The Center for Research Libraries will work with a number of library and publisher partners to coordinate and provide access to metadata on historic newspapers and their digital versions. The new International Coalition on Newspapers (ICON) Global Newspaper Directory will form the foundation of a comprehensive registry of newspapers published globally from the seventeenth to the twenty-first century. The registry will integrate information on newspapers published in the United States and abroad, indicating where titles are held in print, microfilm, and digital formats. The database will contain more than 200,000 bibliographic entries searchable through a single unified directory, providing libraries an authoritative tool for collection development and analysis, content verification and comparison, and preservation assessment.

 The ICON Global Newspaper Directory will be funded by a grant from the Institute of Museum and Library Services, with significant in-kind support from CRL and the American Antiquarian Society. For more information, contact James Simon, Director, Global Resources Network, 773-955-4545 ext. 324; jsimon@crl.edu.