University of Delaware
Office of Public Relations
UpDate - Vol. 16, No. 31, May 15


              Library completes 13-year newspaper project
     
     A 13-year project to film Delaware newspapers was
recently completed by the University of Delaware Library. A
component of the United States Newspaper Project and funded
by the National Endowment for the Humanities, the project
was completed in three phases.
     It began in 1983 with a survey of Delaware newspapers.
The second phase began in 1985 when library staff members
entered bibliographic and holdings data into OCLC, a
national on-line database of bibliographic records. The
final phase began in 1993 and preserved historically
important Delaware newspapers on microfilm.
     There is a complete copy of all newspapers filmed as
part of the project available for use at the Morris Library.
The complete print master, consisting of approximately 796
reels of microfilm, is available at the Delaware Bureau of
Archives in Dover where staff, for a fee, can produce
microfilm copies on demand.
     Among the newspapers filmed were many interesting and
important publications, such as Wiadomosci (a Polish
language newspaper), Il Fuoco (an Italian language
newspaper) and Airlifter (published for Dover Air Force Base
personnel).
     Newspapers that published news for African Americans
included the Delaware Abolitionist, published by the
Delaware Anti-Slavery Society; The Advance, a newspaper that
claimed to be Republican in politics, Christian in religion
and devoted to the moral and industrial advancement of
African Americans; the Delaware Reporter; and the Wilmington
Herald Times.
     The newspapers were picked up at various locations
throughout the state by library project staff and brought to
the Morris Library, where they were prepared for
microfilming. The actual microfilming was performed by a
professional filming company, IMR, of West Hazleton, Pa.
     Participating libraries and repositories in Delaware
received a microfilm copy of the newspapers they provided.
     The project owes its successful completion to the
willingness of the participants to provide newspapers for
filming. As a result of the project, more than 280
newspapers were filmed, in whole or in part, depending upon
the availability of print copies of the newspapers, Susan
Brynteson, director of libraries, said.
     The participants who provided newspapers for filming
included the Delaware Agricultural Museum, the Delaware
Bureau of Archives, the Georgetown Public Library, the
Hagley Museum and Library, the Historical Society of
Delaware, the Laurel Public Library, the Milford District
Free Public Library, the New Castle Public Library, the
Newark Free Library, the Rehoboth Beach Public Library, the
South Coastal Library, the University of Delaware Library,
the Wilmington Institute Free Library, the Winterthur Museum
and Library and the offices of various newspapers.
     Project staff associated with the massive undertaking
included Anita Shaughnessy, project manager, Craig Wilson,
Shiela Pardee and Peggy Tatnall.
                                                -Beth Thomas