Newspapers

General Purpose of the Collection

Newspapers are valuable sources of current information for students and faculty in the fields of business and management, communication, economics, history, and political science. Newspaper indexes and newspaper backfiles on microform and in digital format are useful for historical research in these same disciplines. Foreign-language newspapers serve a secondary purpose as teaching aids for faculty and students in modern foreign language programs.

Most newspaper publishers now provide the current day’s news online, and many provide a searchable archive. While foreign newspapers in print take many weeks to arrive, the current news in many foreign newspapers can now be viewed ‘same day’ online. Databases such as NexisUni, International Newsstream, and New York Times (Historical) are available for targeted newspaper searches.

Scope of Coverage

Languages collected (primary and selective) or excluded

English language and foreign language newspapers are collected very selectively.

Geographical areas covered by the collections in terms of intellectual content, publication sources, or both, and specific areas excluded, as appropriate

Geographical coverage is international, and the library subscribes to newspapers published in all parts of the world.

Chronological periods covered by the collection in terms of intellectual content, movements or schools, and specific periods excluded, as appropriate

A variety of newspapers is collected in order to provide balanced geographical and political representation both within the United States and from around the world.

Chronological periods collected in terms of publication dates, and specific periods excluded, as appropriate

Current newspapers are retained for a few months, and selected major newspapers are preserved on microform.

General Subject Boundaries and Library Locations

Current issues and microform sets of newspapers are housed in Mugar Memorial Library, except for the current issues and microform sets of business newspapers, which are housed in the Frederick S. Pardee Management Library. NexisUni and other databases providing text from selected newspapers are available online to the Boston University community. Since newspapers are not assigned Library of Congress classification numbers, they may be located in the Boston University Libraries’ online catalog either by name or by searching for “newspaper” as a Library of Congress call number. Newspapers may also be searched by name using the eJournal Search.

Newspapers from African nations are housed in the African Studies Library.

Newspaper indexes and bibliographic works on newspapers may be found in Mugar Memorial Library under these Library of Congress classifications:

• AI 21 : Indexes to Individual Newspapers
• Z 6940-6967 : Periodicals, Newspapers, and Other Serials, Bibliography

The Newspapers Selector is responsible for collecting newspapers and newspaper databases, with two exceptions

Related subjects and Interdisciplinary Relationships

African Studies

The African Studies Selector collects newspapers from African nations.

History

The History Selector collects newspapers of primarily historical interest, such as the microform collection of Early American Newspapers.

Types of Materials

Collected

Reference materials, including directories and bibliographies.

Collected Selectively

Newspapers,microforms, and electronic resources.

Not Collected

Juvenile newspapers.

Other Local Resources

The Boston Public Library (BPL), a Boston Library Consortium member, subscribes to many U.S. and foreign newspapers. View their Newspapers page to learn more.