Web Science and Digital Libraries Research Group

Cover Pages of Wijeya newspapers When we ( Gavindya  and  Yasith ) were young adults, we read the  Wijeya newspaper weekly back in Sri Lanka.  Wijeya is a native language (Sinhala), weekly newspaper in Sri Lanka, published by  Wijeya Newspapers Ltd . Back in the days, the  Wijeya newspaper  was published only on paper. However, today most newspapers are also published on websites as online newspapers as well. We remember reading the Wijeya newspaper weekly, whenever we got free time. Since our parents did not allow us to use computers much, we dedicated our leisure time mostly for reading.  The Wijeya newspaper included sections for science, fiction, drawings and creative writings of children, news about schools, and general news (local and international). Sometimes, the Wijeya newspaper was sold out, and our parents had to go to a different store to buy it for us. It was a very popular newspaper among young adults. We loved to read it mostl...

A photo of me inside "The Yellow House" - The Berkman Klein Center for Internet & Society On June 5, 2017, I started work as an Intern at the Berkman Klein Center for Internet & Society at Harvard University under the supervision of Dr.  Rob Faris , the Research Director for the Berkman Klein Center. This was a wonderful opportunity to conduct news media related research, and my second consecutive Summer research at Harvard. The Berkman Klein Center is an interdisciplinary research center that researches the means to tackle some of the biggest challenges on the Internet. Located in a yellow house at the Harvard Law School, the Center is committed to studying the development, dynamics, norms and standards of cyberspace. The center has produced many significant contributions such as the review of ICANN (Internet Corporation for Assigned Names and Numbers) and the founding of the DPLA (Digital Public Library of America). During the first week of my Inter...

Screenshots of world local newspapers from the Local Memory Project 's local news repository. Top: newspapers from Iraq, Nigeria, and France. Bottom: Chile, US (Alaska), and Australia. Soon after the introduction of the Local Memory Project  (LMP) and the local news repository of: 5,992 US Newspapers 1,061 US TV stations, and 2,539 US Radio stations I considered extending the local news collection beyond US local media to include newspapers from around the world. Finding and generating the world local newspaper dataset After a sustained search, I narrowed my list of potential sources of world local news media to the following in order of my perceived usefulness: Paperboy Online Newspapers | US & World Newspapers The Keele Guide to Media on the Internet Online Newspaper Directory for the World Hot Newspapers ABYZ News Links Radio locator Radio Station World Refdesk: NEWSPAPERS - USA AND WORLDWIDE Newspapermap List of Newspapers Allafrica Inte...

Collage made from screenshot of local news websites across the US The national news media has different priorities than the local news media. If one seeks to build a collection about local events, the national news media may be insufficient, with the exception of local news which “bubbles” up to the national news media. Irrespective of this “bubbling” of some local news to the national surface, the perspective and reporting of national news differs from local news for the same events. Also, it is well known that big multinational news organizations routinely cite the reports of smaller local news organizations for many stories. Consequently, local news media is fundametal to journalism. It is important to consult local sources affected by local events. Thus the need for a system that helps small communities to build collections of web resources from local sources for important local events. The need for such a system was first (to the best of my knowledge) outlined by Harvard...

Internet Archive & Libyan newspapers logos Colonel Gaddafi ruled Libya for 42 years after taking power from King Idris in a 1969 military coup . In August 2011, his regime was toppled in the so-called Arab Spring. For more than four decades, media in Libya was highly politicized to support Gaddafi’s regime and secure his power. After the Libyan revolution (in 2011), media became freed from the tight control of the government, and we have seen the establishment of tens if not hundreds of new media organizations. Here is an overview of one side, newspapers, of Gaddafi’s propaganda machine: 71 newspapers and magazines  All monitored and published by the Libyan General Press Corporation (LGPC)  The Jamahiriya News Agency (JANA) was the main source of domestic news  No real political function other than to polish the regime’s image  Publish information provided by the regime  The following are the Libyan most well-known newspapers which are all publ...