Saturday, April 14, 2012

Newspaper Archives Online

I am sure that if you are reading this blog, you have spent more than a couple of hours scanning newspaper microfilm reels. You may be so details as to keep your own list of favorite newspaper microfilm reels, the dates they cover and where you can access them in a hurry! Up until the last decade, scanning old newspaper likely required spinning a reel or two at a library or archives.  Now a private Seattle-based company is providing access to hundreds of “small town” newspapers from across America. Small Town Papers (http://www.smalltownpapers.com) is leading the way to having many small, independent newspapers archived online. While the over 250 newspaper are from various parts of US (sorry no Canadian content yet), there is one particular newspaper section that may be of interest to those researching in New Brunswick, more specifically Charlotte County: “The Quoddy Times” which is still alive and well and still published in Eastport, Washington Co., Maine, can be found at http://qdy.stparchive.com/ There are a couple of great things about this website… it is free (ok, so you have a few nagging survey questions) and it is searchable. I must note however that their collection only represents a small portion of the Quoddy Times publication history as it only covers 1968, 1969, 1970 and 1975. Check it out!