Library Guides: Asian American and Asian Diaspora Studies: Newspapers

Newspapers

Find contemporary and historical newspapers online, on microfilm, and at the UC Berkeley Libraries.

UC Berkeley Newspaper Databases

19th Century U.S. Newspapers This link opens in a new window
Images of both full pages and clipped articles for hundreds of 19th century U.S. newspapers. (Nineteenth Century U.S. Newspapers)
For each issue, the newspaper is captured from cover-to-cover, providing access to every article, advertisement and illustration.
Access World News This link opens in a new window
Full-text information and perspectives from U.S. and international news sources. (America's newspapers - NewsBank - global newsbank)
Provides full-text information and perspectives from over 600 U.S. and over 700 international sources. Offers strong regional coverage, indexing more than California newspapers such as Contra Costa Times (1995-current), Sacramento Bee (1984-current), San Francisco Chronicle (1985-current), and San Jose Mercury News (1985-current). Search categories include: California newspapers (121 titles), Greater Los Angeles (54 titles), major metropolitan titles (13 titles), Spanish-language news sources (48 titles), the World (almost 2000 titles), US (855 titles).

AsianWeek
AsianWeek was America's first and largest English language print and on-line publication serving Asian Americans. The news organization played an important role nationally and in the San Francisco Bay Area as the "Voice of Asian America". AsianWeek published from 1979 to 2009.

California Digital Newspaper Collection This link opens in a new window
Users will need to create a free account in order to download PDFs. Contains significant historical California newspapers published from 1846-1922. [1849 - 1911]
Offers over 400,000 pages of California newspapers spanning the years 1849-1911: the Alta California, 1849-1891; the San Francisco Call, 1893-1910; the Amador Ledger, 1900-1911; the Imperial Valley Press, 1901-1911; the Sacramento Record-Union, 1859-1890; and the Los Angeles Herald, 1905-1907. Additional years are forthcoming, as are other early California newspapers: the Californian; the California Star; the California Star and Californian; the Sacramento Transcript; the Placer Times; and the Pacific Rural Press.
Complete Database for Japanese Magazine and Periodicals from the Meiji Era to the Present This link opens in a new window
An index of Japanese journal and magazine articles from the Meiji period to the present, with a focus on academic materials.
Database of Japanese language magazines and periodicals.
Ethnic NewsWatch (ENWH) This link opens in a new window
Index of over 200 ethnic, minority, and native press publications, including news, culture, and history topics. Searchable in English and Spanish. (ENWALL) [1960 - present]
Also includes a retrospective backfile of titles (1960-1989).
Japanese American Relocation Camp Newspapers This link opens in a new window
Searchable full text database of 25 newspapers written and produced by Japanese Americans interned during World War II.
"Although subject to censorship the newspapers document the day to day life of the internees. Titles includes: Rohwer Outpost, Poston Chronicle, Gila News Courier, Tulean Dispatch, Granada Pioneer, Minndoka Irrigator, Topaz Times, Manzanar Free Press, Denson Tribune, and Heart Mountain Sentinel. (1942-1945)"
National Index to Chinese Newspapers and Periodicals 1833-1992 全国报刊索引 This link opens in a new window
It searches indexes of newspapers and periodicals published in China between 1833-1992.
ProQuest Historical Newspapers: Chinese Newspapers Collection This link opens in a new window
Gain insight into Chinese political and social life during the turbulent 120 year period from 1832 to 1953 with 12 English-language Chinese historical newspapers.
Included are critical perspectives on the ending of more than 2,000 years of imperial rule in China, the Taiping Rebellion, the Opium Wars with Great Britain, the Boxer Rebellion and the events leading up to the 1911 Xinhai Revolution, and the subsequent founding of the Republic of China. In addition to the article content, the full-image newspapers offer searchable access to advertisements, editorials, cartoons, and classified ads that illuminate history.
Rafu Shimpo Digital Archive This link opens in a new window
Rafu Shimpo began in 1903 and is the longest running Japanese American newspaper in the U. S. During WWII, it was suspended from 1942-1945, and was revived in 1946. The digital archive contains all obtainable issues from 1914 through 2018.
South Asian Newspapers (from the World Newspaper Archive (WNA)) This link opens in a new window
Digitized historical collection of South Asian newspapers. [late 19th C. - early 20th C.]
A growing collection of South Asian newspapers. Contains more than 200,000 pages of digitized content, including material from the Ceylon Observer, Indian People / Leader, Madras Mail, and the Tribune. Part of the World News Archive project from Readex/Newsbank.

Newspapers at the Ethnic Studies Library

Newspaper collections are available online through databases and physically available on microfilm or in their original format in the libraries. The Asian American Studies Collection at the Ethnic Studies Library contains historical and contemporary newspapers and serials from Asian American communities dating back to the nineteenth century. For more information, please contact the Ethnic Studies Library.

Search UC Library Search for newspapers by searching the title in a "Journal Search".

UC Berkeley Libraries Newspapers and Microform Collection

If the library location in UC Library Search says "Newspapers and Microforms" it is referring to the Newspapers and Microforms Collection, 40 Doe Library.

Check the hours of the unit before you go. The unit is not open on weekends, and microfilm cannot be checked out.

Be sure to bring a flash drive so you can save scanned copies of the microfilm to your disk. Scanning is free, but there is a charge for printing from the microfilm. You must use your Cal1 card to pay for printing.

In the News/Micro collection, microfilm rolls and microfiche cards are shelved with their own numbering system; see a PDF of the collection's floorplan.

Don't hesitate to ask for help! The News/Micro staff are experts in the use of the machines.

Newspapers on Microfilm

What are microforms?
Before digital storage became easy and cheap, microfilm and microfiche were formats that libraries could use to maintain large collections of newspapers, government documents, and historical documents while saving physical storage space. Rolls of microfilm and flat microfiche cards each contains thousands of tiny images of the original documents.

Access
You need to use a microfilm reader to view microfilm and microfiche. Microfilm readers allow you to read, print and save pages to flash drives in .jpg and .pdf format. The Libraries have a number of microform readers available:

Full list of Microform reader-printers
Newspaper and Microfilm Room (40 Doe Library)

Finding articles
Most newspapers do not have indexes. How do you find articles by subject? By knowing the approximate date of the event you are studying. If you don't know the date, you can use the index to a different newspaper as a way to find out.

Newspaper indexes you might want to use:

There are others. Ask the Newspaper Microfilm staff for help.

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Asian American and Asian Diaspora Studies

Newspapers

UC Berkeley Newspaper Databases

Newspapers at the Ethnic Studies Library

UC Berkeley Libraries Newspapers and Microform Collection

Newspapers on Microfilm