The newspaper library is a place where collections of newspapers and / or magazines are kept to serve the public, they can be found in buildings, premises or rooms, generally located in a library. To know what a newspaper library is, you need to know its origin, which is associated with the evolution of the library and the publishing industry. This building is developed as the need to concentrate and organize an increasing number of newspapers, magazines and other periodical, annual and irregular publications is realized. In 1900 the term was proposed by Henri Martin at an International Congress of Libraries, held in Paris.
What is newspaper library
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It is a space for study and consultation, which allows the user to obtain information on a topic of interest and the most important events that occurred in a specific place and date. Today, it is possible to consult past editions of some newspapers via the Internet.
It comes from two Greek words Hemera (Day) and Theke (box or deposit). It is a physical place to store the daily or periodical publications that arrive at a specific place, this is usually located in the libraries.
Functions of the newspaper archives
Its importance can be explained through various options, which are based on making history from their own community, covering intellectual needs, understanding the present on the basis of past knowledge, establishing bases for research studies and specializations in different subjects.
Its main function is to contribute with the information and research carried out by technicians and academics, as well as to promote and organize activities that have to do with the different areas of research and, in this way, the culture and vocation to elaborate, edit and distribute books, guides, inventories, catalogs, brochures, studies or any other type of instrument printed or stored in different media to facilitate future research.
It also gives the public the solution to the doubts that users may have on different topics.
Those made on paper have the same function as libraries, the interested person looks for a specific news item, that is, with a specific date, and asks the librarian to consult one or more numbers of the same news item.
National Newspaper Library of Mexico
Also known by its acronym HNM. Its founding date was March 28, 1994 and those in charge of the historical event were Rodulfo Brito Foucher, who at that time was rector of the UNAM and the President of the Republic, Manuel Ávila Camacho. This was done in the ancient temple of San Pedro and San Pablo. The architects who took charge of its remodeling were Jorge Medellín and Alfonso Pallares.
Later, in 1967, the bibliographic research institute was created to maintain the administration and coordination of the National Library of Mexico, which was transferred from the old temple of San Agustín to the university cultural center 12 years later (this is its headquarters current).
Currently there are many newspaper archives, including the El Informador Newspaper Library, the Digital Newspaper Library, the UNAM Newspaper Library, the El Universal Newspaper Library, the Excelsior Newspaper Library and, finally, the Online Newspaper Library.
Here are some examples of newspaper archives of large newspapers and newspapers in Mexico:
Newspaper library
It is a well-known electronic page where the newspaper El Informador has been read for almost one hundred years. It can be a lot of fun although it is advisable to avoid topics that would lead to hundreds of thousands of references, for example, if you are looking for public transport as a topic, you will have hundreds of thousands of references so you should look for modifications of public transport, in this way the result will be reduced to tens of thousands of references.
Digital newspaper library
Until now, the National Archive of Digital Newspapers of Mexico (HNDM) has more than nine million digitized pages, corresponding to 947 titles of Mexican newspapers and some published abroad, which, in a certain way, influenced the daily events of the national life.
However, the limitations indicated by the legislation on intellectual property prevent all collections from being shown on the Internet, so that some titles are only accessible within the facilities of the National Newspaper Archive of Mexico.
UNAM Newspaper Library
There are the files in digital format of the printed periodical publications of the hemerographic heritage of Mexico since 1722 and 2010. Users will be able to find the information through basic or advanced searches for words or phrases.
El Universal Newspaper Library
It is the Gran Diario de México, the only one with more than 100 years of history and it consults the most important facts and events in the country throughout this century of information.
Excelsior Newspaper Library
It is one of the newspapers with the greatest presence in the history of Mexican journalism and during its long history as a news outlet it has witnessed the profound transformations of the country. Excelsior emerged at a time of great political and social effervescence; However, the crisis environment implied transformations and opportunities that were taken advantage of by the entrepreneurs of the news.
Mexico Digital Newspaper Library
It is a virtual repository of periodicals of a historical nature, which seeks to fulfill the same objectives that guide the National Newspaper Library of Mexico, which is to promote and favor the preservation, conservation and dissemination of the country's heritage.
Due to the limitations indicated by the legislation on intellectual property, only digital representations of publications are available through the Internet that, over time and in accordance with national legislation, have already passed into the public domain; official publications of the state and federal governments.
Online newspaper library
There are sources to turn to when conducting research work is required, it is essential to expand knowledge and have a good academic performance, some digital newspaper libraries classified for Mexico are:
- Hemeroteca of the Library of Mexico "José Vasconcelos". They are beginning to digitize their material and will soon be uploading it to the network.
- The Informant. It has archives from 1907 to 2009.
- The Century of Torreón. Its archives cover the period between 1922-2011.
How to make a newspaper library
Just by learning to read a newspaper, different research works could be carried out, but, nowadays, the elaboration of bibliographic instruments is justified with the teaching of effective data search and this is another great importance of these repositories of publications nowadays.
Now, when knowing what a newspaper library is, its functions, what a newspaper library is for and, of course, the importance of the newspaper library, it is imperative to explain how to make a newspaper library in a few steps (both physically and digitally).
- Each cut is then organized chronologically, that is, by dates. They are placed on a white sheet, one per sheet, and under the cutout write the newspaper card; author, year, title, journal, body and / or section, page and date.
- Later, on another page, a summary or analysis of the news of the cut is made. They are put together in chronological order, a cover is drawn up and finally placed in a folder.
- Now, with respect to a newspaper library in a digital frame, the same steps must be followed as in a physical archive, with the difference that once all the information is obtained, it must be scanned and stored in a folder, organizing everything in a chronological order.
Generally, this is organized in alphabetical order, that is, by title and, after that, by date. An index must be created and finally shared with the public when developing it in a web space. Taking into account the search filter so that everyone has access to the newspaper library.
