Digital resources for research and family genealogy are growing rapidly. One of the most valuable research tools are old newspapers. Perhaps one of the largest online collections is from Google News.
Google Newspapers has been around for about ten years now. There are thousands of pages of old newspapers that may be browsed and researched online.
Google reportedly has plans to improve the service in the near future, and perhaps add more titles. However, there is no official word or timeline.
North and South Carolina residents may be interested to know that there are two important resources for local news.
The North Carolina Digital Heritage Center at UNC-Chapel Hill has over 100 community newspapers available online dating back to the 1800’s. Access is free.
The University of South Carolina Digital Newspaper Program offers over 300,000 pages of historical South Carolina newspaper titles. The University has partnered with the Library of Congress to make the documents available through the Chronicling America program.
There are hundreds of national, regional, and local websites offering similar access to old newspapers. Explore the past, and your heritage, with newspapers.