Newspapers
Characteristics
Newspapers cover current events and news, seeking to inform, influence and entertain readers. The Gainesville Sun, New York Times, USA Today and the Atlanta Journal and Constitution are all daily newspapers.
Advantages
- Extremely current information
- Good coverage of current events, especially political issues and developments
- Local information
- Include editorials and opinion articles that reflect how people perceive and interpret events
- Can provide context when examining historical or social events. For example, if studying the Civil Rights movement, newspapers from the time period would provide opinions and events from the time period.
Disadvantages
- No scholarly analysis
- Fragile, not meant to be permanent. Often stored on microfilm or microfiche for preservation.
- Often does not cite the source of information
- Short articles written by journalists and freelance authors
- Can be hard to locate
Finding Articles in Newspapers
- Newspapers often have their own online or print index, such as the New York Times Index
- Search online subscription databases. LexisNexis Academic and Proquest National Newspapers cover national and regional newspapers. For historical newspapers, search Proquest Historical Newspapers.
- To find newspaper articles in small or local papers, check the local public library for an index. For example, the Alachua County Public Library indexes the Gainesville Sun.
microfilm
noun
a length of film containing greatly reduced photographs of a newspaper, book, etc.
Compact Oxford English Dictionary. 2007.
microfiche
noun
a flat piece of film containing greatly reduced photographs of the pages of a newspaper, book, etc.
Compact Oxford English Dictionary. 2007.
