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.

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:

 

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.

Newspapers available
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