Even though there are plenty of free news outlets online, many of our patrons are still willing to pay a premium for the comprehensive local coverage that comes with subscribing to their hometown newspapers. But what if you could access that newspaper without paying for a subscription? Now you can!
The William K. Sanford Town Library now offers online access to the Times Union, Daily Gazette, New York Post, USA Today, and many more titles to their resident patrons through a subscription to Newsbank databases.
We also have video instructions.
How Do I Get This Amazing Deal?
First, you must be a resident of the Town of Colonie with a library card issued from the Town Library. If your card number starts with a 9, then you have a resident card. If you are a resident, but your UHLS library card starts with a different number, you can visit us to get a free replacement card so you can access this resource.
Once you have your library card, visit https://www.colonielibrary.org/research and scroll down to see the three new resources available from Newsbank:
These links will work for anyone on the library’s computers or Wi-Fi. If you are outside of the library, you will be prompted to enter your library barcode number.
After selecting the Times Union or another title available in America’s News, you can either use the search box to look for articles:
or pick a format by clicking the source name. The image format is the newspaper layout with images. The other two formats are lists of text-only articles.
Select a date to view. To select a different year, use the dropdown menu next to “Browse Issues by Date.”
If you have selected the image edition, navigation options appear in the top toolbar and the right side of the screen. Options to print, email, download, cite, save, and share to Google Classroom are also available at the top of the page.
Which Newspapers and Magazines Are Available?
The Times Union collection has its own link. The rest of the newspapers are available in the America’s News collection. Here is a full newspaper title list, arranged alphabetically by state. In addition, America’s News contains popular magazines, such as Newsweek, The Atlantic, Field and Stream, Parenting, Popular Science, and the list goes on. See the full list of titles (login required).
But Wait, There’s More!
America’s News also has transcripts for select news shows available from CBS, CNN, Fox, ABC, MSNBC, Bloomberg, NPR, and more!
Are you a homeschooler looking for lesson content? Check out this video on how to use NewsBank lesson plans.
Bonus Resource: HeritageHub
HeritageHub contains obituaries and death notices from 1704 to present. This resource can be helpful for genealogists and folks tracing their family history. This resource can also be found on the library’s genealogy resource page.
