1

British Library Newspapers

An introduction to the collection and services

Stewart Gillies

July 2005

2

Collection: Overview

British Library Newspapers

The only large, integrated national newspaper service in the world, combining facilities for the collection, preservation, and use of newspapers all on one site

3

Collections: Overview (2)

• 45 kilometres (28 miles) of shelves

• 664, 000 bound volumes and parcels

• 370, 000 reels of microfilm

• Over 52,000 newspaper and serial titles

• 2,600 UK and Irish titles currently received on legal deposit

• 250 major overseas newspapers are currently received by purchase

4

Collections: Highlights: Newspapers

• London edition of all UK national daily , weekly and Sunday papers from 1801 to the present

• British and Irish regional and local newspapers, fairly comprehensive from 1840s onwards

• Extensive historic collections from Commonwealth countries, formerly received by colonial copyright deposit

• Overseas newspapers in western, east European and Slavonic languages, with major historic collections dating back as far as 1631

5

Collections: Highlights: Periodicals

• Women’s magazines (from suffragette papers to today’s popular weeklies e.g. Chat, Bella, Hello etc)

• British Comics (e.g. Dandy, Beano, TV Comic etc)

• Radical and political papers (e.g. anarchist, Chartist and fascist)

• Exile and ethnic minority newspapers and journals

• Religious newspapers and periodicals (e.g. Catholic Herald, Church Of England Newspaper, The Methodist etc)

6

Collections: Highlights: Periodicals (2)

• Trade Papers (e.g. The Grocer, Draper’s Record, Colliery Guardian, Plumber and Decorator etc)

• Armed Services newspapers and periodicals (e.g. Blighty, Army and Navy Gazette etc)

• TV listings magazines (e.g. Radio Times – all regional editions)

• Theatre and Music Hall (e.g. The Stage, The Era, The Illustrated Sporting & Dramatic News etc)

7

Access: BL Newspapers Web Catalogue

URL: www.bl.uk/catalogues/newspapers.html

Provides:

• general keyword searching, sort by title, place or date

• keyword and date searching combined, sort by title, place or date

• catalogue entries provide full title information, place of publication or distribution details (town/city, region and country), history of title changes, date span held and the notes field records incorporations, amalgamations and discontinuations and any known missing dates

The Newspapers Web Catalogue is scheduled for inclusion in the British Library’s Integrated Catalogue during 2006.

8

Access: Subject guides

URL: www.bl.uk/collections/collect.html

Information about the Colindale collections, most notably guides to:

• Current Foreign newspapers received

• British Military History Collections

• British Comics Collection

• Victorian illustrated newspapers and journals

• A range of microfilm collections which are not fully listed in the Newspapers Catalogue

9

Access: Asian, African, Middle Eastern language newspapers

www.asiamap.ac.uk/newspapers/index.php

Most of the BL’s holdings of newspapers in the languages of Asia, the Middle East and North Africa are held within the Asia, Pacific and Africa collections of the British Library at St Pancras

These are included in the Mapping Asia database

NB: Mapping Asia does not include BL’s holdings of western-language newspapers published in Asia, the Middle East and North Africa

10

Access : Newspapers Reading Room (1)

British Library Newspapers Reading Room

11

Access: Newspapers Reading Room (2)

URL: www.bl.uk/services/reading/newsrr.html

Newspapers may be consulted at the British Library Newspapers Reading Room, Colindale Avenue, London NW9 5HE

Open: Monday to Saturday 10:00 to 17:00

Admission: By Newspaper Reader’s day or annual pass or British Library Pass. All applicants must have reached 18 years of age and require proof of I.D. For an annual pass, proof of address is also required.

Advance Reservation Service: 48 hours notice bytel: 020 7412 7353 or email: BookDelivery-Colindale@bl.uk to order up to four volumes or microfilm reels

NB: Readers are strongly advised to use this service

12

Access: Newspapers Reading Room (3)

Newspapers Reading Room Enquiries & Admissions Desk

13

Access: Newspapers Reading Room (2)

• 152 places for readers including 54 for users of microfilm

• 8 self-help microfilm copying machines

• 6 computer workstations with networked access to a range of online newspapers, newspapers on CD-ROM, other online resources, and the Internet

• Open access reference collection including newspaper indexes, press directories, bibliographies and guides to newspapers, periodicals, and the history of the press

14

Access: Remote (1)

• Enquiry Service – quick enquiries by email, telephone, letter email: newspaper@bl.uk tel: 020 7412 7353

• Copy Services – a full range of Copy Services including photocopies, photographs, digital images on CD and 35mm positive microfilm

Request estimate by email, letter or fax

Further information at URL: www.b.uk/collections/copy.html

• Backup to Document Supply Centre – registered users may obtain photocopies of articles using the standard request form

15

Access: Remote: DSC Services

URL: www.bl.uk/services/document/newspapers.html

BL Document Supply Centre has a varied collection of newspapers on microfilm. These can be supplied through any of the DSC’s document delivery services

Lending Policy

• You can order A3 or A4 copies of specific articles

• Loans of whole editions on microfilm

Further information from Reports/Microform Section, The British Library, Document Supply, Boston Spa, Wetherby, West Yorkshire, LS23 7BQ tel: 01937 546174

16

Access: Remote: Digitisation of British Library Newspapers

• British Library Online Newspaper Archive www.olivesoftware.com

• Penny Illustrated Paper 1861-1913 www.collectbritain.co.uk/collections/pip/

• British Newspapers 1800- 1900www.bl.uk/collections/britishnewspapers1800to1900.html

17

Access: Open Day Tours

Open Day Tours for 2005

Thursday, 22 September 2005 2 PM

Tuesday, 13 November 2005 2PM

To book a place contact:

Tel: 020 7412 7359Email: newspaper@bl.uk