General Instructions
The three databases below search thousands of different newspapers from all over the world. You will also get transcripts of news broadcasts. While some newspapers may be in all three, each has unique titles as well. Dates of coverage vary from title to title. These databases are very difficult to search well. Read the instructions/tips below very carefully and thoughtfully over and over. This might also be a good time to make an appointment with a librarian!
If you want to find out which database includes a specific newspaper for specific years, click on the JOURNALS AND MAGAZINES tab on the library homepage and search the specific title you are interested in. If you were to search the Washington Post, for example, you would find different years are searchable in different databases:
Searching ACCESS World News
ACCESS World News has articles and broadcast transcripts from about 1000 different news sources from all over the United States as well as 150 other countries. While there are major newspapers that are conspicuously absent, like the Los Angeles Times or Chicago Tribune, all 50 states are pretty well represented. The dates of coverage vary from paper to paper. The tips for searching below will be time well spent. The details are critical!
TIPS for SEARCHING
Begin by clicking on MORE SEARCH OPTIONS just under the single search box.
To search for a topic, the best strategy is to use 3 search boxes set up like this:
In the Lead/First Paragraph box, to think of specific words or phrases that are likely to appear at the beginning of the story you are seeking. Put " " around phrases. Use the asterisk to truncate for different word endings. You have to really think about your language!
Use the 2nd box to put in date limits.
Select the longest Word Count option in the 3rd box to be sure to get stories of some substance!
If I were looking for a human interest story, for example, having to do with a sustainability issue, I might try a phrase like "bottled water" in the top search box. "Plastic bags" or "food desert*" also represent logical searches. You have to be thoughtful and creative about what you put in that Lead/First Paragraph search box.
While you can set your geographic limits before searching, you can also Limit Your Results geographically after you search. Your choices appear in the column to the left of the results display.
Taking your time scanning results is what you have to do here. The best story is definitely not going to pop-to-the-top. You need to browse for it.
Searching Factiva
Factiva has full text articles from newspapers and magazines as well as transcripts of broadcast media from all over the world. While the main audience for Factiva is the business community, this is our most complete database for foreign newspapers. International coverage, including material in foreign languages, is far more extensive than NexisUni. You can be very specific about the geographic area of your source as well. Items are updated constantly in the case of news wires and daily in the case of most everything else. Retrospective coverage varies from title to title, but some go back to the 1980's. Change the DATES (very carefully!) unless you just want the most current 3 months. Below the big search box, you can select SOURCES from a specific region or select a REGION of interest. Connect words and phrases using AND, OR & ( ). The default is to look for those words anywhere in the article. You can require the words or phrases to be in the Lead Paragraphs (1st 2 paragraphs of the story) by putting LP= in front of the word/phrase. Another thing you might want to do is specify the length of the story to just get in depth stories. Do that by adding this phrase to your search: wc>800. So, for example, a search for long stories about homelessness in San Francisco would look like this:
LP=san francisco AND LP=homeless* AND WC>800
Searching Nexis Uni (formerly LexisNexis)
Nexis Uni includes a lot of things other than typical news sources. But, it is a great place to search news as it includes about 5,000 different news sources from around the world.
When it opens you will want to work in the area labeled GUIDED SEARCH and follow the pattern you see here:
Select News. Compose a search statement with these two labeled parts. The 1st part, labeled LEAD, is where you put words or phrases you think would appear in the lead paragraph, or beginning, of the story and enclosed in parentheses. Use * to truncate words. Put " " around phrases. Put the word and between different words/phrases. Keep it short, though. Then add the Boolean AND. It is a good idea to specify the LENGTH of the story. >1000 will only get you stories of real substance, but you can choose the length you want! You can then either select a date range from the pulldown or enter one of your design.
Once you have run the search, options to narrow the results appear in a column to the left. LOCATION and PUBLICATION TYPE are two you might want to have a look at!