There are two different strategies for working with newspapers:

• locating articles on specific topics
  Usually, for this technique you will need an index - or a digitized version of the paper - or a lot of patience.
• locating entire papers from specific places or time periods
  Then you can browse the paper for local news and events.

Defining and developing your research topic

Try and deconstruct your research question. Make a list of topical concepts by asking the following questions:

• What do I need to know about this topic?-- Break down your topic by identifying the people, places, events, or the specific time period of your research.
• How current must my information be? Do I need to compare and contrast time periods? --Identify significant dates and time periods for your research. 
• Do I need an eyewitness account? Do I need facts, statistics or quotes? Or, do I want to analyze public opinion?--Identify where this information would be found.
• Will different newspapers provide differing viewpoints, perspectives, or characterizations of an event?-Search according to the source.

Developing a search strategy

• Choose keywords that describe the important concepts of your research topic.
• Determine whether there are synonyms, related terms, or other variations of keywords that should be included in a search string.
• Utilize limiters to filter your results.
• Evaluate results and modify your search query.