ABSTRACT

Since the growth of interest in local history and the expansion of academic research in the 1960s, newspapers have been a heavily-used source of information, covering as they do all subject fields, and providing a record of the ordinary life of communities which speaks more directly to the future researcher than any other original source material. They are used by a public which is wider than that for any other source material, for interests ranging from local history to sport, fashion, and puzzles. Microfilm is the single most important preservation medium for newspapers. It is an established technology, the photographic miniaturization of documents and engineering and architectural documents. The most important collection in the UK is that of the British Library Newspaper Library, world famous for the riches of its holdings and for the degree of integration of its specialist services. The British Library is the only legal deposit library in the UK to acquire and retain all UK newspapers.