Recently, the International and Area Studies Library (IASL) at the University of Illinois pooled US Department of Education, Title VI National Resource Center funding from the Center for Global Studies, Center for African Studies, Center for Latin American and Caribbean Studies, and the Russian, East European, and Eurasian Center to make important historical newspapers available Open Access. These funds supported Illinois’ ongoing partnership with the Global Press Archive and its Area Studies Initiative (ASI), which aims to produce a diverse range of global newspaper archives that align with the collection goals and strategies of academic librarians from the five major area studies disciplines – African, Asian, Latin American, Middle Eastern, and Slavic. Title VI funds are made available through the US Department of Education’s Office of International and Foreign Language Education in order to improve and strengthen foreign language and area studies in postsecondary institutions. The IASL also participated in the 2024 ASI and is excited to continue building the University’s access to digitized newspapers from across the globe in 2025.
Several of the newspaper archives produced through the ASI will be Open Access, meaning scholars and students across the United States can access them regardless of their university affiliation. The 2025 ASI includes newspapers from difficult to access regions such as Akhbar Filastin, one of the first Gazan newspapers, published between 1963-1967. The eight other Open Access titles for 2025 are New Nigerian (a English-language Nigerian regional daily from 1966–2001), L’Essor du Congo (a French-language national daily founded by colonial authorities of the Belgian Congo, 1930–1960), Independence Evening Post (a Chinese-language, pro-independence Taiwanese newspaper, 1947–1995), Jornal de Debates (a Portuguese-language Brazilian long-form weekly, 1946–1949), El Moudjahid (a French and Arabic-language Algerian newspaper published continuously during the Algerian War, 1957–1962), Estoniia (a Russian-language Estonian newspaper from 1991–2001), and Svobodné slovo (a Czech-language national daily from 1945-1967). The ASI will digitize, organize, and make these newspapers available for Open Access use over the next year.
These newspaper collections provide vital primary sources to scholars across disciplines from history to sociology to area studies to political science. By having them digitally available, particularly from countries or regions where travel for research is difficult, the University Library facilitates new and exciting projects for students, faculty, and staff. Through joining the Open Access ASI for 2025, the IASL and the Illinois Global Institute are investing in access for all— Illinois affiliates and our broader community— to learn from and engage with perspectives beyond that of the U.S. and Western world.
The University of Illinois already has access to the Global Press Archive, a program to create the most comprehensive collection of digital news sources from around the world. It spans over 30 languages and 2,500 publications from the late eighteenth century to last year. Several of these titles are Open Access. When the 2025 ASI collections are produced, they will be added to this broader archival database.
More information about the IASL and the library’s internationally focused collections is available on the IASL website. If you have any questions, please email the Global Studies Librarian and Head of the IASL, Dr. Steve Witt, at swwitt@illinois.edu.