Guardian Opens Online Archives

The Guardian and Observer newspapers have made part of their extensive archives available online.

Reports on world-changing events from past centuries can now be seen at the click of a mouse after the two publications launched the first phase of the digitisation of their archives.

Journalists, professional historians and ordinary readers can delve the collection to dig up coverage of some of history’s turning points, from the Battle of Waterloo to the assassination of President Kennedy.

Phase one sees Guardian stories from 1821 to 1975 available to view along with articles from the Observer dated between 1900 and 1975.

Later editions will be added online next year and will include early issues of the Observer dating from the eighteenth-century.

“The archive will offer historical coverage to both consumers and academics of the most important events recorded during 212 years of publishing history,” according to a statement from the Guardian News and Media (GNM).

Meanwhile, GNM head of syndication and rights Gerard Baines said: “The launch of the archive will revolutionise the way in which users are able to access our historic content, whether for academic research or personal interest.”

Visitors to guardian.co.uk/archive can browse the collection for free but there are charges to view articles and full issues.

Throughout November users can receive a 50% discount on the price of passes, which are available for 24 hours, three days or one month.

More details on this story can be found at Guardian Unlimited.