Accessing and Using PressReader/PressDisplay via the State Library of Queensland

PressReader (or PressDisplay – they are the same product) gives access to a vast range of newspapers and magazines from around the world. Each edition can be read from cover to cover, just like paging through the printed version. Importantly, these are exact copies of the printed version.

Access via SLQ website is FREE. All that is required to access this resource is SLQ library membership. A card is no longer the only way to access this database. If you don’t have membership, you can apply through the SLQ website. isfree, but itis only issued to residents of Queensland.

To access PressDisplay:

  1. Go to
  1. Mouse over the “Resources” link, and click on “eresources”
  1. Click on “Search Databases”
  1. Scroll down to the “News” section and click on “Australia & New Zealand”
  1. Click on “Library PressDisplay”
  1. Login using your library membership details. If you have an old card, username is the number on the back – don’t forget the initial letter, B. Make sure you enter your surname EXACTLY (Capitalise the first letter of it) as on the front of the card, for password. Click on Login.
  1. You are now in PressReader. Once it has loaded, on the LHS you will see a menu headed “Publications by Country”. Click on “Australia”
  1. On the left of the centre pane, you will see an alphabetic list of newspapers and magazines available. Click on the one you want, remembering that a lot of newspaper titles are listed under “The”.
  1. Steps 7 & 8 can also be accessed from the “Select Title” button on the top line next to “Search”, then click on “By country”, click on Australia from next list, and then the Australia list appears on the LHS of the screen. Scroll down to find the one you want.

Using PressDisplay

The paper you selected in step 8 or 9 above opens at the front page of the current issue.

You can select any other issue via the calendar in the top menu bar. Most papers have a rolling 12-month availability, but a few are only 3 months. A very few display only one of two days/week for some country papers.

Once in the paper, you can move around by either:

  1. Using the left and right arrows in the bottom menu bar, or
  1. Clicking on the precise page you want from the RHS thumbnails, or
  1. Mouseover “Table of Contents” in the top menu bar and select the section you want. Note that this list is not consistent between issues of the same paper, but you quickly work out the paper’s format so that locating the notices is easy.
  1. If you don’t want to look at double page spread, click on symbol next to Help questionmark and choose what you want.
  1. To enlarge print, easiest method is to click on page. Wait till it refocuses. To go back to original size, double click on page. Or you can use + & - at bottom, or zoom level at bottom RHS.

When you have found the page you want, you can print it out or email it – either to yourself, or whoever you want to send it to – using the email icon in the bottom menu. The email has a nicely formatted subject line already inserted so the recipient is in no doubt about paper and date. You can add comment if you wish.

Some general tips

  1. SLQ has only 10 licences for PressDisplay, so only 10 users (including library staff) can access the site simultaneously. Consequently you may find sometimes that you can’t log in. The simple solution is to come back later. Outside library opening hours there is generally never a problem with access.
  1. For the same reason (ie limited licences), it is important that you close down your browser session when you have finished. If you don’t, you are potentially keeping another user from being able to log in. Also, you may find yourself ‘booted off’ the website if you don’t access the site for a certain time.
  1. When you email it, it comes as a link to the main website. So it is only a small (approx 11Kb) file, not a large .jpg etc. Being a link means that even when the paper has been removed from PressDisplay at SLQ, i.e. after 12 months, you can still access that particular page direct. You can also forward the emailed link to another person/email account if you wish.

Dawn Montgomery

VQFHS23 May 2015