Tutorials

Tutorial – How to use BadgerLink

Tutorial – How to use Archive of Wisconsin Newspapers

BadgerLink Tutorials

Resources:

Community Foundation of Southern Wisconsin

BadgerLink

WPLC – Wisconsin Public Library Consortium

WHS – Wisconsin Historical Society

Yearbooks Online

Links

GO TO ARCHIVE OF WISCONSIN NEWSPAPERS

You will need to be logged in to BadgerLink to access the newspaper archive.
If you need help, please use the tutorials on the left side of this page.

GO TO BADGERLINK TO ACCESS RESOURCES

Information about the Preserving Our Past Project

– posted Oct 2021 –

In 2019, Benton Public Library received a grant from the Benton Community Fund of the Community Foundation of Southern Wisconsin, Inc. to support the Preserving Our Past Project: Wisconsin Newspaper Archive. The requested amount for the grant was $2,910. Grant approval was in August of 2019.
Additionally, in 2017, the Benton Public Library requested a grant from Alliant Energy to meet our financial goals in the Preserving Our Past Project. The requested amount for the grant was $2,160. The library allocated $2,700 from donations and the library budget to meet the total project cost of $4,860. With grant approval late 2017, we obtained the digitized versions of our local newspapers from the Wisconsin Historical Society. The sixty years of our community’s newspapers included: “The Mining Times” (1894-1900) and “The Benton Advocate” (1901-1959).
In combination, the awarded grants within the past 6 years making the total received $6,729.

Even though the process was put on hold in 2020 due to COVID-19, the process was completed during 2021.

The Wisconsin Public Library Consortium (WPLC), Wisconsin Historical Society (WHS), Wisconsin Newspaper Association (WNA), and WiLS are working together to provide digital access to Wisconsin’s historical newspapers through the Archive of Wisconsin Newspapers, available through BadgerLink.

Wisconsin residents have access to a large collection of recent and historical newspapers. You can search keywords (example: words, names, dates), find articles, and easily download/print articles. BadgerLink resources and the Archive of Wisconsin Newspapers website is free to access for all Wisconsin residents. Additional services are available for out of state residents. More information will be added at a later time.

This grant is made available from the Community Foundation’s Benton Community Fund. Since its inception, The Benton Community Fund has awarded over $136,000 in grants to improve and enhance the community. The Community Foundation of Southern Wisconsin is a resource for area nonprofit organizations whose programs and services are working for the betterment of our communities. Grants from the Benton Community Fund Have Supported the arts, education, environment, health and human services and historic preservation.

For more information on how you can support your community through the Community Foundation, contact Linda Gebhardt at linda@cfsw.org or the Community Foundation of Southern Wisconsin, 800-995-2379, or visit the website http://www.cfws.org. The Community Foundation of Southern Wisconsin serves eight Wisconsin counties: Crawford, Grant, Green, Iowa, Lafayette, Rock, Vernon, and Walworth. For good. Forever.

Patrons can also obtain access to the digital versions of the newspaper with the library computers. You can also schedule time to look through the physical bound newspapers housed at the library.
Additionally, an assortment of high school yearbooks are available physically and digitally at the library computers. Go to our resources page to figure out how to search the yearbooks online from Classmates.com