1. Newspapers Theory, Skills and Method Term 2, Week 9

2. Introduction Why use newspapers? Where can I find newspapers? What format is best?

3. Why use newspapers? Provides information that can’t be found elsewhere Provides it in a regular format Allows historians to analyse change over time Most information quantifiable

4. 1. News International: probably known, but from a particular local / national perspective National: perhaps known, but not always, shows communication networks, ships/roads - might have political angle Local: almost certainly the only source for local news, events, gossip, insight into what society was like

8. 2. Local information Legislative reports (state laws, city council ordinances, by-laws) Court reports: info on criminal prosecutions, sentences, can replace court records if not survived Elections – local and national, gives details of voting by county/town/village and by candidate Minutes of meetings of local bodies/organisations Commercial information: prices of crops, market info, shipping movements Sport/Leisure activity

12. 3. Adverts Shops: shows types of businesses, numbers, variety and how they change over time Goods: shows advertising practices, marketing Services: shows demand etc for services Jobs: both for those wanting workers, and those wanting employment, show types of work in society, who is working etc Runaway ads: for apprentices (itemises dress, skills, age, gender, destinations etc) and in the USA detailed information about slaves

18. 4. Opinion Editorials: show the political leaning of the newspaper and issues that were thought to be significant. Letters: individual correspondents write about almost any subject, show the interests/concerns of people - public debates Poetry: esp pre 1900 can sometimes be political or satirical.

22. 5. Visuals Illustrations Cartoons Poster work

31. Formats Hard copy: unwieldy, sometimes fragile, hard to see in archives Microfilm: most common form of storage now, easy to use and copy from, able to be pruchased CD Rom: slightly antiquated now, can be useful for searching etc Web: New e-standard for digitisation. Major projects like The Times (from 1785), British Library Newspaper Digitisation Project (2 million pages of 19thC newspapers online), Early American Newspapers (c.1750-1820). Fully searchable by keyword Electronic newspapers linked direct from Library e- resources pages.

32. Sources 1.British Newspaper Library (Colindale) –Holds more than 52,000 newspaper titles –Currently collecting 2,600 titles (250 = foreign) –Thomason and Burney collections date back to early 17thC –Provincial UK titles from the early 18thC –Major repository of newspapers from former colonies –Also has magazines/periodicals/comics –Will sell films of newspapers –Open 10-5 Mon-Sat, Tube - Colindale (Northern Line)

35. 2. Local Libraries/Archives –Usually hold films or hard copies of local newspapers –Might have copies of odd issues not at Colindale. –Usually more accessible geographically, longer opening hours, open access to materials –52 Warwickshire Newspapers held by county libraries from 1800 on

36. 3. Foreign Libraries / Archives –Usually will have more materials than BL (though not always, BL collection of Irish newspapers better than Dublin) –Often best source for obscure/rare local publications –Better equipped libraries/archives will have ability to copy microfilms, more cost effective than trips abroad. –Library of Congress has 9,000 US papers, and 25,000 foreign. –National Library of Australia has 8,000 titles, with hundreds of 19thC titles online at http://www.nla.gov.au/npapers/