Finding Newspapers at Harvard

Search HOLLIS

This page offers instructions on finding HOLLIS records for paper, microfilm, and online newspapers.  Instructions for finding newspaper articles are on a different page of this guide.

The quickest way is to look up the title or location in HOLLIS Library Catalog.  Remember that the titles of newspaper change frequently, e.g. Daily Herald to Morning Herald.  Sample search:

Code: MARC Place of publication: ke [For Kenya]
AND
Subject: Newspapers

Country and US state codes [To find the ke in the search above.]

Note that the same paper appears as: The Standard, The East African Standard, and The East African. So a broad search is best.

Also try:

Place of publication/production: Boston
AND
Subject: Newspapers
--Resource type: Journals

Due to a peculiarity of medical cataloging, this yields many journals as well as newspapers. You can eliminate most of these by excluding Location: Countway under Refine my results in the right-hand column.  Also eliminate books about newspapers by excluding Resource Type: Books. To do this hit the red check mark after Countway and Books in the list.  Sample HOLLIS search.

Limiting by date (1901-1935) will yield all newspapers in HOLLIS published during that era.

Check Newspaper Databases

For online versions, HOLLIS Library Catalog searches many but not all of Harvard's databases.  Also, the individual databases, listed elsewhere in this guide, offer search features not available in HOLLIS..

Check Microfilm Collections

Many newspapers are included in microfilm subject collections, For example underground newspaper collections. These are housed in the Government Documents/Microforms Collection in Lamont. Some of these are listed on the Microfilm Collections page of this guide.

Check NMRR Indexes

In addition to searching HOLLIS, it may also be useful to consult the catalog of the old Newspaper Microfilm Reading Room, currently contained in two spreadsheets. This is no longer updated but is very useful for non-current holdings. The room itself is closed. To use these materials, check with the Widener Circulation Desk.

African-American Newspapers and Microfilms. List of holdings in Widener. Includes geographical and alphabetical listings.

To find the paper newspaper indexes formerly in the Newspaper Microfilm Reading Room, do the following search:

Local call number: indexfilm*
AND
Keyword anywhere: Monde [Your search term]
--Search Scope (upper right): Widener

The paper New York times index New York times index is available in Widener's Loker Reading Room (Widener 2nd floor) at RR 683.15.

Using Widener Newspaper Microfilm

Newspaper microfilm is kept in a room off the far left-hand corner of  Widener 180 (behind the main staircase), There are microfilm readers available in Room 180.

Visitors should request microfilm in the Phillips Reading Room. Microfilm readers are available in the Atkins Reference Room, Widener 2nd floor.

East Asian Newspapers

For newspapers in Chinese, Japanese and Korean, see the Online Resources guides under Conducting Research on the Harvard-Yenching web page.

If Harvard Doesn't Have It:

To obtain a list of the newspapers published in a particular city in a particular year, use:

N.W. Ayer & Son's directory of newspapers and periodicals. Sources for foreign papers are available.

The Chronicling America U.S. Newspaper Directory, 1690-Present. Searches for newspapers can be limited by language and ethnicity.

Newspapers in microform. Catalog Publication Division, Library of Congress. HOLLIS Record
--Lists holdings of numerous US libraries.

Look in WorldCat, searching Publisher location in Advanced search. Search a word out of the title. Herald may be better than Morning Herald as the details of newspaper titles often change. Limit type to Serial Publications. Submit a request via Interlibrary Loan for the microfilm. Put the OCLC number (bottom of WorldCat record) on the loan Request form in the OCLC Number field. This usually takes about 10 days or 2 weeks. When the microfilm arrives it will be held for you in the Newspaper Microfilm Reading Room.

To find newspapers held by other Boston area libraries, use the Boston Library Consortium catalog search (Open Limit Your Search, then Boston Library Consortium). It is best to confirm holdings and format by searching the catalog and contacting the reference dept. of the holding library.

The Boston Public Library receives many titles not held by Harvard and has an extensive collection of Massachusetts and other newspapers on microfilm.

Interlibrary Loan will try to get the microfilm.