-1947; the Conrad C. Fink Papers, 1957-1967; the George Bria Papers, 1945-2002; the Haldore Hanson Papers, 1934-1944; the Moses Sperry Beach Papers, 1848-1914; records of the Washington, D.C. bureau from the period 1938-2009; 22 editions of the A.P. Stylebook, from the earliest edition 1953 to 2000; News Department Circulars communicating A.P. policy to field reporters, from the period 1928-1990; the A.P. News Features collection from the period 1944-1993; the News in Pictures collection from the period 1939-1944; miscellaneous publications from 1894-1955; miscellaneous writings about the Associated Press from the period 1874-1985; and wire copy from the following city bureaus: Atlanta, 1949-1994; Austin, 1959-1996; Birmingham, 1959-1988; Chicago, 1931-1991; Dallas, 1946-1993; Miami, 1952-2004; New Orleans, 1957-1995; Pittsburgh, 1961-2000; and San Francisco, 1934-1999.
- Broadcast Index (Vanderbilt Television News Archive)An indispensable reference tool, the Broadcast Index lists and abstracts all segments for American network evening news broadcasts going back to August, 1968. If our library subscribed, you would also be able to view the broadcasts. See also Vanderbilt's Television News Index and Abstracts, 1972-1995.
- Roper Center for Public Opinion ArchivesSurvey data from about 150 polling organizations, including Gallup. Emphasis on the United States, with some international polls. Coverage back to the 1930s.
