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About the Department
The Knight Foundation/ State Newspaper Periodicals Desk (803) 929-3405
You may email RCPL Periodicals for questions about obituaries or magazine and newspaper articles.
The Periodicals Desk is located on the second level of the Main Library. The area offers a large collection, with subscriptions to more than 930 magazines and more than 150 newspapers. The magazines and newspapers reflect a wide range of subjects to meet the diverse needs and interests of our patrons. The collection also includes magazines and newspapers in Spainish, Chinese, French, German and Norwegian.
Four special collections are located in other areas of the Main Library. Teen magazines are located in the Young Adult area (first level), business reference periodicals are located in the Business, Science, Technology (BST) Reference area (third level), children's periodicals are located in the Children's Room (garden level), and large print magazines and newspapers are located in the Large Print area (second level).
Most magazines are kept in print form for the current and prior years, and older issues for many magazines are available in bound form, on microfilm or through electronic databases. The newspapers we receive are kept for one month or until the microfilm arrives. Access to past articles in newspapers for which we do not receive microfilm may also be available through electronic resources.
We have several microfilm/microfiche reader/printers available for viewing film and making copies if needed. These machines will print from microfilm for 20 cents a page and only take nickels. We do have a change machine that gives nickels for dollars. Additionaly, we have new microfilm/mircofiche reader/printers that can scan from microfilm to a PDF or JPEG file.
We maintain a collection of periodical indexes in print form to help patrons find references or citations to articles they need. These include Readers' Guide to Periodical Literaure, General Science Index and Book Review Index, to name just a few. Indexes are also available on computers and are commonly referred to as electronic databases. CQ Researcher, EbscoHost, Ethnic NewsWatch, InfoTrac, NewsBank and SIRS are electronic resources patrons may use when searching for magazine or newspaper articles on a topic or person.
Of special note are our obituary indexes for The State, The Columbia Record, and the Palmetto Leader, which are useful when tring to locate obituaries or death notices from past years. In addition to the indexes available through the above link, we also have notebooks with photocopies of the front page death lists from 1937 through the present.
Indexes to local magazines, including Lake Murray/Columbia, Greater Columbia Business Monthly, and County Focus are an ongoing project.
With very few exceptions, all magazines and newspapers are delivered by postal mail, so most newspapers arrive after their date of publication.
Follow the links below for more information about:
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