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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, 11 June 2023

Total articles and user activity¶

Latest data harvest 11 June 2023
First data harvest 24 April 2022
Total harvests 60
Data https://github.com/wragge/trove-newspaper-totals/blob/master/data/total_articles_by_activity.csv

As of 11 June 2023 there are 238,971,996 digitised newspaper articles in Trove.

  Current total Change since 04 Jun 2023 Change since 14 May 2023 Change since 24 Apr 2022 Percentage of total
All articles 238,971,996 209,995 914,539 4,459,906 100.00%
Articles with corrections 14,853,988 18,669 68,325 998,449 6.22%
Articles with tags 4,748,067 2,400 18,247 345,073 1.99%
Articles with comments 264,255 369 1,696 25,564 0.11%

Total articles by publication year¶

Latest data harvest 11 June 2023
First data harvest 19 April 2022
Total harvests 56
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 11 June 2023
First data harvest 19 April 2022
Total harvests 56
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 04 Jun 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 11 June 2023
First data harvest 20 April 2022
Total harvests 61
Data https://github.com/wragge/trove-newspaper-totals/blob/master/data/total_articles_by_category.csv
  Current total Change since 04 Jun 2023 Change since 14 May 2023 Change since 20 Apr 2022 Percentage of total
Advertising 44,665,433 47,774 204,104 1,163,726 18.691%
Article 165,748,538 133,378 629,183 2,956,078 69.359%
Arts And Culture 4,321 3 37 951 0.002%
Classified Advertisements And Notices 1,485 0 8 62 0.001%
Commerce And Business 4,982 12 65 1,986 0.002%
Detailed Lists, Results, Guides 26,592,347 27,335 74,161 340,386 11.128%
Display Advertisement 495 0 4 31 0.000%
Editorial 16,936 34 159 3,529 0.007%
Family Notices 1,978,048 1,566 7,322 43,245 0.828%
Humour 31,515 63 414 4,007 0.013%
Law, Courts, And Crime 11,001 15 81 1,538 0.005%
Letters 13,363 8 38 1,353 0.006%
Literature 35,882 70 99 920 0.015%
News 12,569 28 153 2,151 0.005%
Obituaries 13,914 24 150 2,781 0.006%
Official Appointments And Notices 1,133 4 10 68 0.000%
Puzzles 49,447 80 648 9,515 0.021%
Reviews 2,623 14 213 642 0.001%
Shipping Notices 2,698 9 37 893 0.001%
Sport And Games 19,350 31 191 4,810 0.008%
Weather 15,332 78 453 5,975 0.006%

Newspaper titles¶

Latest data harvest 11 June 2023
First data harvest 20 April 2022
Total harvests 58
Data https://github.com/wragge/trove-newspaper-totals/blob/master/data/total_articles_by_newspaper.csv

As of 11 June 2023 there are 1,766 different newspapers in Trove.

Total newspapers 1,766
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 04 Jun 2023 Change since 14 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 29.19%
Northern Territory 8 0 0 0 0.44%
Queensland 106 0 0 2 5.77%
South Australia 154 0 0 0 8.39%
Tasmania 115 0 0 0 6.26%
Victoria 432 3 9 25 23.53%
Western Australia 382 3 3 32 20.81%

Newspapers added since 04 Jun 2023

title_id title state total link
1842 Sportsman (Perth, WA : 1903) Western Australia 34.000000 https://nla.gov.au/nla.news-title1842
1843 The Sportsman (Perth, WA : 1904) Western Australia 452.000000 https://nla.gov.au/nla.news-title1843
1846 Daily Commercial News and Shipping List (Perth, WA : 1927 - 1934) Western Australia 45758.000000 https://nla.gov.au/nla.news-title1846

Newspapers added since 14 May 2023

title_id title state total link
1837 Tungamah and Lake Rowan Express (Vic. : 1882 - 1883) Victoria 962.000000 https://nla.gov.au/nla.news-title1837
1842 Sportsman (Perth, WA : 1903) Western Australia 34.000000 https://nla.gov.au/nla.news-title1842
1843 The Sportsman (Perth, WA : 1904) Western Australia 452.000000 https://nla.gov.au/nla.news-title1843
1846 Daily Commercial News and Shipping List (Perth, WA : 1927 - 1934) Western Australia 45758.000000 https://nla.gov.au/nla.news-title1846

Changes in the number of articles from newspapers since 04 Jun 2023

title_id title change in articles link
370 Port Lincoln Times (SA : 1927 - 1965; 1992 - 2002) 44,005 https://nla.gov.au/nla.news-title370
592 Omeo Standard and Mining Gazette (Vic. : 1893 - 1928) 11,589 https://nla.gov.au/nla.news-title592
614 Tungamah and Lake Rowan Express and St. James Gazette (Vic. : 1883 - 1920) 54,294 https://nla.gov.au/nla.news-title614
752 Kyabram Free Press and Rodney and Deakin Shire Advocate (Vic. : 1894 - 1954) 40,801 https://nla.gov.au/nla.news-title752
769 The Woodend Star (Vic. : 1888 - 1942) 13,062 https://nla.gov.au/nla.news-title769

Changes in the number of articles from newspapers since 14 May 2023

title_id title change in articles link
202 The Sunbury News (Vic. : 1900 - 1927 20,478 https://nla.gov.au/nla.news-title202
240 Bairnsdale Advertiser and Tambo and Omeo Chronicle (Vic. : 1882 - 1946) 72,705 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) 71,915 https://nla.gov.au/nla.news-title331
370 Port Lincoln Times (SA : 1927 - 1965; 1992 - 2002) 88,873 https://nla.gov.au/nla.news-title370
548 Corryong Courier (Vic. : 1894 - 1945) 11,615 https://nla.gov.au/nla.news-title548
592 Omeo Standard and Mining Gazette (Vic. : 1893 - 1928) 79,308 https://nla.gov.au/nla.news-title592
614 Tungamah and Lake Rowan Express and St. James Gazette (Vic. : 1883 - 1920) 86,174 https://nla.gov.au/nla.news-title614
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) 102,776 https://nla.gov.au/nla.news-title752
769 The Woodend Star (Vic. : 1888 - 1942) 13,062 https://nla.gov.au/nla.news-title769
1293 Lawloit Times (Kaniva, Vic. : 1910 - 1929) 10,191 https://nla.gov.au/nla.news-title1293
1511 The Skipton Standard and Streatham Gazette (Vic. : 1914 - 1928) 6,212 https://nla.gov.au/nla.news-title1511
1512 The Tatura Guardian (Vic. : 1895 - 1903) 16,662 https://nla.gov.au/nla.news-title1512
1585 Sunraysia Daily (Mildura, Vic. : 1920 - 1942) 28,744 https://nla.gov.au/nla.news-title1585
1826 Essendon and Flemington Chronicle (Vic. : 1882 - 1894) 15,120 https://nla.gov.au/nla.news-title1826
1827 The Essendon Gazette and Keilor, Bulla and Broadmeadows Reporter (Moonee Ponds, Vic. : 1888 - 1900) 14,936 https://nla.gov.au/nla.news-title1827
1832 Bairnsdale Advertiser and East Gippsland Stock and Station Journal (Vic. : 1946 - 1954) 41,201 https://nla.gov.au/nla.news-title1832
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) 4,408 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 04 Jun 2023 Change since 14 May 2023 Change since 19 Apr 2022 Percentage of total
ACT 3,296,997 0 0 0 1.380%
International 854,022 0 0 2,842 0.357%
National 657,326 0 0 204,582 0.275%
New South Wales 82,411,113 0 0 -488,560 34.486%
Northern Territory 409,433 0 0 0 0.171%
Queensland 41,128,577 0 0 38,641 17.211%
South Australia 24,903,740 44,005 88,873 340,885 10.421%
Tasmania 15,850,246 0 0 74 6.633%
Victoria 44,160,545 119,746 779,422 3,897,650 18.479%
Western Australia 25,293,327 46,244 46,244 603,525 10.584%

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

  Current total Change since 04 Jun 2023 Change since 14 May 2023 Change since 19 Apr 2022 Percentage of total
ACT 3,296,997 0 0 0 1.380%
International 854,022 0 0 0 0.357%
National 663,996 0 0 211,837 0.278%
New South Wales 82,411,113 0 0 477,456 34.486%
Northern Territory 409,433 0 0 0 0.171%
Queensland 41,128,577 0 0 38,641 17.211%
South Australia 24,903,740 44,005 88,873 342,961 10.421%
Tasmania 15,850,246 0 0 74 6.633%
Victoria 44,131,197 123,926 826,999 2,588,142 18.467%
Western Australia 25,293,327 46,244 46,244 923,965 10.584%

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.