Newspaper content
The Library provides access to newspaper content via online subscriptions (including digital archives), on microfilm and by subscribing to print copies of some titles.
Online editions
Most newspapers have their own website. Online editions may include articles not published in print editions.
Some newspaper websites provide free access to an online archive, with others you may have to register or pay a fee to view premium content.
Before paying for anything, first check to see if you can find what you’re looking for via one of the Library’s paid for services.
If you can’t find the information you require via a newspaper’s website, try an aggregator, such as Factiva or LexisLibrary, which archives the text of the printed editions of newspapers and, in some cases, provides access to content back to the early 1980s.
Newspapers and magazines online
DiscoverEd
Subject guide - Newspapers, magazines and other news sources
Newspaper and magazine database collections and online subscriptions
If you want to see how an article looked in print, you should refer to a digitised verison of the title (if available) or to microfilm.
Although microfilm may be the only option for finding some newspaper content (articles by freelancers, some features, some supplements, birth and death notices may not be available online for example), newspaper content can be searched via the aggregator products to which the Library subscribes.
Examples of newspaper aggregators include Factiva or LexisLibrary, both of which provide plain text versions of content from UK national and regional newspapers. Factiva also provides access to much of the world’s press including the New York Times and The Wall Street Journal. Coverage and update schedules for each title are provided by clicking the information icon next to the title listing.
See the Library's Newspapers and magazines database webpage and also use DiscoverEd to find out what other aggregators and individual online newspaper subscriptions you can access.
Newspapers and magazines online
DiscoverEd
Subject guide - Newspapers, magazines and other news sources
Digital archives
Some newspapers have digitised their historic content and you can search and view facsimiles of articles and pages. Digital archives can be a good way (often the only way, other than microfilm) to search for birth and death notices and for advertisements.
The Library provides access to a wide range of newspaper digital archives including; The Times Higher Education, The Times Digital Archive, The Historical Scotsman, The New York Times, The People's Daily and the Pravda Digital Archive.
Aggregators exist for historical newspaper content as well as for more recent issues.
Some of the historical newspaper aggregators to which the Library subscribes are:
- America's Historical Newspapers Series 2
- Chinese Newspapers Collection (1832-1953)
- News, Policy & Politics Magazine Archive
- Nineteenth Century British Library newspapers
A full list of newspaper and magazine titles and aggregators from the Library's Newspapers and magazines database webpage and also use DiscoverEd
DiscoverEd
Subject guide - Newspapers, magazines and other news sources
Microfilm
If a newspaper has not been retrospectively digitised, microfilm can often be the only way to gain full access to an entire edition of a newspaper. It can be useful if you want to:
- Read death and birth notices
- View photographs and graphics (as printed)
- Look at adverts
- Read some supplements which are not available online
- Read some articles by freelancers which may not be available online for copyright reasons.
Microfilm is available for The Scotsman:
| Newspaper | Microfilm coverage |
|---|---|
| The Scotsman | 1831-1835, 1840-1841, 1845-1885, 1914-1919, 1928-1931, 1962-2016. |
How to access microfilm
Microfilm and microfilm readers are available to use in the University Collections Facility. Please note there is currently no facility to print from microfilm at the University Collections Facility. Microfilm can also be requested from the Annexe and viewed using the reader in the CRC on the 6th floor of the Main Library.
Newspaper Indexes
Some indexes are also available to help you find articles using Microfilm. These are also located in the Library Annexe.
| Index | Coverage |
|---|---|
| The Financial Times | 1981-2005 |
| The Herald | 1949-67, 1971-78 |
| The Independent | 1994 |
| The Scotsman | 1987-89 |
| The Times | 1906-July 2013 |
Tip: where there are gaps in coverage try using The Times index to establish an approximate date for the event you are researching.
Print copies
Read recent editions of some daily UK and foreign newspapers on the 4th floor of the Main Library.
| UK Titles: | The Guardian, The Herald, The Independent, The Scotsman, The Times |
| Overseas titles: | Frankfurter Allegemeine , International New York Times, Le Monde, Die Zeit |
| Also available: | Times Education Supplement , Times Higher Education Supplement, Times Literary Supplement |
For titles and full holdings, use DiscoverEd.
DiscoverEd
Further help
If you cannot find the newspaper content you need, please ask your Academic Support Librarian for advice or to recommend a subscription.
Academic Support Librarian contact details
Related Links
Newspapers and magazines online
Newspapers collections at the National Library of Scotland
Subject guide - Newspapers, magazines and other news sources