Essential Reading for Newspaper Research (England and Wales)

Digitalisation of Newspapers has been a hot topic for several years - but we mustn't forget that the numbers digitalised are the tip of the iceberg.

I've read quite a number of newspaper research books / booklets - but for me there is one clear winner for the beginner.

Local Newspapers 1750-1920 : England and Wales, Channel islands, Isle of Man
by Jeremy Gibson, Brett Langston and Brenda W Smith

Its widely available (try your local libary or Amazon or contact the Guild of One Name Studies etc) and is helpfully structured by County in England and Wales- listing newspaper titles within the county and major town.

It's not perfect and overlooks some titles and because the scope is so challenging there is no way it can take account of all the changing newspaper geographical distributions, which drove changes in local news coverage and advertisement coverage. But I highly recommend it as a cost effective quality publication.