Researching newspaper articles is a great way to get primary source information on a topic of interest. They’ve never been more accessible to everyone, either, all you need is an Internet connection and some trusty sites to search. Here are some ideas to get you started.
1. NYS Historical newspapers: http://nyshistoricnewspapers.org/
Very easy to use site to browse news articles from New York. Just click on a county to begin browsing. Free to everyone. Not all counties are up on this site yet.
2. Fulton History: http://fultonhistory.com/my%20photo%20albums/all%20newspapers/index.html
A site begun by one man in his own home, it originally was just to share postcard pictures of Fulton, NY with his neighbors. He really took off with this site, however, and has personally uploaded more historical newspapers to his site than Chronicling America, through the National Library of Congress, has been able to add. Cons: It’s not easy to search right off the bat, but people can get the hang of it. Click on the Index at the top to get a Microsoft Excel spreadsheet of all the titles available and their dates. Also, try a Google search <http://www.google.com>for the topic + fulton history. Example: “Rorick’s Glen fulton history.” Google will bring you newspaper pages from the site with the articles of interest.
3. Speaking of Chronicling America, here is a link to the Library of Congress site: http://chroniclingamerica.loc.gov/
Free online newspapers, more being added all the time.
4. Here’s a directory of newspapers on the web, also through the Library of Congress:
http://www.loc.gov/rr/news/oltitles.html
Not all of the links are free, some are more effective than others, but it gives a great overview of sites all over the United States.
5. Last but not least, The Library of Australia has digitized all of their country’s historical newspapers. It’s a great site and very exciting to search. Let’s hope the U.S. takes note of what they’ve done and follows suit!