Newspapers As Scholarly Resources: Impact of the Digital Age Rev. 03/2010 Michael E. Unsworth MSU Libraries

Current Tribulations:

OUTLINE Nature & Function Modes: –Print –Microfilm –Digital Observations and Remarks

Nature and Function of Newspapers

WHAT IS A NEWSPAPER? AN EXISTENTIAL MATTER 15 USCS § 1802: "a publication produced on newsprint paper which is published in one or more issues weekly (including as one publication any daily newspaper and any Sunday newspaper published by the same owner in the same city, community, or metropolitan area), and in which a substantial portion of the content is devoted to the dissemination of news and editorial opinion.”

WHAT IS A NEWSPAPER?

TRANSMOGRIFY INTO SOMETHING ELSE

FROM MOUTHPIECE…

TO ADVERTISING DELIVERY SYSTEM

EDITIONS From , it had: L.A. ed. Orange County ed. (ceased) Ventura County ed. Inland Empire ed. San Diego County ed. (ceased) National ed. (ceased)

Constantly Evolving Partial Genealogy. In 1956: 1.Examiner (Brooklyn, N.Y.) MERGED WITH American Hebrew (1935 ) TO BECOME 2.American examiner 3.Jewish week and the American examiner 4.New York Jewish week and the American examiner 5.New York Jewish Week

PRINT MODE (1605- )

ACCESSING CONTENT WAS DIFFICULT

MICROFILM MODE (1935- )

PUBLICLY AVAILABLE INDEXES

DIGITAL MODE (1970s - )

AGGREGATOR PROLIFERATION

INDEXING Keyword, e.g. Factiva (articles from hundreds of newspapers): trash or garbage or solid waste Subject, e.g., National Newspaper Abstracts (of 3 major newspapers): waste materials

Its eAP “database that holds all AP content and delivers news in all formats: text, audio, photos, video, etc. There is access to eAP from multiple channels. Eventually eAP will replace the current text archive. It currently contains more than 65 million documents.” AVAILABLE ONLY TO THE AP ORGANIZATION, ITS MEMBERSHIP, AND SUBSCRIBERS.

DIGITIZATION PROJECTS

MOST HISTORICAL NEWSPAPERS ARE DIGITIZED FROM MICROFILM

FREE ARTICLE FROM GOOGLE NEWS

Full Image Complete newspaper issues in the original full-image context Remote Access Increase usage and return on microfilm investment Ownership Digital access and the benefit of permanent holdings Save Time, money, and resources ProQuest’s Digital Microfilm™ © 2009 ProQuest LLC

Observations and Remarks

YOU GET WHAT PAY FOR

DATA LOSS

“Huggins said that he sold Paper of Record to Google in 2006, but that the deal was secret until late last year, when Google exercised its right to have Huggins stop managing the site. At that point, Huggins expected a transition to having the material appear on Google, but the material just disappeared from public view. “

EDITION CONFUSION EXACERBATED: WHICH ONE SHOULD BE ARCHIVED?

ARE VIDEOS ARCHIVED?

MICROFILM HAS ITS USES

WHAT’S A SCHOLAR TO DO? CONSULT WITH YOUR LIBRARIANS /news/newspgu.htm

SUMMING UP Nature & Function of Newspapers Modes: –Print –Microfilm –Digital

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