Search results

Nigerian newspaper libraries, which are units of editorial departments, are accommodated within noisy areas of large building complexes and managed by untrained or trained but inexperienced staff, who maintain newspaper cuttings, photo libraries, bound volumes and reference collections and neglect indexing and microfilming. Newspaper proprietors should upgrade their libraries to autonomous departments and employ experienced, qualified librarians with adequate powers to run the libraries professionally.

Discusses newspaper provision in the British Isles and the services provided by the British Library Newspaper Library. Assesses previous unsuccessful attempts to set up a loan service for newspapers, and the NEWSPLAN co‐operative programme for preservation microfilming of local newspapers. Suggests a co‐operative approach to interlibrary lending of some microfilmed newspapers, with input from advisory bodies such as LINC, SCONUL and the British Library.

The following problems affecting newspaper collection management in Nigerian libraries are identified and discussed: publishing and distribution; misconception of the role of libraries; ineffectiveness of the Nigerian Library Association; position of libraries in their parent institutions; laymen′s control over libraries; position of newspapers in libraries; absence of newspaper departments; inadequate staffing; selection criteria; inadequate powers of librarians; inadequate preservation and storage facilities; neglect by library schools; ineffective bibliographic control; and absence of a professional body.

The article summarises the problems affecting newspaper collections management and the failure of library co‐operation with books in Nigerian libraries and proposes that the Federal Government creates a National Newspapers Project (NNP) which will set standards for the maintenance of the following bibliographic tools: newspaper directories, library lists of newspapers, state and national union lists of newspapers, indexing and indexes, and computerised data‐bases and also co‐ordinate and supervise newspaper acquisition, preservation, storage, joint research, joint publications, development of special collections, provision of reference facilities, inter‐library supply of photocopies and secondment of specialist staff. The NNP will augment its annual budgetary allocations with special grants from governments, foundations, firms, organisations and individuals. Finally, the article urges the Nigerian Library Association to persuade the Federal Government to create a National Newspapers Project.

This paper aims to describe the history and current plans for the newspaper collections of the British Library.

The Library will create more access to its older collections, via mass digitisation of texts. The Library is seeking to work with UK newspaper publishers to secure the ingest of “born digital” newspapers, to present issues of recent newspapers to users in library reading rooms. Digitised newspapers will be taken into the Library's digital library storage system being developed for all types of digital materials that the Library is acquiring in growing quantities. There are plans to move the existing collections from Colindale to a new storage facility at its Boston Spa site, to ensure controlled environmental conditions for the original printed newspapers.

It was found that the British Library is investing in the future in order to improve access to a vital part of its collections.

This is one of the few published articles on how a national library deals with the massive task of providing access to newspapers.

Aims to describe the development of the Newspaper Collection at the National Library of Norway.

Describes the historical and organizational development of the collection, analysis of registration systems and the role of newspapers in historical research.

Provides possible solutions for organization and cataloguing.

Provides a first description of the use of MAVIS (Merged Audio Visual Information System) as a cataloguing solution for a newspaper collection.

Richard Cox responds to the attacks by Nicolson Baker against the library community. Deals with each of Baker’s main points: that a lie was foisted on the public about the care of newspapers, the insidious destruction of original newspapers, the resultant loss of trust by the public in libraries and archives and a set of wrong priorities leading to the misguided microfilming and destruction of newspapers.

This paper reports a local newspaper digitisation project carried out by the Norfolk Library and Information Service. The project is unique because it is to date the only UK public library project to digitise and index a significant proportion of a newspaper collection. The paper opens with a review of some of the issues in newspaper access and preservation. It then describes how the Norfolk Library and Information Service project was carried out, and offers an assessment of how successfully the project addresses access and preservation issues. The paper concludes that the project should be seen as a success, although the costs involved, and the general unresolved issue of digital preservation means that it is not a practical option for most libraries. Greater information sharing from completed projects is needed, as this will provide a key to future success in other projects.

Historically, the Scottish newspaper came into being in the 17th century, some years after its English counterpart. News was first transmitted to Scotland from London and abroad by means of news‐sheets. However, the preponderance of foreign news tended to limit their interest, as far as readers were concerned, mainly to the Church and to men of letters, and it took some time for the newspaper habit to take hold in Scotland. The earliest surviving Scottish newspaper, in that it was published in Scotland and dealt with Scottish affairs, was Mercurius Scoticus published in Leith in 1651. It was followed by a handful of other titles over the next few decades but by the 18th century the situation had begun to change. More newspaper titles were produced in Scotland, and they began to carry local news as well as news from London and abroad. Advertisements were introduced, in the first instance, mainly for patent medicines and notices of entertainments. Governments recognized at an early stage that newspapers were a potential source of revenue and, in consequence, a newspaper stamp tax was imposed on all weekly newspapers in 1712. This tax, which was dubbed “tax on knowledge”, was strongly resented by the newspaper proprietors, who set about evading it as best they could, and in doing so determined the format of many of the newspapers of the period which were specially designed to circumvent the tax.

This study aims to highlight the potential of digitised historic newspapers.

This paper is a review of digitised historic newspapers as a primary source for marketing historians. It provides a survey of what is available internationally free of charge to the user. It also includes examples of the use of digitised historic newspapers drawn from the author’s own research.

The paper reveals the huge potential for marketing historians of what is now available in a growing number of countries across the world. Much of this material is available free of charge to researchers with a connection to the internet.

To the best of the author’s knowledge, this is the first paper to explore digitised historic newspapers as a primary source for marketing historians.