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Why use news databases for a media scan?

Why use news databases for a media scan?

  • They are more comprehensive than Google, allowing you to search for historical coverage of a topic, event or person across a wide range of news sources.
  • Advanced search features allow you to be very specific in your searches and retrieve more relevant results.
  • Content and coverage are clearly stated, so you know exactly what, and what time period, you are searching.
  • Many provide access to smaller, local, and independent newspapers that are not available or easy to find on the Web.
  • Some provide links to full PDF images of newspaper pages so you can see the context of the reporting, and see advertisements, editorials, and related news items.

Newspaper Databases

MRU Library Search

Search across article databases via LibrarySearch for current and past news.

If the full text of the article is not in the database, click on the "Look for a Copy" link to find it in another database, or request an interlibrary loan.

News Websites

Some news sites (like the Calgary Herald, National Post, CBC) allow you to search their archives.

Note: Archival content on these sites is not always comprehensive, and can be unstable (i.e. older versions are edited or removed, or some content is available only for a certain time, or links may break). Often only paid subscribers have access the full archives.

It's often better to search for this content in the library databases instead to get full coverage of the topic, event, or person you are looking for.

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Hailey Siracky