Searching for newspapers
Find out here how you can tell whether the USL holds a certain newspaper and, if so, how many issues and in what format.
All newspapers held by the USL Bonn can be found via the search portal bonnus.
The titles of many newspapers are rather similar and general-sounding, so it is recommended to make use of the “Advanced Search” feature. It is best to select the “Title” search field and the options “starts with” or “equals exact phrase.” If your hit list is still overly long and impractical, you can additionally apply the “Resource Type” search filter found to the right, selecting “Newspapers.”
We have some newspapers available in paper form and some on microfilm. Additionally, many newspapers are available in e-paper form.
Have you found a newspaper of interest through the bonnus search portal?
Printed newspapers can only be viewed in the library and cannot be borrowed to take home.
Once you have opened the newspaper in the detailed view, select the location that suits you best under “Availability on site”.
You will now see a box with tips on how to get the newspaper as quickly as possible.
Print editions are identifiable by the “Ztg…” shelf mark type. These are kept in the closed stacks. To order a print edition, use the “Ordering a newspaper” form. Our staff will then find the correct volume of the newspaper for you and bring it to the second basement floor for you to consult.
To protect the bindings and paper, you are not allowed to place volumes of newspapers on standard photocopiers or overhead scanners.
Microfilm newspapers are identifiable by the “MF…” and “ZMF…” shelf mark types. These can be ordered via the search portal bonnus for viewing in the reading room.
You can order a microfilm newspaper from within the detail view of the respective newspaper, via the linked “Ordering a newspaper” form.
Alternatively, in the “Details” section you can search for a specific time period under “Related titles".
You will be notified by email when the microfilm is ready for you to view on microfilm readers provided in the reading room. Please arrange an appointment with the reading room team if you need instructions on how to use the equipment.
Targeted regional newspaper searches
Other online portals besides bonnus can also be used for specific searches for regional newspapers from Cologne Administrative District and throughout North Rhine-Westphalia:
Electronic editions of regional daily newspapers can be found via the USL e-Paper catalogue, while the Deposit Copy Archive of weekly newspapers and the zeit.punktNRW newspaper portal can be used to find many historical regional newspapers.
Reproductions of individual articles
Making copies of newspaper articles or pages is in most cases not possible for copyright reasons.
Copying is only permitted 70 years after the author’s decease, the date of which is mostly not possible to determine where newspapers are concerned. The rule is thus observed that no copies are made of or from newspapers published less than 70 years ago.
Newspapers available online
All members of the University of Bonn have online access from anywhere to newspapers that are available online. As with all licensed e-media however, this first requires accessing the University network via VPN.
All library users can access newspapers available online via user service PCs provided on USL premises.
Some newspapers available online are exclusively accessible via USL user service PCs. These are specially designated as such in bonnus.
Good to know:
Zeitungsportal NRW
The zeit.punktNRW portal makes numerous historical newspapers from what is now North Rhine-Westphalia available to use online for free.
Datenbank-Infosystem DBIS
A few leading daily and weekly newspapers are made available as full-text databases via the DBIS database information system.
Datenbank Nexis Uni
The Nexis Uni database also contains a large number of electronic newspaper articles.