Newspapers

Scope

This guide applies to records that are newspapers—publications, usually printed daily or weekly, containing articles about world, national, or local events and other topics. Use this broader record type only when the item fits this description but cannot be accurately categorized as one of its child types (Anniversary Notices, Birth Notices, Death Notices, Engagement Notices, Newspaper Articles, Newspaper Extracts, Newspaper Indexes, or Obituaries). If the record clearly matches one of those child types, assign the more specific type instead.

What Are Newspapers and How Do You Recognize Them?

• Periodicity cues (daily/weekly dates, issue numbers, volumes)
• Distinctive newspaper layout: masthead/title at the top, multiple columns, headlines, and bylines
• Sections such as international, national, local, editorial, classifieds, advertisements, and sports
• Publisher/imprint details (impressum/colophon), price, and circulation statements
• Large-format sheets or bound volumes of issues; may also appear as microfilm or digitized scans
  

Elements Sometimes Found in Newspapers

• Title (newspaper name/masthead)
• Date of issue and edition/issue number
• Volume and series information
• Headlines and article text (notices, articles, indexes may belong to child types)
• Images, illustrations, and advertisements
• Publisher/printing office and place of publication
• Price, circulation/print run, and subscription information
• Editorial board or staff list (masthead/impressum)
• Corrections/errata and retractions

Natural Group

Treat each distinct issue (edition) of a newspaper as its own natural group. If working with bound volumes or microfilm, group by volume or reel and maintain issue-level structure inside the folder.

Descriptive Metadata

Date: Enter the publication date of the issue or issues (YYYY-MM-DD preferred).

Locality: Enter the place of publication (city/town, administrative unit, country).

Creator: Enter the publisher or printing office responsible for the newspaper.

Volume: Enter volume/series/reel information used by the archive or custodian.

Title: Enter the newspaper’s title as it appears on the masthead or as designated by the archive.

Custodian Reference ID: If assigned, enter the archive’s reference ID; enter a single hyphen (-) if none exists.

Keywords (Selected Languages)