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- Lynn Jones
- Office Hours: by appointment or Skype me: lynn.jones1000
- Office Location: 212 Doe Library
- Contact Info:
510 768-7643
The newspaper databases listed here contain articles published mostly after 1985. For historical topics use Historical Newspapers [Proquest] database
Suppose you know the name of the journal, newspaper or magazine you want. Does Berkeley own it? Search Oskicat to find out.
Daily Cal Indexes
The index to the Daily Cal has changed format many times. Here’s a summary of where each chunk can be found.
1874 - 1929 is indexed in a card file in Bancroft’s University Archive. Easier to get to is the microfilm copy of the card file, which is in Newspaper/Micro Room under call no.: MICROFILM 20031 (3 reels).
1930 - June 1991 is indexed in card file located in Newspaper/Micro Room.
July 1991 - June 1994 is indexed in a printed index, which can be found in both: Doe Reference Periodical Indexes [AJ21.D333] and in the Newspaper Microform Room [AJ21.D29 NEWS\] And in the Online Archive of California website http://oac.cdlib.org/findaid/ark:/13030/tf4f59n7s5
September 1997 - current is in Lexis/Nexis (use Easy Search, enter Daily Californian in the By Source Title box
June 1999 - current is indexed and searchable at http://www.dailycal.org/search_advanced.php.
Flatlands (Oakland, 1966-67) Location: News/Micro MICROFILM 78777, Bancroft BANC NMP 6764:2:3
The Post (shelved as “Oakland Post,” 1963-67) Location: News/Micro NEWSPRINT-1
The Sacramento Observer (Sacramento, 1962-present) Location: News/Micro NEWSFILM-1
The Sun-Reporter (San Francisco, 1943-present) Location: News/Micro NEWSFILM-1
Los Angeles Tribune (Los Angeles, 1941-1960) Location: library only has selected issues, mainly from 1947-1952 in News/Micro NEWSFILM-1
The California Eagle (Los Angeles, 1897-1966) Location: library has 1944-53 in News/Micro NEWSFILM-1, also available from Bancroft
The Peninsula Bulletin (East Palo Alto, 1971-1979) Location: News/Micro NEWSFILM-1
The California Voice (Oakland, 1920-1998) Location: News/Micro NEWSFILM-1 (separate issues)
Richmond Afro American (Richmond, VA, 1938-68) Location: library has selected issues from these dates, some of which may have to be requested from NRLF, others in News/Micro NEWSFILM-1
The Michigan Chronicle (Detroit, 1936-present) Location: News/Micro NEWSFILM-1 (1943-1974)
If the library location in OskiCat says "Newspapers and Microforms" it is referring to the Newspapers and Microforms Collection, 40 Doe Library.
To get there, enter the north entrance of Doe Library (the side facing Memorial Glade and the East Asian Library). Walk straight ahead until you reach the marble stairs; do NOT take the stairs, but instead turn right and go down the hall until you see stairs to the basement. (There is an elevator around the corner). Once you go down the stairs or elevator, the entrance to the Newspapers and Microforms collection should be directly in front of you.
Floor plan of Doe Library, 1st floor | Floor plan of Doe Library basement
The collection's hours are 10-7 M-Th, 10-5 on Fridays. The collection is not open on weekends, and microfilm cannot be checked out.
There are a limited number of machines -- please plan ahead! Be sure to bring a flash drive so you can save scanned copies of the microfilm to your disk. Scanning is free, but printing from the microfilm reader/printers is 10 cents a page. 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; click here for 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.
Because of their fragility as they age, newspapers have traditionally been preserved by microfilming them.
Microfilm must be read on microfilm reader/printers. The Newspaper and Microfilm Room in 40 Doe Library has them. So does Bancroft Library. Newspaper films are arranged geographically within the News|Micro collection [floorplan.pdf]
Reader/printers allow you to read the films and those in News|Micro allow you to save pages to flash drives in .jpg and .pdf format.
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.
Need to find newspapers from a specific city, or for a specific community? Search Oskicat to find them
So, you've found the newspaper you want to use. And you have a topic you want to research. How do you find articles in the newspaper? There are several strategies.
Popular magazines can be useful primary resources. An important database of popular magazines is called the Reader's Guide to Periodical Literature. Covers more than 500 leading American magazines and journals from 1890 to 1982.
Three important databases for research in History.
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When you use this chat widget a reference librarian from Berkeley, or another UC campus, or another academic library around the US may be answering your question. We share information about our libraries to make sure you get good answers.
If the librarian can't answer you well enough, your question will be referred to a Berkeley librarian for followup.
Have fun chatting.
Before you can access Library resources from off campus make sure you have configured your computer with proxy server settings.
After you make a one-time change in your web browser settings, the proxy server will ask you to log in with a CalNet ID or Library PIN when you click on the link to a licensed resource.
"There are no dumb questions!" 
That's the philosophy of reference librarians, who are here to save you time and trouble. If you get stuck, you can talk to a reference librarian at any campus library.
Other ways to get help: in person, by e-mail, using specialized chat services
A large part of the library's collection is stored off campus in an environmentally secure building called the Northern Regional Library Facility [NRLF].
Submit online requests via the REQUEST button in OskiCat to borrow material shelved at NRLF. To receive electronic or paper copies of book chapters or journal articles, submit an online request via the "Request an article from NRLF (photocopy or web delivery)" link that appears in eligible titles in OskiCat. Staff at public service desks of any campus library can assist you with further questions.
Log in to Request with your Calnet ID and fill out the screens. Choose the volume you want, for periodicals:
Books and journals are arranged on our shelves according to the Library of Congress (LC) classification system. Each is assigned a unique call number based on its subject matter and other characteristics. Items on the same subject will often be grouped together.
In using a call number to locate a book on the shelf, consider each element in turn before moving on to the next segment.
These call numbers are arranged as they should appear on the shelves. In each case, the element shown in boldface distinguishes the number from the preceding one:
| Q 76 K26 |
QA 17 F75 |
QA 17.1 C98 |
TK 3 Z37 |
TK 29 M49 |
TK 29 M5 1997 |
TK 29 M5 2007 |
Each call number consists of several elements. For example::
TK
7881.6
M29
1993
The FIRST line, TK, is based on the broad subject of the book. Within Class T for technology, TK represents electrical engineering.
The SECOND line, 7881.6, defines the subject matter more finely. When looking for the book, read this as a whole number with a decimal component. In this example, TK7881.6 represents magnetic recording (a subdivision of TK— electrical engineering).
The THIRD line, M29, usually indicates author, but may also represent a further subject subdivision, geographic area, etc. There may also be a fourth line, formatted the same way. When looking for the book, read the numeric component as if it were preceded by a decimal point. In the example above, the numeric part of M29 should be read as ".29" (and the call number TK7881.6 M29 comes before TK7881.6 M4).
The YEAR of publication, such as 1993, may also be present. These file in chronological order and often indicate successive editions of a book. The call number may also have additional elements, such as volume numbers.
