Newspaper Digitization at University of Illinois: A Brief History

Posted on by Geoffrey Ross

Newspaper digitization at the University of Illinois began in 2005, in the History, Philosophy, and Newspaper Library.

The idea to begin a newspaper digitization program at the University of Illinois Library originated in 2004, while Professor Mary Stuart was developing a plan to merge the History & Philosophy Library with the Newspaper Library, to form a single unit: the History, Philosophy, & Newspaper Library (HPNL). As part of the proposed merger, the Illinois Newspaper Project (INP) would be brought under the umbrella of the new unit, with Stuart becoming the project’s Principal Investigator. While developing the proposal for the new unit, Stuart imagined that newspaper digitization would be a logical outgrowth of the INP. To lay the groundwork for this future program, Stuart created the position of Research Information Specialist for the new unit. One of the responsibilities of the Research Information Specialist would be to provide technical support for the unit’s newspaper digitization program.

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ProQuest Historical Chinese Newspapers

Posted on by Geoffrey Ross

12 English language, Chinese newspapers and periodicals: Canton Times (1919-1920); China Critic (1939-1940, 1946); China Press (1925-1938); Chinese Repository (1832-1851); Millard’s Review of the Far East (1917-1953); Missionary Recorder (1868-1940); North-China Herald (1850-1941); Peking Daily News (1914-1917); Peking Gazette (1915-1917); Peking Leader (1918-1919); Shanghai Gazette (1919-1920); and Shanghai Times (1914-1921).


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China, America, and the Pacific: Trade and Cultural Exchange

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Ship logs, manuscripts, business records, newspapers, books, maps, realia, ephemera, paintings, photographs, and other illustrative documents, organized around 18 research themes:  Cultural Exchange; Arts and Artifacts; Religion, Faith, and Philosophy; Social Life; Education; Crime; Employment and Labor; Health and Welfare; Race Relations; Travel and Tourism; Exploration and Discovery; The Natural World; Migration and Immigration; Politics, War, and Diplomacy; Trade and Commerce; Regulation and Legislation; Transport and Communication; and Advertising and Consumption.


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First World War

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The first module, Personal Experiences comprises diaries, letters, postcards, personal narratives, trench literature, maps, scrapbooks, albums, photographs, sketches, paintings, sheet music, cartoons, propaganda, and other ephemera. The second module, Propaganda and Recruitment, comprises posters, postcards, diaries, cartoons, photographs, leaflets, pamphlets, instructions for the distribution of propaganda, instructions to military units, extracts from local newspapers, printed reports, minute books, papers of the Ministry of Information, papers of the Kriegspresseamt, newsletters, and tribunal case files. Both modules document the war from a global perspective, covering multiple war fronts (Western Front, Ireland, Italian Front, Eastern Front, Balkans, Gallipoli, Middle East, Africa, Asia, the Pacific, neutral countries), and including documents in over 30 different languages (Afrikaans, Arabic, Belgian, Catalan, Chinese, Croatian, Czech, Danish, Dutch, English, Flemish, French, German, Greek, Hungarian, Italian, Japanese, Malay, Maori, Norwegian, Polish, Portuguese, Romanian, Russian, Serbian, Slovenian, Spanish, Swedish, Tamil, Turkish, Ukrainian, Welsh, and Yiddish).


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ProQuest Executive Branch Documents, 1789-1932

Posted on by Geoffrey Ross

Issued in two modules, the first module covers United States Executive Branch publications from 1789 to 1909 (not already printed in the U.S. Serial Set), issued by the following Executive Branch departments:  Agriculture Department; American Republics Bureau; Civil Service Commission; District of Columbia; Fish Commission; Freedman’s Savings and Trust Company; Geographic Board; Government Printing Office; General Supply Committee; Navy Department; War Department; Interior Department; Justice Department; Labor Department; Interstate Commerce Commission; Library of Congress; State Department; National Academy of Sciences; National Home for Disabled Volunteer Soldiers; Post Office Department; President of United States; Smithsonian Institution; Treasury Department; Commerce and Labor Department; and Labor Department. The second module extends coverage to 1932, and includes publications from Treasury Department; Smithsonian Institution; Tariff Commission; Veterans Administration; Veterans Bureau; Vocational Education Board; Commerce Department; War Department; War Trade Board; Interior Department; Justice Department; Labor Department; General Accounting Office; Government Printing Office; Interstate Commerce Commission; Agriculture Department; American Republics Bureau; Civil Service Commission; Navy Department; Library of Congress; Mediation Board; National Academy of Sciences; National Capital Park and Planning Commission; National Home for Disabled Volunteer Soldiers; Post Office Department; State Department; Pan American Union; Pan American Sanitary Bureau; Public Buildings and Public Parks of the National Capital; Personnel Classification Board; Philippine Government; President of United States; Postal Savings System; Reserve Bank Organization Committee; Radio Commission; Railroad Labor Board; and Shipping Board. All documents are indexed and are searchable by publication title, issuing agency, subject heading, and SuDoc classification code. A PDF facsimile of each document accompanies its index record, and users can also search these PDFs, though search precision and recall are lower for the PDFs than for the index records. Access the database through the ProQuest Congressional Advanced Search.


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Caribbean Newspapers, Series 1, 1718-1876: From the American Antiquarian Society

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Newspapers from 22 countries: Antigua, Bahamas, Barbados, Cuba, Curaçao, Dominica, Grenada, Guadaloupe, Haiti, Jamaica, Martinique, Montserrat, Nevis, Puerto Rico, St. Bartholomew, St. Christopher, St. Lucia, St. Vincent, Tobago, Trinidad, the Virgin Islands, and also Bermuda. All newspapers are in Western European languages: English, Spanish, French, and Danish.


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Library Acquires Last Extant Copies of 8 Illinois Newspapers

Posted on by Geoffrey Ross

The History, Philosophy, and Newspaper Library has acquired, through a gift from the Swearingen Memorial Library in Saint Joseph, Illinois, the final, extant copies of 8 local newspapers: the St. Joseph Record, the Olive and Gold, the Ogden Courier, Oakwood Township News, the Homer Herald, the Homer Enterprise, the Homer Chamilion, and the Fairmount Star. The Olive and Gold was the student newspaper of Saint Joseph Community High School.

Press Release:

The History, Philosophy, and Newspaper Library at Illinois has recently acquired The St. Joseph Record from the St. Joseph Township-Swearingen Memorial Library. The print run of this newspaper includes 96 bound volumes from 1894 to 1980.

This fall, Susan McKinney, librarian and director at the St. Joseph Township-Swearingen Memorial Library, inquired with the University Library about transferring the newspapers to the University to better preserve them and to maximize their availability. Considering its importance for local Illinois history, the University Library responded quickly and proposed to house the collection.

“On behalf of the St. Joseph Township-Swearingen Memorial Library, I’m excited that the University of Illinois has taken ownership of these important newspapers of historical value and that they will permanently reside in a climate-controlled environment,” said McKinney.

Like almost all newspapers of its era, The St. Joseph Record was printed on inexpensive, mass-produced, wood-pulp paper. Its chemical properties cause it to become increasingly acidic and to deteriorate as it ages, especially under conditions which, because they are most conducive to human comfort, are typically found in libraries.

“Although it is impossible to reverse the deterioration of paper, we can slow that process by controlling the conditions in which the paper is stored,” said Marek Sroka, newspaper librarian at Illinois. “The St. Joseph Record will be housed in a state-of-the-art storage facility specifically designed for the long-term preservation of paper-based documents (minimal exposure to ultraviolet- and infrared-emitting light, a stable temperature of about 50° Fahrenheit, and a stable relative humidity of about 30%).

To access issues of The St. Joseph Record, make arrangements with History, Philosophy, and Newspaper Library staff by calling (217) 333-1509 or emailing hpnl@library.illinois.edu.

American Indian Histories and Cultures Digital Collection

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Digitized from the Newberry Library’s Edward E. Ayer Collection, American Indian Histories and Cultures contains both published and unpublished primary sources that document the American Indian experience from first contact with Europeans through the mid-20th century.


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House of Commons Parliamentary Papers

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The Sessional Papers of the British House of Commons. Until now, these Sessional Papers have been available at University of Illinois only in uncataloged print volumes and microforms. The House of Commons Parliamentary Papers Digital Collection comprises the Sessional Papers from 1715 to the present. The Sessional Papers were documents printed by order of the House, and include Bills (public and private), committee reports, reports of the ministries and non-Parliamentary government organizations, and any other document submitted by order of the House. The collection does not include the debates of the House (“Hansards”) or the proceedings of the House (House of Commons Journal).


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New Illinois Digital Newspaper Collection

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The History, Philosophy, and Newspaper Library introduces the new Illinois Digital Newspaper Collection, powered by Veridian. The Illinois Digital Newspaper Collection combines 1.2 million pages of digitized newspapers in one freely accessible location. Using Veridian Digital Library software, the IDNP offers a modern and user-friendly way to access unique research tools and engage with the past.

The site includes interactive features allowing users to tag articles, correct OCR text, and share on social media. A text correction contest will be announced next month.


The Illinois Digital Newspaper Project is available online at http://idnc.library.illinois.edu