Newspapers provide an invaluable resource for researching World War I and the National Library holds the largest collection of Australian and overseas newspapers in Australia in both print and digital formats.
A range of Australian newspapers published during the World War I period can also be accessed online via the Trove digitised newspapers service. The service allows access to newspapers digitised as part of the Australian Newspaper Digitisation Program (ANDP).
Catalogue search tips
Newspapers may be found in the online catalogue using the Browse Subjects option in the catalogue. Use the name of the town followed by the subdivision 'Newspapers'.
You can also search by title for the name of the newspaper. For example:
In addition to browsing subject headings or using the titles of newspapers you can use different keywords alone or combined to identify a wide variety of newspaper related items. The following are some examples that can be used:
- ' war press coverage'
- 'war correspondents'
Results of such searches may reveal publications online, in other digital format (CD-ROM), on microform or in print.
Digital newspapers
A wide variety of Australian and international newspapers from the First World War period can be accessed online via eResources. These are available as free internet resources or online subscription databases. Titles include:
- Financial Times Historical Archive
- Irish Newspaper Archive
- Papers Past: New Zealand newspapers and periodicals
- Times Digital Archive
A range of historic Australian newspapers can be freely accessed online via the Trove digitised newspapers service.
Soldiers magazines and newspapers
The magazines and newspapers produced by soldiers of the AIF provide a larrikin view of life as well providing insight into the conditions under which they served. Some were produced on board ship (and bore their name such as The Ascanian) when the soldiers were leaving Australia, and include original writings, poetry and descriptive travel information on the various ports stopped at the sights seen by the men, many of whom were leaving Australia for the first time. Useful subject headings to locate this material include: