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Trove newspapers: data dashboard¶

Trove's collection of digitised newspapers is always changing – new articles and newspapers are being added by the NLA, while Trove users are busy correcting OCRd text and adding tags and comments. The search you run today might produce different results than the same query did a month ago, a year ago, or ten years ago. Researchers need to understand how these changes affect the queries they make, the results they find, and the arguments they construct. This dashboard helps researchers understand the context of their queries by presenting a snapshot of Trove's digitised newspapers, based on weekly data harvests. It shows Trove's current make up from a number of angles, as well as highlighting recent changes. It is updated every Sunday.

  • Total articles and user activity
  • Total articles by publication year
  • Total articles by publication year and state
  • Article categories
  • Newspaper titles
  • Total articles by publication state
  • Significant events
Last updated: Sunday, 4 June 2023

Total articles and user activity¶

Latest data harvest 04 June 2023
First data harvest 24 April 2022
Total harvests 59
Data https://github.com/wragge/trove-newspaper-totals/blob/master/data/total_articles_by_activity.csv

As of 04 June 2023 there are 238,762,001 digitised newspaper articles in Trove.

  Current total Change since 28 May 2023 Change since 07 May 2023 Change since 24 Apr 2022 Percentage of total
All articles 238,762,001 196,704 931,307 4,249,911 100.00%
Articles with corrections 14,835,319 17,000 66,401 979,780 6.21%
Articles with tags 4,745,667 4,736 22,007 342,673 1.99%
Articles with comments 263,886 488 1,620 25,195 0.11%

Total articles by publication year¶

Latest data harvest 04 June 2023
First data harvest 19 April 2022
Total harvests 55
Data https://github.com/wragge/trove-newspaper-totals/blob/master/data/total_articles_by_year.csv

This chart shows the total number of digitised newspaper articles by year of publication. The distribution will change over time as digitisation priorities shift and more newspapers are added. This chart is useful in understanding how digitisation priorities and copyright restraints have shaped the total newspaper corpus.


Total articles by publication year and state¶

Latest data harvest 04 June 2023
First data harvest 19 April 2022
Total harvests 55
Data https://github.com/wragge/trove-newspaper-totals/blob/master/data/total_articles_by_year_and_state.csv

This interactive chart helps you explore the distribution of articles by both publication year and state. Click on a state in the bar chart or legend to filter the results by year. Click anywhere in the background of the chart to reset. This enables you to compare digitisation patterns in different states and see how they contribute to the whole corpus.

Total articles added since 28 May 2023 by publication year and state

This chart shows the total number of digitised newspaper articles added since the previous harvest by year and place of publication. It's useful in seeing how search results from particular time periods and locations might be affected by current digitisation priorities.

Total articles added since 19 Apr 2022 by publication year and state

This chart shows the total number of digitised newspaper articles added since the first harvest by year and place of publication. It's useful in seeing how search results from particular time periods or locations might be affected by recent digitisation priorities.


Article categories¶

Latest data harvest 04 June 2023
First data harvest 20 April 2022
Total harvests 60
Data https://github.com/wragge/trove-newspaper-totals/blob/master/data/total_articles_by_category.csv
  Current total Change since 28 May 2023 Change since 07 May 2023 Change since 20 Apr 2022 Percentage of total
Advertising 44,617,659 41,588 198,490 1,115,952 18.687%
Article 165,615,160 141,373 660,084 2,822,700 69.364%
Arts And Culture 4,318 12 40 948 0.002%
Classified Advertisements And Notices 1,485 4 8 62 0.001%
Commerce And Business 4,970 14 67 1,974 0.002%
Detailed Lists, Results, Guides 26,565,012 12,639 65,240 313,051 11.126%
Display Advertisement 495 1 4 31 0.000%
Editorial 16,902 46 249 3,495 0.007%
Family Notices 1,976,482 1,177 7,717 41,679 0.828%
Humour 31,452 223 372 3,944 0.013%
Law, Courts, And Crime 10,986 20 67 1,523 0.005%
Letters 13,355 12 47 1,345 0.006%
Literature 35,812 13 36 850 0.015%
News 12,541 17 135 2,123 0.005%
Obituaries 13,890 38 193 2,757 0.006%
Official Appointments And Notices 1,129 1 6 64 0.000%
Puzzles 49,367 120 851 9,435 0.021%
Reviews 2,609 46 223 628 0.001%
Shipping Notices 2,689 5 35 884 0.001%
Sport And Games 19,319 46 213 4,779 0.008%
Weather 15,254 85 627 5,897 0.006%

Newspaper titles¶

Latest data harvest 04 June 2023
First data harvest 20 April 2022
Total harvests 57
Data https://github.com/wragge/trove-newspaper-totals/blob/master/data/total_articles_by_newspaper.csv

As of 04 June 2023 there are 1,763 different newspapers in Trove.

Total newspapers 1,763
Earliest publication date 05 March 1803
Latest publication date 19 December 2022

Newspapers by state of publication¶

This chart shows the place of publication of newspaper titles in Trove.

Changes in the number of newspapers by state of publication¶

  Current total Change since 28 May 2023 Change since 07 May 2023 Change since 20 Apr 2022 Percentage of total
ACT 8 0 0 0 0.44%
International 13 0 0 0 0.71%
National 9 0 0 4 0.49%
New South Wales 536 0 0 21 29.31%
Northern Territory 8 0 0 0 0.44%
Queensland 106 0 0 2 5.80%
South Australia 154 0 0 0 8.42%
Tasmania 115 0 0 0 6.29%
Victoria 429 1 9 22 23.46%
Western Australia 379 0 0 29 20.72%

Newspapers added since 28 May 2023

  • No newspapers added in this period.

Newspapers added since 07 May 2023

title_id title state total link
1831 The Corryong Courier and Walwa District News (Vic. : 1946 - 1952) Victoria 24382.000000 https://nla.gov.au/nla.news-title1831

Changes in the number of articles from newspapers since 28 May 2023

title_id title change in articles link
240 Bairnsdale Advertiser and Tambo and Omeo Chronicle (Vic. : 1882 - 1946) 7,618 https://nla.gov.au/nla.news-title240
242 The Essendon Gazette and Keilor, Bulla and Broadmeadows Reporter (Moonee Ponds, Vic. : 1905 - 1918) 12,055 https://nla.gov.au/nla.news-title242
305 Ouyen Mail (Vic. : 1915 - 1941) 13,832 https://nla.gov.au/nla.news-title305
331 Shepparton Advertiser (Vic. : 1887 - 1953) 48,854 https://nla.gov.au/nla.news-title331
370 Port Lincoln Times (SA : 1927 - 1965; 1992 - 2002) 13,804 https://nla.gov.au/nla.news-title370
592 Omeo Standard and Mining Gazette (Vic. : 1893 - 1928) 14,790 https://nla.gov.au/nla.news-title592
614 Tungamah and Lake Rowan Express and St. James Gazette (Vic. : 1883 - 1920) 31,880 https://nla.gov.au/nla.news-title614
752 Kyabram Free Press and Rodney and Deakin Shire Advocate (Vic. : 1894 - 1954) 12,331 https://nla.gov.au/nla.news-title752
1585 Sunraysia Daily (Mildura, Vic. : 1920 - 1942) 9,828 https://nla.gov.au/nla.news-title1585
1826 Essendon and Flemington Chronicle (Vic. : 1882 - 1894) 9,341 https://nla.gov.au/nla.news-title1826
1827 The Essendon Gazette and Keilor, Bulla and Broadmeadows Reporter (Moonee Ponds, Vic. : 1888 - 1900) 4,372 https://nla.gov.au/nla.news-title1827
1832 Bairnsdale Advertiser and East Gippsland Stock and Station Journal (Vic. : 1946 - 1954) 6,961 https://nla.gov.au/nla.news-title1832
1834 nan 5,296 https://nla.gov.au/nla.news-title1834

Changes in the number of articles from newspapers since 07 May 2023

title_id title change in articles link
202 The Sunbury News (Vic. : 1900 - 1927 32,306 https://nla.gov.au/nla.news-title202
240 Bairnsdale Advertiser and Tambo and Omeo Chronicle (Vic. : 1882 - 1946) 112,634 https://nla.gov.au/nla.news-title240
242 The Essendon Gazette and Keilor, Bulla and Broadmeadows Reporter (Moonee Ponds, Vic. : 1905 - 1918) 18,125 https://nla.gov.au/nla.news-title242
305 Ouyen Mail (Vic. : 1915 - 1941) 28,360 https://nla.gov.au/nla.news-title305
331 Shepparton Advertiser (Vic. : 1887 - 1953) 79,147 https://nla.gov.au/nla.news-title331
370 Port Lincoln Times (SA : 1927 - 1965; 1992 - 2002) 49,238 https://nla.gov.au/nla.news-title370
548 Corryong Courier (Vic. : 1894 - 1945) 63,581 https://nla.gov.au/nla.news-title548
592 Omeo Standard and Mining Gazette (Vic. : 1893 - 1928) 67,719 https://nla.gov.au/nla.news-title592
614 Tungamah and Lake Rowan Express and St. James Gazette (Vic. : 1883 - 1920) 31,880 https://nla.gov.au/nla.news-title614
616 Upper Murray and Mitta Herald (Vic. : 1885 - 1955) 10,405 https://nla.gov.au/nla.news-title616
717 Benalla Standard (Vic. : 1901 - 1940) 72,443 https://nla.gov.au/nla.news-title717
752 Kyabram Free Press and Rodney and Deakin Shire Advocate (Vic. : 1894 - 1954) 61,975 https://nla.gov.au/nla.news-title752
1585 Sunraysia Daily (Mildura, Vic. : 1920 - 1942) 45,688 https://nla.gov.au/nla.news-title1585
1841 Essendon Gazette (Moonee Ponds, Vic. : 1900 - 1905) 8,979 https://nla.gov.au/nla.news-title1841
1848 The Hampden Guardian and Western Province Advertiser (Camperdown, Vic. : 1871 - 1872 ; 1874 - 1877) 9,475 https://nla.gov.au/nla.news-title1848

Total articles by publication state¶

Data about the number of articles by publication place (state) is available both from the main result API using the state facet, and from the newspaper API. As noted under Significant events, these totals don't always agree. I've included both below, so you can compare.

Number of articles by state of publication (via result API)¶

Number of articles by state of publication (via newspaper API)¶

Changes in the number of articles by state of publication (via result API)¶

  Current total Change since 28 May 2023 Change since 07 May 2023 Change since 19 Apr 2022 Percentage of total
ACT 3,296,997 0 0 0 1.381%
International 854,022 0 0 2,842 0.358%
National 657,326 0 0 204,582 0.275%
New South Wales 82,411,113 0 0 -488,560 34.516%
Northern Territory 409,433 0 0 0 0.171%
Queensland 41,128,577 0 0 38,641 17.226%
South Australia 24,859,735 13,804 49,238 296,880 10.412%
Tasmania 15,850,246 0 0 74 6.639%
Victoria 44,040,799 182,900 882,069 3,777,904 18.445%
Western Australia 25,247,083 0 0 557,281 10.574%

Changes in the number of articles by state of publication (via newspaper API)¶

  Current total Change since 28 May 2023 Change since 07 May 2023 Change since 19 Apr 2022 Percentage of total
ACT 3,296,997 0 0 0 1.381%
International 854,022 0 0 0 0.358%
National 663,996 0 0 211,837 0.278%
New South Wales 82,411,113 0 0 477,456 34.516%
Northern Territory 409,433 0 0 0 0.171%
Queensland 41,128,577 0 0 38,641 17.226%
South Australia 24,859,735 13,804 49,238 298,956 10.412%
Tasmania 15,850,246 0 0 74 6.639%
Victoria 44,007,271 196,244 851,869 2,464,216 18.431%
Western Australia 25,247,083 0 0 877,721 10.574%

Significant events¶

While the changes documented here generally reflect the addition of new articles and newspapers, the total numbers can also be affected by system configuration and optimisation events, such as rebuilding the index. It's difficult to highlight these sorts of anomalies in the charts above, but where I notice them I'll add a note here.

31 May 2022 – reindex?¶

Between the harvests on 29 May and 5 June 2022 there was a dramatic change in the distribution of articles by state (using the state facet). The number of articles from NSW decreased by 939,065, and the number of articles from Victoria increased by 961,387. There were also some smaller changes affecting other states. There was a scheduled maintenance window on 31 May, which makes me think that these reflect changes in the underlying search index, rather than the actual number of articles. Further evidence for this is the fact that the number of articles per state calculated by using the newspaper API endpoint were out-of-sync with the article totals until the end of May. Since then, both sets of article totals have remained in sync. So, in short, the number of articles returned by the state facet between 19 April 2022 (when my harvests started) and 31 May 2022 can't be trusted.


Created by Tim Sherratt for the GLAM Workbench. Support this project by becoming a GitHub sponsor.