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Middle East and Islamic Studies Library Resources

A guide designed for graduate students and researchers.

Newspapers

HOLLIS Catalog has several holdings for Middle East and North African Newspapers. 

>Note:  Search Library Catalog, Search genre Newspaper, Search by Country, filter by date, filter by language, 

Here's an example of a saved search for Tunisian Newspapers between 1800-1950.  (see attached image as well as link here)

CONSORTIA PARTNERS & DATABASES

We also have several consortium partnerships that may be of interest when searching for North African and Middle East Newspapers that can be ordered via Harvard Inter-Library Loan.

  • Center for Research Libraries
  • US Library of Congress

Databases with Newspapers

Mideast Wire.com: English summaries, with links to original text as available, of news from 22 Arab countries, Iran, and the Arab media Diaspora covering from 2005 to the present

Multidata Online: provides full text from and bibliographic citations to selected newspapers and periodicals from the Arab world in Arabic, English, and French. The file consists of five databases: 1."General News" with full text covering 52 dailies and weeklies since 1994; 2. "Specialized Periodicals" with bibliographic citations from more than 225 specialized Arabic periodicals since 1920; 3. "Reviews" with full text book reviews from more than 250 newspapers and magazines in the Arab world from 1998; 4. "Theses" with a subject index to theses submitted to 21 Lebanese institutions of higher learning; and, 5. "Index Arabicus" documenting the contents of 42 Arabic periodicals published between 1870 and 1969. The database has both Arabic and English interfaces.

Center for Research Libraries

The Center for Research Libraries has an extensive collection of MENA region Newspapers. Please see the CRL’s catalog and if there is material of interest, you may request through Harvard Library’s Office of Inter Library Loan (ILL.)

 Harvard is a member of CRL so these can be requested through ILL.

CRL, Middle East Microform Project

Middle East in Microform: A Union List of Middle Eastern Microforms in North American Libraries(link is external) is now available on the University of Washington’s Website.

Arts & Culture Newspapers

  • Aljadid.  This serial is produced by the Nagam Cultural Project to be a “record of Arab culture and arts.” MEMP has filmed al-Jadid from June to November 1993 and Aljadid from November 1995 to Summer 2002. MEMP will continue to film this title on a continual basis

 

 

Arab Diasporic Newspapers 

Arab-American newspapers, Focus issue on Middle East Studies (Spring 2004)

  • Al-Samir (Brooklyn, New York) [1936-1957]. Al-Samir was one of the longest-running Arabic newspapers in the United States. It was edited by the Lebanese writer, journalist, and poet Elia Daher Abu Madi (1889-1957). The newspaper contains news and articles concerning the Arabic community in America along with international news. All of the editorials were written by Abu Madi.

  • Al-Samir. CRL, MEMP has filmed this newspaper from New York, which was once the largest Arabic daily publication in the United States. The newspaper contains news and articles concerning the Arab community in the United States along with international news. All of the editorials were written by Abu Madi, one of the founders of the "Pen League" Catalog Record

  • Beirut Times. An ethnic newspaper from California, the Beirut Times documents Arab-American communities, with a focus on Los Angeles, and is being filmed by Bay Microfilm, Inc. MEMP owns August 31, 1985–December 31, 2008 and intends to preserve additional issues.

  • al-Quds al-Arabi (London) MEMP is filming issues from 1989 to the present of the London title al-Quds al-Arabi, which covers contemporary Middle East issues. 

  • Barid al-Janub (London, England) [1995-2001]. Published in London, this opposition paper documents the Iraqi community in exile through the events of 2001.

 

Iraqi Newspapers

MEMP is microfilming several post-2003 Iraqi newspapers from the collection of the University of California, Berkeley.  al-Dawah is published by the party to which Prime Minister Maliki belongs.  al-Zaman is a major indepedent newspaper in London which covers Iraqi politics.  Al-Fat'h al-Mubin, al-Bayyinah al-Jadidah, and al-Huda represent Shi-ite political views.

MEMP has also received more than 20 newspaper titles from Iraq that were collected by the Library of Congress office in Cairo.  These will be microfilmed in 2014 and 2015.  Titles include:  Al-Istiqamah (Baghdad, Iraq) Dec. 27, 2003 – Oct. 16, 2008,  Al-Manar al-Yawm (Baghdad, Iraq) Mar. 22, 2004 – Apr. 6, 2005, Al-Sa’ah (Baghdad, Iraq) December 27, 2003 – April 8, 2009, and many short runs of other titles.

  • Habzbuz is an illustrated, satirical Arabic-language newspaper published in Baghdad after the 2003 invasion. MEMP has digitized issues from 2003. The newspaper contains a wealth of political cartoons on events and public figures during the U.S. occupation.

  •  Al-Iraq is an Arabic-language newspaper of the Iraqi diaspora community, published in Glendale, California. The issues included in this digitization project are from April 2011 to October 2013.

  • Ahali Group Newspapers

    The Ahali Group of Newspapers reflect the ideas, philosophy, and political activities of first the Ahali Group and later the National Democratic Party of Iraq.  The political publications of the Group commenced in 1932 and continued intermittently, under various names, until 1963.  The Chadirji Research Centre produced a set of 27 microfilm reels and an index to the collection.  It contains collections of al-Ahali, Sawt al-Ahali, al-Mabdaa, al-Bayan, Sada al-Ahali, al-Mauatin, and al-Akhaa al-Watani. An article index is available on CD-ROM. Catalog Record  Guide

 

Iran Newspapers

  • Journal de Teheran is a general newspaper in French from Iran.  Stanford has contributed its holdings for 1949-1956 and 1960-1967 for MEMP microfilming.

  • Subh-i Iran MEMP will preserve issues from 1987-2005 of this Persian language daily newspaper published in Los Angeles.  The newspaper contains information on the local Iranian community as well as news from Iran.

  • al-Tahrir This Egyptian journal began publishing in 2011, after the revolution began.  Stanford is providing holdings of al-Tahrir for this MEMP microfilming project.

  • Chaquèri Collection of Iranian Left-wing Materials 1960-1985

    MEMP has filmed a portion of the Chaquèri Collection of Iranian left-wing materials produced by, or relating to, a number of groups opposing the regime of Muhammad Riza Shah Pahlavi (r. 1941-1979). The collection amounts to 1,100 items, and includes pamphlets and other ephemeral material.  The items in the collection are cataloged individually and can be accessed hereCatalog Record  Guide

 

Morocco Newspapers

 

Turkish Newspapers

MEMP's project microfilmed Turkish newspapers held by CRL, which complements previously filmed material held around the United States. This multiyear commitment has filmed several titles, including  Milliyet, Son Posta, and Vakit.

  • Yas Turkistan. MEMP microfilm holdings from 1932-1939 provided by Indiana University.  Yas Turkistan was an anti-bolshevik journal in Arabic script published in Berlin by Central Asian immigrants who created the political group struggling for freedom in Central Asia.

  • Cumhuriyet—Istanbul, Turkey (daily) [1956–present]

 

Yemen Newspapers

Al-Sahwah (Sana'a, Yemen) [1985-2001]. Another opposition paper, this title is the organ of the Tajammu’ al-Yamani lil-Islah (Yemeni Alliance for Reform), an Islamic party from Yemen.

Library of Congress (LOC)

Library of Congress Arabic World Newspapers

The Library of Congress has a large collection of Middle East & Arab World Newspaper that may be of interest. Similarly, please see the LOC  catalog and if there is material of interest, you may request through Harvard Library’s Office of Inter Library Loan (ILL.)

 

Library of Congress Arabic Pamphlet Collection,
Part I

This collection was filmed in the 1990s from material collected at the Library of Congress.  Materials are in Arabic, English, French, German, and other languages.  The collection contains pamphlets and other ephemeral materials from the 1950s through the early 1980s.
Guide

Library of Congress Arabic Pamphlet Collection,
Part II

This collection of over 4,000 items was microfilmed on 89 reels by MEMP in 2009-2010.  The materials were collected by Dr. George Atiyeh, former Head of the Near East Section of the Library of Congress from 1967 to 1996.  The collection includes pamphlets, speeches, newsletters, and other ephemera from across the Middle East, published mostly 1960-1995.  Many of the materials are in Arabic, but there are quite a number of items in English and French and also German, Spanish, Russian and other languages.
Catalog Record  Guide

Library of Congress Arabic Pamphlet Collection, Part III

This collection includes over 1,300 documents microfilmed on 55 reels by MEMP in 2019.  Many of the items are from Egypt, Sudan and West Bank/Gaza, with additional materials from other countries.  They were published in the late 1990s and 2000s, up until 2015.  They deal with a wide variety of subjects such as politics, culture, laws, women, public health, environment, economics, and human rights.  They also contain materials regarding different political parties, movements, and social and economic events.  Many of the materials are in Arabic, but there are quite a number in English and French.
Catalog Record  Guide