Exploratory Analysis of Born-Digital Newspaper Content

The Texas Digital Newspaper Program, operated by the University of North Texas Libraries, actively works to digitally preserve news in the form of print and born digital newspaper content via The Portal to Texas History. For two years, TDNP has partnered with the Texas Press Association to preserve born-digital newspaper titles from its member institutions. These PDF-based print masters total more than 3 million pages from over 500 titles across the state and allow UNT Libraries to explore significant metrics associated with born-digital newspaper content at a scale that previously had been impossible. This paper reports on exploratory investigations by the TDNP to understand aggregate patterns in the generation of born-digital news editions by analyzing technical metadata extracted from the 3 million pages currently in the preservation collection. While this research is still in its early stages, the goal is to provide an overview of current publishing practices of the more than 500 newspaper publishers across Texas. Furthermore, this research can enhance libraries’ understanding about current publishing trends as they plan digital preservation policies and practices in support of publisher preservation needs.