OFFLINE RESOURCES
As all family historians know, sometimes there’s no substitute for visiting archives and libraries in person
Not all newspapers have been digitised – especially the smaller periodicals and lesserknown local publications.
Visit your local family history centre, record office or library to see if it has newspaper card and paper indexes you can search. These were painstakingly compiled by family history societies before the digitisation of newspapers, and are often overlooked. They will point you to original sources, often held on microfilm on site, that you can examine in person.
Note that you may need to book a microfilm reader in advance of your visit.
Regional collections are available at the National
Library of Wales ( library. wales), the National Library of Scotland ( nls.uk) and Belfast Central Library ( bit. ly/belfast-lib). If you are a member of the
British Library ( bl.uk), you can access digital
scans of the Guardian (1821–2003) and the
Observer (1791–2003) via ProQuest in its reading rooms at St Pancras, London, and Boston Spa. As mentioned earlier, you can also access the British Newspaper Archive for free in the Reading Rooms – all you have to do is register (for free).
If you have ancestors from any of the former British colonies or dominions, The National Archives holds a collection of official colonial newspapers also known as government gazettes ( nationalarchives.gov.uk). Ask for the CODOFO paper index, which includes a list of these publications. They are not digitised, so pinpoint the date range of any events you are searching for ahead of your visit – and allow yourself time to browse.