Using the University Library

The University of Illinois Library is housed in several buildings across campus. The main Library contains the bookstacks, where the bulk of our collections are housed, and several of the departmental libraries. Other departmental libraries are located in other buildings on campus. In addition, we have a high-density, off-site storage facility that houses nearly two million items.

Because of the size of the collections, finding information in the UIUC Library can be rather daunting. The Undergraduate Library has some excellent tutorials on their Frequently Asked Questions page that will help you understand the different types of resources available, and how to best go about obtaining them.

How to Find Newspapers | How to Use Subject Headings | How to Obtain Resources from Other Libraries | How to Use Microform

How to Find Newspapers

Historic newspapers are a rich source of genealogical information.  No other primary source conveys the sensibility of an era and the feel of a place better than the local newspaper.  The UIUC Library holds both original newsprint and a vast number of newspapers on microfilm.   In addition, we provide access to a large number of historical newspapers that have been digitized.  The advantage of digital newspapers is ease of access.  Prior to digitization, most newspapers were never indexed, so researchers simply had to read issue-by-issue to find source material.  (A few indexes were produced for national newspapers, such as the New York Times, the Wall Street Journal, and the Los Angeles Times.)  With digitization, the newspapers are not only browsable, but also keyword searchable.

The History, Philosophy and Newspaper Library at UIUC maintains a large collection of newspapers from communities in Illinois and from other states across the country, as well as foreign newspapers, mainly on microfilm.  Only a few newspapers from Illinois have been digitized to date.  To locate newspapers for a particular community, use our UIUC Newspaper Database. 

There are links to collections of digitized historical newspapers on the History, Philosophy and Newspaper Library web site, under Quick Links.  Included are subscription databases (available at public computers in the Main Library or any of the departmental libraries on campus, or off campus to users with a UIUC net id), as well as a growing number of free sites.

Located at the UIUC library, the Illinois Newspaper Project is part of the U.S. Newspaper Program, a cooperative effort between the federal government and the states. This program was established in the 1980s to identify, catalog and preserve the nation’s newspaper heritage.  The INP team travels throughout Illinois inventorying and cataloging collections of newspapers held by libraries, private organizations, and individuals.  Newspapers that have not already been preserved on microfilm are filmed to create a permanent record of this vanishing material.  The UIUC Library has copies of all the microfilm produced under the Illinois Newspaper Project.  In addition, we host a web-based searchable database of all newspapers inventoried and preserved through the project.

The National Digital Newspaper Program is the successor to the U.S. Newspaper Program.  Like USNP, NDNP is funded by NEH and administered by the Library of Congress.  Grants are made to libraries and historical societies to digitize newspapers from microfilm.  The program started in 2005, with six awards (Library of Virginia, New York Public Library, University of California - Riverside, University of Florida, University of Kentucky, and University of Utah).  Three more states were added in 2007 (Minnesota Historical Society, University of Nebraska, and University of North Texas).  All of the individual state projects will contribute their digital newspapers to a joint repository, Chronicling America, maintained by the Library of Congress and available to the public for free.

How to Use Subject Headings

On each of the Illinois County pages, we have provided a few Library of Congress Subject Headings (LCSH) to aid you in your search. To use these subject headings, simply enter the subject heading into the University's Online Catalog, and tell it to search by subject heading. (See below).

For more information on LCSH, see the Undergraduate Library's help page: How to Locate and Use Subject Headings

How to Obtain Resources from Other Libraries

If you have searched our online catalog and the materials you want are not available here (i.e. they are either checked out, lost, or we just do not own them), chances are good that we can get them for you from another library in Illinois or, if necessary, outside the state. This service is free to UIUC patrons. For information on how to do this, please see the Undergraduate Library's help page for Inter-library loans.

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How to Use Microform

The University Library has several resources available on microform. For help finding microform, see the History, Philosophy and Newspaper Website. For help using the Digital Microform Reader Scanners, please see this manual (PDF).

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