Q. Can I read newspapers online?

The University Libraries does not subscribe to physical newspapers.

However, we do have online access to thousands of newspapers, many with same day access to their articles, plus many historical archives of papers.

Start by searching the Journal Title Database for the paper in question. It will show what access we have by date and provider. Papers in Access World News will typically include same day articles. Papers in EBSCO and Gale will usually have a delay in loading the newest articles.

For information about databases providing access to newspapers and other new sources, visit our Newspapers and Current News Sources Guide.

You may also search or read newspaper articles online using the Factiva database. From the Factiva database:

1) Search for the newspaper you wish to browse, such as:  WSJ, NYT, WaPa, or USA Today, etc.; or 
2) To view the Newsstand for several newspapers at a time, select: Switch Factiva. The front page headlines for WSJ, NYT, WaPa will be displayed.

Note that when you are off campus, you will be automatically prompted to sign in and authenticate with Virginia Tech via 2-factor authentication, as long as you start your search on the library's website, or configure Google Scholar to show Get VText links. There is no need to do anything in advance to ensure access.

If we don't subscribe to a newspaper where an article you're looking for was published, you can request the article through Interlibrary Loan, but you will need the precise date of publication, and ideally the section and page number too. You can use Discovery Search to try to find a complete citation (be sure to click the checkbox "Expand My Results" to search libraries worldwide) or try Google.