About the Times Digital Archive

Access to this resource, as with all 24/7 databases, is free to members of Westminster Libraries both within each library and from home using their library card.

The Times Digital Archive has been created by scanning every copy of the Times newspaper from 1785 to 2006.The whole newspaper is covered for all these dates; news, pictures, obituaries, advertisements, etc. Many of these sections can be specified when you search. The articles appear as they are scanned and are actually images on the page. The computer has been designed to read the text on these scanned pages. However, as you might imagine this is not always 100% reliable, therefore we recommend you find out what you can about the subject first; names, dates, places, etc.

Methods of searching

If you are looking for a specific article you may be able to do just a general search from the first page you see, this is the relevance search this does not use Boolean logic and may use different ways of spelling words and will rank results by relevance. Most searches though are looking for articles about a subject or a person. The best way of narrowing your search is by knowing roughly what dates you are looking at for the information you need whether it is to within a few years or a few months. To broaden your search try changing or reducing the number of words you are using.

Key word searching allows you to use Boolean logic (AND OR NOT between words) in your searches so you can eliminate certain results using NOT or combine searches using OR. It is worth noting that the most popular Boolean term is AND which we can get used to being added automatically with search engines such as Google; Keyword searching will not do this and will treat words together as a phrase.

You can also browse; looking at specific days and looking through the paper. Be warned though issues of the Times before 3 May 1966 just had adverts on their front pages.

Navigation

When you perform your search you will see a list of headlines. It can often be difficult to divulge from these alone whether a correct or relevant article has been found. When you go into an article to check; by clicking on the illustration, it is always possible to return to the list by clicking the Back button or the link which says Back to... Citations. You can also flick through your results using the article arrows just above the one you are currently viewing (if you have marked items on the list you can flick through just these ones using this method). When reading an article it may appear rather small. To make it more readable use the dropdown menu near the top of the page to a greater percentage e.g. 200%. Finally if you are not happy with your search either click Back straight from your list of results or use the Back to... Search option.

Saving and printing

It is possible to print or save material using screen shots or saving the images which contain the articles. This can also be a good method for printing as it allows you to use programs designed specifically for printing images such as Windows picture fax viewer. However, it is possible to print directly from the archive; go to the bottom of the page and choose either "browser print standard article print" or "acrobat reader" which converts it to a PDF file which can then be printed (with more options) or saved (this later method is the one we recommend).

Possible uses

General interest

If you are interested in a particular time or event in history or are looking to find a particular fact, this could be of great help and may tell you more than more modern commentary would.

Family history

Search for a relative or perhaps something they were involved in, or just look through the events throughout their lives had  to find out more about them and their way of life.

Essays and projects especially history

You may have heard of primary sources during your lectures. This resource can provide you these, greatly increasing your ability to build on your arguments throughout your work particularly in subjects such as history.

• Go straight to the Times Digital Archive
• Go to the 24/7 Library Exclusive Resources page
• Go to the News and magazines section of the Gateway to websites