The University of Glasgow has launched a groundbreaking online archive of student journalism spanning seven decades.

The Glasgow Guardian Digital Archive website makes available high-resolution scans of every student newspaper produced at the University from 1932 to 1935 and 1955 to 2007. Initially known as the Gilmorehill Globe, then the Gilmorehill Guardian, the newspaper acquired its current name, the Glasgow University Guardian, in 1959.

The newspaper has acted as a training ground for some of the UK’s most influential journalists and politicians, and the archive contains contributions from former students including Donald Dewar, John Smith, Andrew Neil, William Boyd, Iain Martin and Sir Neil MacCormick. The archive also provides a rich record of student life across 75 years, chronicling stories including the social service campaign of the 1930s, the protest marches of the late 1960s, the campaign to increase student grants in the early 1970s and anti-apartheid marches in the late 1970s and 1980s.

Dr Ian G Anderson, of the University of Glasgow’s Humanities Advanced Technology and Information Institute, said: “The Glasgow Guardian Digital Archive, which has taken four years to complete, is the largest online collection of student journalism in the UK.

“We made the decision to create the archive in order to support academic and student research and provide alumni across the world with the opportunity to rediscover their past achievements and rekindle memories of their time at the University.

“By making the digital versions of paper available online we can ensure that access to the fragile original newspapers is minimised and their permanent preservation assured. The originals have also been microfilmed to preservation standards, which will help to further safeguard their long-term survival and ensure that that this invaluable resource is available for future generations to learn from and enjoy.”

The Glasgow Guardian Digital Archive is a collaboration between the Humanities Advanced Technology and Information Institute, University Archives, University

Library and Students’ Representative Council. The project received generous financial support from the University's Chancellor's Fund, Friends of the University Library and Students' Representative Council.

The archive is available at http://www.gla.ac.uk/services/archives/guardian/

The image below is the front cover of the very first edition of the GU Guardian, which was published on 10 October 1932 and then called 'The Gilmorehill Globe'.

Front page of the first 'Glasgow University Guardian', then called 'The Gilmorehill Globe', dating from 10 October 1932 

First published: 25 May 2011

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