The initial phase in the project is to identify and locate Illinois newspapers, both original print and microfilm, throughout the state. To make this task more manageable, we divided Illinois into 7 separate cataloging regions. (See map on right.) We work through each region one county at a time.

First, we send an introductory letter and survey to every public library, academic library, and genealogical or historical society we can find in each region. We use several sources to find these institutions including Every Library in ILLINET, Illinois Trails, and The ILGenWeb Project. Our survey inquires about newspapers, including those on microfilm, that are a permanent part of the institution's collection. Often, we will call or email those institutions that did not reply to our initial survey.

Next, we visit the institutions that have newspapers. Our catalogers will usually travel 2-4 days at a time, about twice a month. We also try to submit a short article to a newspaper office in each county to inform the local community about the project.

One of the most important ways we discover newspapers is by word of mouth. People who work at libraries and genealogical or historical societies have a wealth of knowledge about the history of their towns and counties. We often get referrals and suggestions about where to find Illinois newspapers as a result of our web site, surveys, and articles in local newspapers.