- University of Wisconsin-Madison
- Research Guides
- Journalism & Mass Communication Research Guide
- Databases: Primary Resources
Journalism & Mass Communication Research Guide : Databases: Primary Resources
This research guide will help you find resources for journalism and mass communication research.
Primary Source Material
Introduction:
The following are databases that contain primary source material or access to that material. Primary source material is defined as closest to the person, information, period, or idea being studied. To learn more about primary sources, please refer to this brief explanation written by Purdue Online Writing Lab.
For more information on available newspapers, please consult the Newspapers Research Guide. For more general help with historical research, check out the Historical Research Guide.
If you need assistance, please contact the Journalism Reading Room Librarian or stop by the Journalism Reading Room at 2130 Vilas Hall.
Primary Sources Databases:
- African NewspapersDatabase of newspapers from African nations.
- America's Historical Newspapers (1620-1922)Provides access to over 1,000 U.S. historical newspapers, with representation of all 50 states. Coverage varies by newspaper. Searchable by keyword, era, date range, location and title.
- AP NewsroomIncludes more than 3.5 million Associated Press primary-source photographs with original captions for every discipline. Also available are audio files from the 1920s to the present, 2 million Associated Press news stories from 1997 on, and a professionally produced collection of more than 45,000 maps, graphs, charts, logos, flags, illustrations, etc. Searchable and browsable by topic, era.
- Caribbean Newspaper Digital Library - CNDLCooperative digital library for newspapers resources from the Caribbean and circum-Caribbean.
- Foreign Broadcast Information Service (FBIS) Daily ReportsThis existing resource now contains more years of coverage and now contains daily report annexes for 1974-1996. In February 1941, the Roosevelt administration authorized the creation of the Foreign Broadcast Monitoring Service (FBMS). The mandate of the FBMS was to record, translate, transcribe and analyze foreign shortwave propaganda radio programs.
- Gale NewsVaultOnline newspaper portal: cross-searches Gale newspapers archives using a single interface, covering over 400 years of content, with over 10 million pages of full text images.
- The Harper's Bazaar ArchiveThis database covers the entire run of Harper’s Bazaar magazine, a fashion, arts, and culture authority from 1867 to the present. Scanned in full color and including monthly updates, the archive is supported by searchable text and indexing. Currently the archive is being completed; It has only Jan. – Mar. 1962; and then 1969-to current. Content going back to the start of the journal in 1867 is planned. Updates monthly.
- Hemeroteca DigitalHistorical newspapers and periodicals from Spain spanning the 17th to early 20th centuries. Spanish-language resource.
- Irish Newspaper ArchivesIrish Newspaper Archives includes Irish newspapers from 1763 to the present,in a fully-searchable format that includes images of the actual newspaper. The goal is to make all years of the newspapers available online, so coverage is both historical and current.
- Latin American Newspapers (1805-1922)Historical newspapers from Latin America.
- ProQuest: Chicago Tribune (1849-1985)This version of The Chicago Tribune and Chicago Daily Tribune includes full-text and full-image articles since its beginning year.
- ProQuest: Los Angeles Times (1881-1985)This version of The Los Angeles Times includes full-text and full-image articles since its beginning year.
- ProQuest: New York Times (1851-2006)This version of The New York Times includes full-text and full-image articles since its beginning year.
- ProQuest Historical Black Newspapers: Atlanta Daily World (1931-2003)This version of Atlanta Daily World contains full-text and full-image articles.
- ProQuest Historical Black Newspapers: Chicago Defender (1905 - 1975)This version of Chicago Defender includes full-text and full-image articles.
- ProQuest Historical Black Newspapers: Los Angeles Sentinel (1934-2005)This version of the Los Angeles Sentinel includes full-text and full-image articles.
- ProQuest Historical Black Newspapers: New York Amsterdam News (1905 - 1975)This version of the New York Amsterdam News includes full-text and full-image articles.
- ProQuest Historical Black Newspapers: Pittsburgh Courier (1911-2002)This version of the Pittsburgh Courier includes full-text and full-image articles.
- Readers Guide RetrospectiveIndexes the most popular general-interest periodicals published in the United States and reflects the history of 20th century America. More than 500 retrospective general-interest periodicals (pre-1983) are also included without abstracts. This database does not contain full-text articles. To find a full-text copy, Click on the Find It - UW Madison link at the top of each record to locate a copy of the article, either online or in print.
- South Asian Newspapers (1864-1922)World Newspaper Archive-South Asian Newspapers provides more than 400,000 fully searchable pages of newspapers published in South Asia dating from the 19th century. South Asian Newspapers features titles published in India, Pakistan, and Sri Lanka and languages include English, Bengali, and Gujarati. The titles are cross-searchable with other modules of the World Newspaper Archive.
- Television News ArchiveDescriptive summaries of over 30,000 television news programs collected in the Vanderbilt Archive. Includes programs from ABC, CBS, NBC and CNN. NOTE: This archive provides summaries of historic programs. However, CNN programs can be viewed online. Other programs may be available through loan copies of tapes for a fee from the Archive.
- Times of India (1838 - 2001)Includes full-text and full-image articles since its beginning year. Digital reproductions of every page and every article from every issue are available in downloadable PDF files. The database includes editorials, letters to the editor, photos, and advertisements in addition to news stories.
- Women's Magazine ArchiveThis database provides access to the complete archives of six 19th and 20th-century women’s magazines. In combination, the publications cover topics such as family life, home economics, health, careers, fashion, culture, and many more; this material serves multiple research areas, from gender studies, social history, and the arts, through to education, politics and marketing/media history. The magazines are all scanned from cover to cover in high-resolution color and include non-article items, such as advertisements.
