The Center for Bibliographical Studies and Research, University of California, Riverside (UCR), has received two grants from the National Endowment for the Humanities to participate in the National Digital Newspaper Program (NDNP), 2005-2009. Additional information about this program is available at the Library of Congress corollary NDNP Web site. The Center also received three Library Services and Technology Act (LSTA) grants from the California State Library to digitize additional California newspapers and create the California Digital Newspaper Collection (CDNC) at UCR.

The NDNP is a joint venture of the National Endowment for the Humanities and the Library of Congress to create a national digital newspaper resource representing papers from all states published between 1836-1922. The first grant covered newspapers published 1900-1910; the second targets 1880-1910. Each NDNP grant allowed 100,000 pages to be digitized. The program is projected to last twenty years and the Center will apply for additional grants.

The California Digital Newspaper Collection will contain papers digitized under both the NDNP and LSTA grants. The Library of Congress presents newspapers digitized by all NDNP state awardees at their Chronicling America Web site.

Under the NDNP and LSTA grants, the Center has digitized over 150,000 pages of California newspapers spanning the years 1849-1911. They include the Alta California (1849-1889); the San Francisco Call (1900-1910); the Amador Ledger (1900-1911); the Imperial Valley Press (1901-1911); and the Los Angeles Herald (1905-1907).

Forthcoming titles include very early California newspapers from 1846-1851: the Californian; the California Star; the California Star and Californian; the Sacramento Transcript; the Placer Times; and also the Sacramento Union, 1851-1895. SF Call issues for 1880-1889; LA Herald issues for 1908-1910; and several years of the Alta California currently unavailable in the 1849-1889 range will also be added in 2008-2009. Additional titles and years will be added to the collection as funding permits.

Please send comments or questions to Andrea Vanek, Assistant Director, California Newspaper Project and California Digital Newspaper Collection.