Lake County News-Sun Digital Archive

The Lake County News-Sun Digital Archive lets you look up articles published in the News-Sun within the last 20 years, depending on what you are looking for. The details below describe what exactly you can access, and how.

How Does It Work?

If you are working on a computer inside the library, it should connect directly.  A computer outside the library will ask for your library barcode and PIN (contact the Library if you don’t know your PIN).  Only Waukegan cardholders can access WPL’s subscription to the News-Sun Digital Archive.

Once you’re connected, you can do a quick search or go to one of the three sections of the digital archive:

The first option is the text-only archive.  It covers the longest period, back to 1997.  However, it only includes the text of the articles – no pictures and very few extras.

The second option (Image format) lets you see a digital version of the newspaper, page by page.  It only goes back to 2018, but it includes everything that was in the print edition, from the ads to the weather report. If you are looking for something you saw in the physical paper, this would be the option to choose.

The third option (Web Edition) has information that was posted on the News-Sun website but not included in the print paper.  It is also text-only, so any pictures from the site are not available.  Web Edition coverage goes back to 2011.

The Web Edition includes material not in the two newspaper sources.  The full-page version obviously has pictures, but it has other information as well – advertisements and community announcements, full sports scores, legal notices, and memorials.  Both of the text-only sections include the number of words in an article, as well as a Lexile score and approximate grade level for readability.  They also have text-to-speech capabilities, so people can have an article read to them.

All three sections provide citation information in a wide variety of formats.  You can also email, print, download, or save articles (text-only) or pages (images).  If you email information to someone, they will be able to access the article or page without logging in.  People who don’t have a WPL card can send articles to themselves from the library, and cardholders can share information with friends and relatives who don’t live in the area.

Although historical coverage is limited, the Lake County News-Sun Digital Archive is a great source for local news and information. If you would like to access articles from the News-Sun that pre-date this database (before 1997), you can access our microfilm collection in person at the Library. Our microfilm collection dates back to 1845.