How to Find is a blog series on the tips, tricks, and tools to help you navigate the collections of the Newspaper and Current Periodical Reading Room.
So you want to know what newspapers the Library of Congress currently receives. We have two interactive lists that can help you get started from the comfort of your own home! One list is for foreign newspapers and the other is for U.S. newspapers, and both operate the same way.
For the context of these lists of currently received newspapers, the word “current” is used here as a loose definition of newspapers actively published in the 21st century (January 2001-present). So even though some newspapers may have recently ceased publishing, this list will most likely still have them listed. New titles get added to the list more often than old titles get removed. These titles are also discoverable in the Library’s online catalog, but the list of newspapers can be an easier, faster place to get started.
The formats included on these lists are print, digital e-prints, and microfilm. They do not include subscription database access we may have, or items included in the web archive.
Where Are the Lists?
On our reading room website, we have a page dedicated to each format collected in the Serials Division. Under the Collections tab, navigate to “Newspapers” and identify the links to the currently received lists in the drop-down menus for both foreign and U.S. newspapers.
These links take you to the location of the lists on the research guides dedicated to the entirety of the foreign or U.S. newspaper collections.
The list starts out with all the titles in rows, and will adapt to show results based on the words typed in the search box on the page.
What to Search
As soon as you start typing in the search box, the list will change to show results. You can search broadly for a single word in a newspaper title, or a single state name. You can also search for a specific title, using quotation marks to keep the words precisely in order.
After typing in a search word, you can click on a column heading, like “City”, and the results will sort in descending or ascending alphabetical order.
The titles in blue text are linked to the catalog record for that title where you can find more publishing information and the date ranges that are included in the collection.
Column Headings Explained
The “Audience” column gives you an idea of what communities and ethnicities a paper was written for. The foreign newspaper list includes a “Language” column instead.
The “Retention” column (highlighted in yellow) will provide information on what formats we have for each title, as well as other notes related to the location of the title. Some U.S. newspaper titles are held by other reading rooms, and can only be accessed there. On the Foreign Newspaper list, there is a column heading “Location” which provides the reading room acronym for each title’s location.
The “Microfilm Control #” or “Microfilm Number” column reports the call number you need to request the title on microfilm.
The “Stacks” column refers to titles that exist in our collection as digital e-prints. These are stored in a custom database called Stacks, which is available on-site only.
These lists are one of many ways we navigate the Library’s newspaper collections, and can serve as a helpful way to begin searching for title within the “current” time frame. If you are interested in more historic newspapers, or newspapers in original print formats, check out our research guides on the Newspaper webpage, or contact us. We’re always happy to help you navigate the collections, and can be reached via Ask A Librarian email, phone call, or chat (at select times).
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