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Online Databases: Newspaper
Articles
Sections:
1) Magazine and Journal Articles
2) Newspaper Articles
3) Literature Resource Center
4) Subject Specific Databases
Newspapers provide first-hand accounts of
current events in their news reports and, in editorials and opinion pieces,
they present diverse points-of-view on controversial issues. First-hand
accounts - descriptions of events by people with direct experience of those events
- or any other information in its original form are considered primary
sources. Aside from news reports, other examples of primary sources include
diaries, letters, interviews, original artwork, statistical data that has not
been analyzed and the first report of a research study in a scientific
journal. Any information that is a retelling, interpretation, analysis of a
primary source - that is, it's something new that is based on reading or
hearing a primary source - is termed secondary
material. In newspapers, articles that analyze current issues
or trends or reviews of arts and entertainment are secondary material.
Current and recent
newspapers are excellent sources for topics that deal with current issues and
newspapers from previous time periods are excellent sources for historical
topics.
Newspaper
Indexes & Databases
To find
newspaper articles on specific topics, we can use newspaper databases. Just
like magazine and journal databases, newspaper databases index newspaper
articles by subject and also provide keyword searching. Newspaper databases
may include abstracts and full-text databases of single newspapers, or they
can include abstracts and full-text articles for a selection of several, or
even dozens of, different newspapers. Most major, regional and specialized
newspapers have Web sites that include some form of full-text database.
Newspapers' web sites commonly make at least some, if not all, of the
articles in an issue available for free the same day they are published in
print. These newspaper web sites do not, however, usually provide a complete
database of all articles in back issues going back very far in time. In most
cases, access is free, but the time availability - how far back in time
issues are accessible - varies from just a few weeks to several years. Some
newspapers on the Web (such as the San
Jose Mercury News and the Los
Angeles Times) are now charging for accessing the full-text of
articles. A few, including the New York
Times, do not charge for access, but require users to register in
order to gather demographic and marketing information. A few of the major
newspaper sites are:
San Francisco Chronicle
New York Times
Los Angeles Times
San Jose Mercury News
Washington Post
Many other newspapers that are available on the Web can be found listed on
one of various Web directories of newspapers, including:
Internet
Public Library Newspapers
NewsDirectory.com
"Premium" Newspaper
Databases
To be able to do comprehensive searching of back issues of newspapers,
you usually need to use "premium"
(proprietary) databases that are commonly subscribed to by libraries and
schools and are also available from commercial online services. Some of the
same companies that produce premium magazine and journal databases also
produce newspaper databases that often include complete full-text coverage of
several major newspapers going back at least several years in time.
College of San Mateo Library subscribes to several newspaper
databases such as InfoTrac Custom
Newspapers. The InfoTrac Custom Newspapers contains full-text
articles from over 160 local, regional, national, and international newspapers.
Also includes Knight-Ridder Tribune News Service and Business News Wires.
What
is InfoTrac Custom Newspapers?
Thomson Gale's
InfoTrac Custom Newspapers is an extraordinary new Web-based collection of
full-text newspapers from around the United States and the world.
What is
indexed?
InfoTrac Custom
Newspapers provides coverage of some of the most prolific newspapers in the U.S. and the
rest of the world. The database is complete with full-text articles.
What dates are
covered?
Most of the
newspapers have coverage that date back to 1996.
Practice Using
InfoTrac Custom Newspapers Step by Step
1. Click on the
following link to connect to InfoTrac
Custom Newspapers.
2. Do a search
by typing the phrase "Genetic
Engineering" in the text box. Next, click the
"Search" button.
3. Scroll through
the "Results List"
page and choose a record. Click on the article title to view the entire
article.
4. To print or email
the checked records, click the "Print"
or "Email"
icon near the top of the screen
5. To go back to the "Search
Results" page, click the "Results"
link near the top of the screen.
Adapted
from:
Canada College,
LIBR 120: Information Competency
College of San
Mateo, LIBR 105: Online Research Skills
Skyline College,
LSCI 100: Introduction to Information Resources
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