If you are new to the newspaper and other news collections at the British Library, or if you simply feel in need of a refresher on how to get the best out of our services, then our News Reference Workshops will be just the thing for you. These free workshops are run by our newspaper reference team and news curators, and are designed to provide general introductions different parts of the collection. There is workshop on using the Newsroom (which will feature on a monthly, regular basis), and workshops on specific areas such as early and modern newspapers, news-related electronic services, television news, and the British Newspaper Archive. Each lasts 45mins to an hour.

Introduction to the Newsroom
This session aims to provide an introduction to the Newsroom and the news collections as well as basic guidance for researchers using the Reading Room. The session will:

• Provide an overview of the scope and history of our news collections
• Explain what digital news sources are available
• Explain how to search for and order newspapers
• Provide information on resources and services in the Reading Room

Dates: 8 July (14.30); 5 Aug (14.30); 9 Sept (14.30); 7 Oct (14.30); 11 Nov (14.30); 9 Dec (14.30)
To book a place, please email us at: [email protected]

Introduction to early newspapers: From the early 17th century to the mid-19th century
This workshop will include:

• The development of newspapers from the early C17th to the mid C19th.
• The origins of the national and regional press in the UK
• Early newspaper collections at the British Library
• Searching for early newspapers in the British Library catalogue (Explore the British Library)
• Digitised early newspapers

Date: 26 Nov (14.30)
To book a place, please email us at: [email protected]

Introduction to modern newspapers: mid-19th – 20th century
This workshop will include:

• The development of newspapers from the mid C19th to the present day
• Modern newspaper collections at the British Library
• British/Irish newspapers received on Legal Deposit
• Overseas newspapers
• Searching for modern newspapers in the British Library catalogue (Explore the British Library)

Date: 20 Aug (14.30)
To book a place, please email us at: [email protected]

News-related electronic resources
This session will cover the range of news related electronic resources available at the BL and how to access this material. The session will include:

• Awareness of newspaper electronic resources and importance of newspaper e-resources for contemporary research.
• Highlighting the various ways to access BL newspaper e-resources.
• Demonstrations of key newspaper e-resources.
• Showcasing the variety of newspaper databases including facsimile and text only e-resources, and various news related bibliographies and indexes available at the BL.

Date: 24 Sept (14.30)
To book a place, please email us at: [email protected]

Television and Broadcast News service
Our Broadcast News service has four years of television and radio news programmes from the UK and adds 60 hours every day. We also provide onsite access to 200,000 BBC television and radio programmes. This workshop will give a guide to finding and using television news at the British Library, and to television archive sources in the UK.

Date: 21 Oct (14.30)
To book a place, please email us at: [email protected]

Using the British Newspaper Archive
This presentation and short practical session offers an introduction to the British Newspaper Archive (BNA). It will cover the scope and techniques of the digitisation programme and highlight the advantages of using newspapers as digital resources. The talk will explore the content of the BNA in terms of titles, dates and regional areas of the UK and Ireland.

The practical element looks at basic and advanced searching, getting help, printing and some of the more advanced features such as My Research, contextual information, corrections and tagging.

Attendees are encouraged to register with the BNA before arrival.

Date: 23 July (14.30)

To book a place, please email us at: [email protected]

More information on British Library workshops and training events is provided here. You can book by emailing us at [email protected], or just ask any of the staff at the Newsroom reference desk.