Research with paper and microfilm newspapers at the library

Reading old newspapers can give you a contemporary view on the past. But, many historical newspapers haven’t been digitized. Start your research at Central Library.

Finding articles that aren’t online

The library’s print and microfilm newspapers are arranged in date order. If you know the date that an article was published, or want to read news from a specific time period, find a newspaper and browse it. Start with these resource lists of newspapers you can find at the library:

If you are looking for articles on a topic, about a person or an event, you’ll need an index. An index lets you search for articles by keywords or topics. It also tells you where to find the articles.  

Using newspaper indexes

If the newspaper you want to read has not been digitized, an index will help you find articles about your topic.

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A large piece of furniture with small drawers all throughout known as the local newspaper index card file, located in the Periodicals area at Central Library.

In the Periodicals area at Central Library you’ll find the local newspaper index card file. Use it to look for any subject, from A to Z. Each card in the index lists the headline, newspaper, date and page number of one or a few articles on a subject. Most of the articles mentioned in the index were published from 1930 to 1987. 

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A card in the library’s local newspaper index, with citations for articles about a 1964 shipwreck in Alaska.

If you need an index for Portland-area newspaper stories published before 1930, contact us for help. Central Library has additional indexes for the Oregon Journal, the Oregon Spectator, and The Oregonian. These indexes are in book format, and you can use them to look for topics from A to Z.

Any of these indexes can help you find information about articles. To find and read the actual articles, you’ll need to look at the original paper newspapers (or microfilmed copies of the newspapers).

Finding print or microfilm newspapers in the library’s collection

The library maintains an extensive archive of Portland newspapers of all types, stretching back more than a hundred years. This list of historical local newspapers at the library can help you find the newspaper you need. If the newspaper you want is still being published, try this list of current newspapers available at the library.

Most of the library’s microfilmed newspapers are kept at Central Library. There is an archive of the Gresham Outlook on microfilm at Gresham Library. Staff at Gresham and Central libraries can help you use the microfilm machines and make copies of articles.

Dig a little deeper

You might also want to read news articles published in other places. Try these strategies for finding historical newspapers from other parts of Oregon, and from around the U.S. 

Don’t forget online historical newspapers

Have you checked to see if there is a digitized newspaper that will work for your research?  A number of historical newspapers published in Portland and throughout Oregon are available to search, browse and read online

Ask us!

Historical newspaper research is complex and can be challenging. When you get stuck, contact us by email, chat or telephone. We’ll do our best to help you restart your research.