As Newsplan 2000 gets underway to preserve the content of fragile old UK newspapers, new research has been carried out to chart how back copies on file or microfilm are being used around the country.

More than 1,600 of the country’s most fragile newspaper titles are to be saved for the nation thanks to the Newsplan 2000 Project.

It is a unique partnership between the National Lottery Heritage Fund, the newspaper industry, and libraries across the UK – and will save the text of the country’s most fragile and rare local newspapers.

The idea is to preserve and improve access to titles around the UK that are in danger of deterioration.

And it’s not just journalists who need to access the back copies and microfilm.

The Newsplan survey showed the most popular reasons for the public wanting to consult old newspapers are for family history and local history research.

The research carried out also shows that most people travel less than 20 miles to see the file copies of newspapers they want, and the vast majority are looking to consult local or regional titles.

Obituaries are of minor interest in London and Ireland, but count for 55 per cent of searches in the south-west of England.

The numbers of inquiries relating to sport, politics, advertisements, pictures and legal matters are broadly similar across all the regions.

A third of users want information from the last 20 years; the other two-thirds want information up to a century-old. The exception is Yorkshire & Humberside, where 55 per cent want information from the last six months.

The use of papers to find material for publications and talks stands at between nine and 18 per cent.

Hardcopy papers were most in use in Ireland (more than 60 per cent) due to current lack of microfilming. Elsewhere, microfilm is the norm and most people had no problem with it.

CD-ROM accounted for less than 10 per cent of users and the Internet about the same. But whichever medium was accessed, 80 per cent of respondents said they had found what they wanted.

The figures will act as a benchmark to future comparisons and evidence to justify future newspaper preservation projects.

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