Free Credits at British Newspaper Archive site.

[Currie]

Free Credits at British Newspaper Archive site.

The British Newspaper Archive site is currently giving 15 free credits, useful for up to three page views, to new registrants. http://www.britishnewspaperarchive.co.uk/

The available newspaper titles are listed here and there are quite a few Scottish newspapers in the mix. http://www.britishnewspaperarchive.co.u ... aperTitles

I don’t know how long this has been going or how long it will last.

So don’t miss out, and make sure your relatives and friends don’t either. All they need is a valid email address.

All the best,
Alan

[garibaldired]

Thanks very much for this, Alan.
Unfortunately you don't get much for your 15 credits - one funeral notice!
Happily I have more than one email address...........

Best wishes,
Meg

[garibaldired]

Has anyone else tried this site?
I'm finding their pricing a little puzzling; sometimes it's 5 credits, sometimes 10, sometimes 15.
It doesn't seem to relate to length or age of the article.

Best wishes,
Meg

[Currie]

Hello Meg,

I managed to find a couple of things for my GGF John Williams in Hampshire.

I haven’t really gone into it but I think the 5, 10, 15, credit thing is something to do with whether the paper was already on microfilm or whether they had to start from scratch, and maybe also whether there were copyright owners that had to be taken care of.

I thought I would compare three sites that have the Glasgow Herald archives. (Leaving out Google at http://news.google.com/newspapers?nid=G ... de=2&hl=en )

In the 19C British Library Newspapers that I can access via my library, if I search for “John Williams” in the Glasgow Herald between 1 Jan 1850 and 31 Dec 1899, I get 322 results. I can browse these at my leisure and they seem to be all for a John Williams.

At the Pay site for the above database http://newspapers11.bl.uk/blcs/ I get the same number of results but I get to see a thumbnail of the actual newspaper covering the immediate area of the result, and from that you get a pretty good idea of what it’s all about.

If I then go to the British Newspaper Archive and search for the same thing in the same period I get 1105 results. The extra ones are for John William something-or-other and they are all mixed up together. Not only do you have to wade through all of them, and often the text on view is jumbled, but if you use an extra word, so as to hopefully filter them, the results very often only show that extra word, and you’ve no idea what it is you’re about to waste your money on.

Perhaps you can get away with that sort of thing when there’s a subscription base but where credits are used it’s just a pea and thimble trick. I haven’t had much experience of this particular site so perhaps I’m doing something wrong.

All the best,
Alan

[garibaldired]

Hello Alan,

I think the 5, 10, 15, credit thing is something to do with whether the paper was already on microfilm or whether they had to start from scratch, and maybe also whether there were copyright owners that had to be taken care of.




That would explain it.
It does seem very expensive though. Did you look at the subscription packages? I also found it wasn't particularly easy to find what or who you're looking for. And if you found the same I really didn't stand a chance!

However many thanks for the tip on free credits. I found some interesting bits I had no idea about.
I found a full account of the death of my gt gt grandfather - he was attacked by a bull - and of another relative who died in a boating accident. In both cases the English death certificates wouldn't have given me as much personal details as did the newspaper articles and with the latter one I was able to confirm his identity in a way the death certificate probably would not have done.

Best wishes,
Meg