Newspaper access – read all about it

Can you guess what the most popular Researcher@Library blog posts are about? You might be surprised to find out that it’s newspapers! Here’s an update on how you can access newspapers and other digital subscriptions via the Library as a University of Melbourne researcher.

Your go-to resource: the News and Newspapers Library Guide

The News and Newspapers Library Guide is the key to finding the news you need for your research. It steps you through how you can access:

• Current news;
• News databases; and
• Historical newspapers.

It also has information about how you can identify fake news, and check your news via fact checking sites. Click here to access the Library Guide. 

Looking for a specific newspaper or source?

If you’re looking to read a particular newspaper title, you can use the Library catalogue to search for it. You can refine the results from your search by changing from “Search Entire Collection” to “Databases.”

You can also visit the subscriber website – without going through a database – of these Australian newspapers for easy online reading. Note that you will need to be using the University’s VPN or on campus to access some of these:

• The Age
• The Financial Review
• Crikey
• The Sydney Morning Herald

A tip: if you download the LeanLibrary extension, it will automatically log you into the above websites as a University of Melbourne subscriber. There’s more information about downloading and using LeanLibrary here. 

What about historical newspapers?

The National Library of Australia provides digitised access to newspapers via Trove. The digitised collection ranges from 1803 to 2021 with some editions of almost every major Australian newspaper. Coverage of titles and articles varies, so it’s important to check that the dates and newspapers that you want are covered. You can search or browse their collection here.

For international historical databases, the News and Newspapers Library Guide lists resources by location for the USA & Canada, UK & Ireland, Latin America & the Caribbean, Europe, Asia and the Middle East.

Have any questions?

If you have questions about the University’s access to newspapers, or where you can find materials, you can chat with a librarian online during library opening hours. You can also stay up to date with any new databases available to you as a researcher at the University by checking the Library’s e-Resources blog.

Featured image credit: Cup, Newspapers, Magazines by congerdesigns on PixaBay.