Retronews. Immersed in three centuries of print media

Last updated on 17 October 2021

Retronews is a multimedia offer offered by the Bibliothèque Nationale de France that invites you to a dive into history through the digitised archives of more than 1500 press titles published from 1631 to 1950. This incredibly rich editorial offer, with more than 15 million articles, allows for an original approach to history through three centuries of online press.

The site, which is regularly enriched with new archives, also offers specific selections of its content for teachers and schoolchildren. This is the case with around 20 complete teaching sequences carried out in collaboration with the Association of History Teachers The Clionauts. It's a really good idea.

Another novelty is the release of a wonderful paper magazine, the first issue of which has been on the newsstand in recent weeks.

 

A real ‘gift’ from the BNF to all lovers of history and the press and a valuable resource for teachers and their students.

With Retronews discover and teach history with press archives.

The BNF succeeds with Retronews in valuing the digital archives of its press shelves with a site that knows how to accompany and welcome all readers. Whether it is a researcher, a historian, a teacher, a documentalist, a student, a passionate or a simple curious, everyone will be able to find his happiness.

So you can use the powerful search engine for specific work such as letting yourself be guided by the editorial highlights produced by the Retronews editorial team. Several million items are already present in this unique collection and the catalogue is regularly enriched with new online publications that offer in-depth coverage of all eras (revolutionary press, Enlightenment century, First World War …).

Of pedagogical sequences turnkey for history teachers

RetroNews had the good idea to partner with our friends from the Clionauts Association to offer turnkey pedagogical sequences for history teachers.
Made from the press collections and iconographic collections of the BnF, these resources can be consulted on RetroNews.

Twenty complete sequences are already available. Four sequences are dedicated to the new History of Terminale programme (crisis of 29, Spanish civil war, political dimensions of the war). Sixteen other sequences deal with the levels from the fourth to the first: the Dreyffus case, the peace treaties at the end of the war, the French Revolution … All these sequences can be downloaded with their correction in PDF format. They are particularly well designed and immediately usable. This ready-to-use teaching material is available for free download here on simple registration for teachers.

Useful selections to accompany school programs

The site is a real treasure chest. History through the press and the coverage of historical, scientific, literary, artistic, economic or religious events of the past offer many uses in the classroom. Retronews offers selections of archives, articles, audio and video content for story programmes. But they are also perfectly suited to letter-writing or media and information literacy programmes for grades 4 to 12. More than 60 files sorted by level and theme are available.

Some of this content is freely accessible, the other is offered by subscription (individual or collective at school level).

A powerful search engine to take advantage of all the richness of press archives

The know-how of the BNF can be found in the search tools offered to the visitor. Retronews offers many search entries, tools and filters to make this wealth of information easily accessible to all audiences.

The site offers Multifaceted Search Filters by theme, event, person, place and organisation, to deepen your interests or bounce back from topic to topic.  For example, you can follow the route of a word over three centuries or a given historical sequence.  You will be able to discover in a few clicks all that the archives offer about a historical character or an artistic movement.

Always in the spirit of supporting the reader, Retronews also offers links between the editorial production for the site and the documentary collection with research suggestions to go further in the published articles.

A beautiful paper review to complete the discovery of the press archives of the Bnf

The Bnf has just completed its multimedia system around its press archives with a formidable paper magazine in kiosk for a few weeks. The spirit is the same as for the site. the RetroNews | Review allows historical events and periods to be explored through the prism of the press. ‘By mobilising the archives of periodicals, by giving voice to the voices raised there, historians are convening the journalistic narrative for the benefit of the (re)discovery of the past’.  In the summary of issue 1, four main themes to make history and current events resonate: ‘Resistances’, ‘Sexualities’, ‘Contaminations’, ‘Crimes and misdemeanours’ and an exciting interview with the writer Didier Daeninckx on the links between fiction and history. Retronews magazine is on sale in kiosks and bookstores.

Retronews is a real success story. This scholarly site makes it possible to grasp the past through the prism of what the press of the time retained. A real gift for all lovers of the small and the great History and a valuable pedagogical resource for teachers and their students.

To have full and unlimited access to all the wealth of Retronews you will have to go through a paid subscription. The BNF offers a whole series of different formulas depending on whether you are an individual, a teacher, a student or a library, a university or a CDI.

The Bnf and Tice Tools are pleased to be able to offer you full access to the entire Retronews site and resources for 30 days. Take advantage of it. Free 30-day subscription to Retronews.