Subscription websites-online newspapers, journals and directories

This page is a part of Newspapers and journals online

There are seven subscription websites which contain online newspapers, journals, directories etc, published in India.These websites, and additional websites, may also contain newspapers etc published in Britain which contain references to people and events in India.

The access is restricted to Library Card holders of participating libraries, including the following National Libraries (noting there is generally a residential requirement): Scotland, Wales, Australia, State Library of NSW, and many University Libraries. Cardholders may view some, or all these websites on their own computers, depending on which websites their Libraries provide access to. The British Library’s Find Electronic Resources indicates that the Times of India—1838-2001, ECCO, Eighteenth Century Journals, 19th Century Periodicals and 17th and 18th Century Burney Collection may be viewed online in the British Library Reading Rooms. However, the Making of the Modern World does not appear to be available at the British Library. (March 2017). Making of the Modern World may be accessed remotely by resident card holders of the National Libraries of Scotland and Australia. The Times of India—1838-2001 , an option in Proquest Historical Newspapers may be accessed remotely by resident cardholders of the State Library of NSW. The National Library of Ireland provides access to some websites in its Reading Rooms.

Eighteenth Century Collections Online (ECCO)

A part of Gale Digital Collections.

The following volumes relating to India have been noted. Additional volumes appear to be added on an ongoing basis.

• A List of the Company's civil and military servants, at their settlements in Bengal, Madras, Bombay, Fort Marlborough, the Island of St. Helena, and China. 1788
• A List of the Company's civil servants, at their settlements in the East-Indies, the island St. Helena, and China. 1790, 1799. HEIC lists of senior and junior merchants, factors, and writers.
• Bengal calendar. 1787, 1789, 1791.
• Bengal calendar & register. 1790.
• Bengal kalendar and almanack. 1792.
• Bengal kalendar and register. 1795, 1800.
• Bengal or East-India calendar. 1795, 1796. Includes details for Madras, Bombay etc.
• Bengal register, containing lists of the Hon. Company's civil and military establishments, under the Presidency of Fort William. 1787. HEIC employees in Bengal, including surgeons.
• Calcutta monthly register. Vol 1, November 1790.
• East India kalendar; or, Asiatic register for Bengal, Madras, Bombay, Fort Marlborough, China, and St. Helena. 1791, 1792, 1793, 1794, 1796, 1797, 1798, 1800.
• Oriental magazine; or, Calcutta amusement. 1785.

Eighteenth Century Journals, Newspapers and Periodicals c 1685-1815

A part of Adam Matthew Digital. Website

The following publications relating to India have been noted in the past. Current availability may differ. Module III includes Colonial newspapers. Including India.

Published in Calcutta

• Asiatic Mirror, and Commercial Advertiser. 276 (22 May 1793), 284 (17 July 1793), 296 (9 October 1793), 526 (7 March 1798).
• Calcutta Chronicle; and General Advertiser. 1787-1790.
• Calcutta Friday Morning Post and General Advertiser. 1793.
• Calcutta Gazette; or, Oriental Advertiser, / Calcutta Gazette. 1784-1794.
• Calcutta Morning Post Extraordinary. 1793.
• Hicky's Bengal Gazette; or, Calcutta General Advertiser. 1780-1782.
• India Gazette, or, Calcutta Public Advertiser. 1780-1785 (incomplete), 1793.
• World. 1794.

Published in Madras

• Hircarrah. 1794.
• Madras Courier. 1790-1792.
• Madras Gazette. 1788, 1809.
• The Phoenix. 1797.

Published in Bombay

• Bombay Courier. 1793-1817 (incomplete).
• Bombay Gazette. 1792, 1813-1814.

19th Century UK Periodicals

A part of Gale NewsVault

The following publications relating to India have been noted:

Published in Calcutta

• Bengal Catholic Expositor, continued as Catholic Herald, continued as Bengal Catholic Herald. 1839-41/March-Dec 1841/1842-64.
• Calcutta Review. 1844-1900.
• The Friend of India / The Friend of India and Statesman / Statesman and Friend of India / The Friend of India and Statesman. 1835-76/1877-83/1885-94/1894-1900
• Gleanings in Science /Journal of the Asiatic Society of Bengal. 1829-31/1832-1900.
• Oriental Observer / Oriental Literary Observer / Oriental Observer / Oriental Observer and Literary Chronicle. 1827-31/ May-Dec 1831/1832-33/1837-39.
• Transactions of the Asiatic Society of Bengal. (Asiatick Researchers' Society of History, Antiquities, Arts, Sciences and Literature of Asia in Bengal, Calcutta, India) 1800-1839.

Published in Madras

• Madras Journal of Literature and Science. 1833-94.

The Making of the Modern World

The Goldsmiths'-Kress Library of Economic Literature 1450-1850. A part of Gale Digital Collections.

The following directories relating to India have been noted:

• A List of the Company's civil servants, at their settlements in the East-Indies, the island St. Helena, and China 1785
• East India kalendar; or, Asiatic register for Bengal, Madras, Bombay, Fort Marlborough, China, and St. Helena. 1791, 1792 ( also available on ECCO, see above)
• The East India Directory and Register for the years
  • 1804, 1805, 1808, 1809
  • 1810, 1814, 1815, 1816, 1819
  • 1820, 1821, 1822, 1823, 1824, 1826, 1827, 1828
  • 1831, 1832, 1837,
  • 1841, 1844

Some of these years, 1819, 1821,1823,1828,1844 are also available on Directories online

• The Calcutta Star almanac and strangers’ guide in Calcutta : including commercial & trade list for MDCCCXLV. Calcutta, [1844?].

Other categories of books relating to India include:

• Society for Promoting the Education of the Poor (Bombay, India). The first annual report. With a list of benefactors and subscribers. Instituted January 29th 1815. Bombay, 1816
• Statistical report on the sickness and mortality among the troops serving in the Madras Presidency : prepared from official documents by Thomas Graham Balfour Edinburgh, 1847

Proquest Historical Newspapers, Times of India—1838-2001 option

Note: The FIBIS database contains transcribed birth, marriage and death notices for the period 1862-1930 from the Times of India.

The Times of India—1838-2001 is one of the optional newspapers available online as part of Proquest Historical Newspapers. It is only available if your library has selected this option. Some libraries, such as the National Library of Australia, are known to have declined to subscribe, due to concerns about quality.

A researcher has advised that the digitisation is incomplete as "great chunks - whole years and six month blocks from other years - are missing".

This review of the Times of India database is by the Center for Research Libraries html version, original pdf

This database is available at the British Library in the Reading Rooms

One library currently known to have this option available for cardholders to log in remotely on their own computers, is the State Library of N.S.W. From the Home page, select “eresources”, then “Browse databases”, then Browse then “Find database”. Type “Proquest Historical Newspapers” (with inverted commas) and click on the resultant link. You will then need to log in. After this, select “News and Newspapers”, and from the drop down menu, select “the Times of India”

The other libraries know to have this option are University Libraries, which generally but not always, allow visitors to access online sevices at the Library, so always confirm. Include:

• England: Cambridge University. It is believed private researchers can apply for access to the Library to consult the electronic resources. Cambridge University also has a full run of microfilms (with minor exceptions). The coverage of these films is more complete than the digitisation. University of Oxford also has the Times of India Historical Archive, according to Oxford University Library Finding resources, under the link OxLIP+, Database, (letter T). Apply for a OUL Reader's Card
• Australia: Monash University, Victoria. Database is catalogued under P for Proquest. Check whether visitors can access this particular database, as access can vary.
• Canada: University of Alberta, licensed for "use of the University of Alberta community only"; University of Toronto
• United States of America: UC San Diego, Cornell University, University of Illinois, University of Michigan, Princeton University, Stanford University, University of Southern California, University of Wisconsin- Madison

South Asian Newspapers, 1864-1922

Also called the World Newspaper Archive: South Asian Newspapers, or WNA: South Asian Newspapers

Part of Readex World Newspaper Archive, a division of Newsbank

This link advises the relevant newspapers

• Pioneer Allahabad 1865-1903
• Madras Mail 1868-1889
• Tribune Lahore 1881-1922
• Ceylon Observer Colombo 1864-1922

Availability. (There may be additional institutions)

• UK
  • This database is available at the British Library in the Reading Rooms.
  • Previously the only other known institution with access was Northumbria University, Newcastle UK with access for students and staff only, and not available to visitors. Possibly this database is no longer available, although there is a database "NewsBank InfoWeb" "a selection of Historical Newspapers from around the world" from the same supplier.
• Australia University of Melbourne. This link advises "walk-in users on the Library premises have access to this electronic resource".
• Canada York University, Toronto. Access is restricted to York University faculty, staff and students.
• USA Enquire about access for visitors. New York Public Library, Library of Congress, Washington DC, University of Wisconsin-Madison, University of Texas at Austin and these American Universities

South Asia Archive

South Asia Archive website.

Article "South Asia online archive launched" by Matthew Reisz 3 June 2013 www.timeshighereducation.co.uk

2017 update: Publications from this database are now available through the National Digital Library of India, NDL, but it is currently unclear whether there are any restrictions accessing the South Asia Archive publications, or whether the books available are the complete South Asia Archive database.

17th and 18th Century Burney Collection Newspapers

A part of Gale NewsVault

Although this Collection is mainly English newspapers, it includes

• Calcutta Chronicle and General Advertiser 1 March 1788 to 2 November 1790
• India Gazette 15 February 1790 to 16 August 1790
• Madras Courier 25 January 1786

Other British and Irish publications

• The Times Digital Archive 1785-2010. Access to the Times Archive also appears to be available with various current subscriptions to the Times . In England, holders of some county or borough library cards have access, see Miscellaneous tips.
• The Telegraph Historical Archive, 1855-2000
• British Library Newspapers
• Illustrated London News Historical Archive 1842-2003. This database is also available on findmypast and the British Newspaper Archive, refer below.

These four websites are part of Gale NewsVault

• U.K. Parliamentary Papers, part of Proquest. Some libraries may catalogue it under its part title, House of Commons Parliamentary Papers, if they do not subscribe to the House of Lords module. There are several modules included in the U.K. Parliamentary Papers database and institutional purchases and subscriptions vary. Some libraries subscribe for certain date ranges only. Once you have access to the database, you can check the information available on the Advanced Search page to see what is available to you, or enquire from your providing library.
• The Guardian 1821-2003 (part of ProQuest Historical Newspapers). Available at the British Library.
• Irish Newspaper Archives is available as a subscription website through subscribing libraries. It is also a pay site. Currently (October 2012) it contains 23 titles, mainly from the 1900s, but with some earlier publications dating back to the 1700s

All seven of the above databases may be viewed online in the British Library Reading Rooms.

Other Asian publications

• ProQuest Historical Newspapers: Chinese Newspapers Collection. The English language Chinese newspapers contained in the database are listed in the Cornell University China/Databases/ Newspapers page. Available in the UK at Oxford University, but not currently (2018/3) at the British Library; in the USA at some universities, including Cornell. Check with the libraries for visitor access. In Australia this database may be accessed remotely with a State Library of NSW library card.
• Japan Times Archives (1897-2014). Details from Eastview.com. This database is available at the British Library and at Oxford University Library, and perhaps elsewhere. Available in the USA at Yale University, (and probably elsewhere) and in New Zealand at the University of Auckland. Enquire about visitor access.

Other regions

African publications

• African Newspapers, Series 1 and 2, 1800-1925, part of Readex World Newspapers Archive. Title List. This database is available at the British Library and the BL description advises “NB: Reader Pass holders can also access this resource remotely via our Remote Resources service”. Some libraries may only offer a single module.
• African Newspapers: The British Library Collection, part of Readex. Title List. This database is available at the British Library.

Caribbean publications

• Caribbean Newspapers, Series 1, 1718-1876, part of Readex World Newspapers Archive. Title List. Available at the British Library, where it is advised "NB: Reader Pass holders can also access this resource remotely via our Remote Resources service".

Trench Journals and Unit Magazines of the First World War

• Trench Journals and Unit Magazines of the First World War, a Proquest database. Includes Title List. This database is available at the British Library.

Pay websites

Include

• British Newspapers and Irish Newspapers on findmypast.co.uk. Available to individuals with a world wide subscription. A British subscription entitles you to British Newspapers, but not Irish Newspapers. These appear to be the same newspapers which are available on the British Newspaper Archive, (see following item)
• British Newspaper Archive, a findmypast company. Now includes some Irish newspapers. This website may also be accessed (free) from the British Library Reading Rooms.
• Newspaper Archive, an American website. Includes publications relevant to India.

For more details, refer Newspapers and journals online-Pay websites

East India Company

A part of Adam Matthew Digital. Website.

This database does not consist of newspapers or journals, but is included here due to its subscription basis. Introduced in January 2017, it currently consists of one module, "Module 1: Trade, Governance and Empire, 1600-1947", and is available in the British Library reading rooms. This module consists of the most important executive papers of the East India Company and later the India Office, covering the entire period of British rule in India and the expansion of the British Empire over several centuries. Charters, treaties, minutes and correspondence shed light on the foundation, development and demise of the East India Company and, later, the work of the Council of India in overseeing the British Raj. Modules 2 and 3 are expected to be published in 2018 and 2019 respectively.

"Major new digital resource for the India Office Records" British Library Blog 17 January 2017.