The Alligator’s archives are now online

At The Alligator’s office, our articles prior to the 2000s are bound in black-spined books. Articles of more recent years are saved in blue binders with the semester and year etched on its side.

For student journalists who pass through here, it’s a testament to the work and devotion that came before us. For our readers, it’s the first draft of history. But it’s been restricted to the print product. People read through them with Chinese takeout by their side and the paper’s age at the forefront of their minds.

But this history is no longer bound to the yellowed newsprint. Like the content for the last 10 years, it’s now found a home online thanks to UF Libraries. On Tuesday, librarians announced the digitization of Alligator archives from 1912 to August 1957. About 150,000 pages of Alligator archives are expected to be online by September 2019. All of the pages will be text-searchable.

Making our articles accessible to anyone online is huge.

There are obvious benefits, especially for our reporters. Being able to find previous articles by typing into a search box will allow future staffers to find historical information to give context to their articles, especially when on deadline. Earlier this semester, our writers covered Student Government elections, during which three black candidates ran for Student Body president. They tried to find when the last time UF had a black Student Body president. It took them hours to do it, scouring the blue binders and black books. Those hours could’ve probably been better spent if they would’ve been reporting on other important issues.

But this is not only helpful for us as a newsroom — it’s bigger than us. The digitizing is also helpful for every community member who wants to hold those in power — at all levels — accountable. For instance, in order to find out what a student senator promised he or she would stand for during his or her term, any student will be able to go through our archives and find what we reported about the campaign’s promises. If a UF official pledged to create a Black Cultural Living Learning Community or add funding to the Disability Resource Center, the community can use the officials’ own written words on our pages to ask them about it in the future.

As a society, we have a tendency to repeat our actions and mistakes. The idea of being able to look back and read about how UF’s campus was slow to integrate could be a way to teach future generations that it takes effort from an entire community to stand for their community.

The Alligator staff, both past and current, have spent years holding administrations and politicians accountable. The digitization is also a testament to the role this paper plays in the community.

Student journalism matters. All across the country, student journalists are working hard to inform their community. This project by UF Libraries highlights the need to save student newsrooms.