Nespaper Archives Cambuslang Advertiser

[grayvee57]

Seeking information regarding newspaper archives online for the Cambuslang Advertiser.I would be looking at late December 1936 through to early 1937.I have a copy of an article "THE MINISTER'S MAN" "An Appreciation of the Late
Mr John Russell." "Early Days At Trinity Recalled".The article has been cut out of the newspaper so no date is evident, however page no. listed as 5.I am trying to get an online copy that I can transfer to my family tree.I am a resident of Victoria, Australia.I am familiar here with our NLA online newspaper archive which now has transcripts of articles and family notices going back to the mid 1800's and wondered if there was possibly a similar online service in Scotland?This article was written by a Reverend William Gray who was the minister at the Uniting Free Church as it was then known and my great grandfather was his verger till he left for Australia in 1920.The Reverend Gray and John Russell remained friends after this time and corresponded till John Russell's death in Melbourne, Victoria on the 22 December in 1936.I do have an old copy of the article but as it is fairly fragile and has holes in the type in some places, it is rather difficult to scan into my tree.If anyone could assist with any information I'd be most grateful. First Post, so sorry if it's in the wrong section!Thanks.Erika.

[Currie]

Hello Erika, and welcome to TalkingScot.

The Cambuslang Advertiser 1898-1950 is on microfilm and is available at South Lanarkshire Libraries and probably elsewhere. http://scone.strath.ac.uk/service/portal/pColnShow.cfm

For anyone sure that they have the correct newspaper, have access to the microfilm, and know the page number, the articles position on the page, and the approximate time period, it would a relatively easy task to wind through possibly hundreds of issues. At least, that is compared to how things usually are with such searches. I was hoping that LDS would have copies of this microfilm but unfortunately that doesn’t appear to be the case.

The Scottish newspapers currently online are mainly 19th Century ones, and only four of those, for Dundee, Aberdeen, Glasgow, and Edinburgh. As far as I am aware, for the 20th Century, there are only the Scotsman to 1950 http://archive.scotsman.com/ and parts of the Glasgow Herald on Google News Archive, mainly mid 1930s to mid 1960s http://news.google.com/newspapers?nid=G ... 2&b_mode=2

There is a major project afoot to digitise a great range of UK newspapers. This will be a pay-site and will take years to complete. The Cambuslang newspaper must stand a chance of being included seeing that it is already on microfilm. But there’s still the matter of copyright, which appears to be more restrictive in the UK than in Australia. http://www.bl.uk/news/2010/pressrelease20100519.html

As far as your own newspaper cutting is concerned, the most important thing may be that the content be transcribed, and also that the item be scanned. It is extremely risky just having a disintegrating piece of paper as the only evidence of its existence. Once an item is scanned further handling is unnecessary because the transcription can be done from the scanned copy. The item should be scanned at least at 200 dpi, anything less will probably be regretted in the long run. It helps if the lines of print are lined up carefully on the bed of the scanner.

If you’re a bit adventurous, and if you only want a fresh copy so that it can be included graphically in a genealogy program, and it’s only for effect, then there are probably alternatives. If the item is largely intact and you know what was in any holes, a photo editing program, even a free one, may work wonders on a copy of the scanned image. Contrast adjustments, desaturation to remove most discolouring, cloning of missing words, letters, or chunks of paper, from other parts of the article, and other fiddling about, can be used to improve it’s readability and rebuild it.

Another option could be to apply a typewriter or newspaper font to the transcribed text, give it the correct line spacing etc, and set it out so that it appears exactly as it does on the original page, and print the result. Then scan the printed result to get an image that will appear correct to anyone viewing it. I haven’t tried that one myself, and it could be called cheating, but could probably be learned and done in less time than could be spent on a microfilm reader. Here’s an old newspaper font http://www.dafont.com/old-newspaper-font.font

Just in case you aren’t aware of them, there are a number of databases you can access from home by registering with the SLV http://www.slv.vic.gov.au/explore/resea ... urces-home and the NLA http://www.nla.gov.au/app/eresources/list/licenced
(and I see that Victoria has access to Sydney Morning Herald 1955-1990, which NSW residents can’t access unless they pay for it)

Hope that helps, or at least isn’t too uninteresting.

All the best,
Alan

[grayvee57]

Sincere thanks Allan for all those constuctive and positive suggestions to my post. I will indeed look at all your reccommendations and take the information on board. Once again my appreciation for such a comprehensive and detailed answer to my enquiry. Your response have given me lots of clues to keep in mind for future searches also.Cheers.Erika.

[Currie]

That’s okay Erika,

Best of luck,
Alan