Newspapers @ Memorial Library

Why newspapers?

Newspapers are a valuable type of material for research, and are used as both primary and secondary sources.

• For current research, newspaper articles are considered popular literature -- written for and read by the general public.
• For historical research, newspapers are important for the narrative and description of the past that they provide, as well as for the insight they give into attitudes and culture of the time.

Memorial Library provides access to numerous current and historical newspapers from diverse perspectives, and in different formats.

Evaluating reliability

When using newspapers and newspaper articles, remember that they may be biased. Using a number of different sources can help you get a clearer picture of what occurred, and negate editorial bias. Newspaper articles may also be inaccurate, because they are often written with a tight deadline, and in the rush to go to press, they may be poorly edited or incomplete.