Two Free Sources For Locating Digitized Newspapers Online

Recently, Thomas MacEntee wrote about Newspaper Finder in his post Newspaper Finder: The Free Tool Every Genealogist Needs to Find Historical Newspaper Archives Online. The site has the potential to be very useful. But it's new. And new generally comes with some growing pains. I'll most certainly be keeping an eye to see how it expands and develops. They currently include 32 databases (all the major subscription sites like Newspapers, OldNews, NewspaperArchive, Genealogybank, and more). I have no doubt they'll be expanding their offering as time goes on. The site is entirely free to search. If you'd like to read another great user review of the site, head on over to Marian B Wood's post Checking Out Newspaper Finder on Climbing My Family Tree. 

The one issue I had was the search results. Upon clicking on a pin on the map, they show as a list of the newspaper names, years included, and the website where the repository is located. It would be most intuitive to click the website (but those aren't hyperlinked). It took me a moment to realize you have to click on the publication name instead. Those are hyperlinked, but they don't really stand out. Once you click the publication name, you are taken to the site so you can do a more detailed search.

However, the location I needed in my research tonight wasn't coming up. To be fair, it only means this new site doesn't have a database where the particular location and potential titles I wanted are included. And to be extra fair, no one site is ever going to have 100% of anything. It's not really a limitation of the site....just a limitation based on the specific area I needed to search. So I did some more Googling and discovered another fantastic resource.

Talk about not being intuitive...the site is the Montana State University Billings (MSUB) library site. I know right?! How can a Montana college website be a great newspaper reference?! Well, under their History resources, they offer Historical U.S. Newspapers Online. The Home page for this section includes not only the option to search by state, but a section on other pages linking to websites with newspapers from many states. While some of these additional resources appear to be a little more specialized, it's still good information. Clicking on a letter in the menu bar takes you to the states, and each state shows an alphabetized list of newspapers with years. Clicking the link takes you directly to the site where you can do further searches. This site is also free to use.

I'm sure there's overlap between the 2 sites. But there are also differences. On the MSUB site, I was able to find a publication more suited to the data I was looking for...but sadly the years did not encompass the ones I need. But whenever I discover new tools (especially free ones) the time spent is never wasted. Both of these sites will be a great addition to your toolbox, and speaking of toolboxes, I've added both to my Genealogy Toolbox under Indexes/Databases/Newspapers. 

Note: While both sites are totally free to search, some results are to subscription sites where you would need a membership to do further research.