diff --git a/Doc/lib/libcodecs.tex b/Doc/lib/libcodecs.tex
index acbed9a..844f6ec 100644
--- a/Doc/lib/libcodecs.tex
+++ b/Doc/lib/libcodecs.tex
@@ -63,6 +63,38 @@
 tuple is stored in the cache and returned to the caller.
 \end{funcdesc}
 
+To simply access to the various codecs, the module provides these
+additional functions which use \function{lookup()} for the codec
+lookup:
+
+\begin{funcdesc}{getencoder}{encoding}
+Lookup up the codec for the given encoding and return its encoder
+function.
+
+Raises a \exception{LookupError} in case the encoding cannot be found.
+\end{funcdesc}
+
+\begin{funcdesc}{getdecoder}{encoding}
+Lookup up the codec for the given encoding and return its decoder
+function.
+
+Raises a \exception{LookupError} in case the encoding cannot be found.
+\end{funcdesc}
+
+\begin{funcdesc}{getreader}{encoding}
+Lookup up the codec for the given encoding and return its StreamReader
+class or factory function.
+
+Raises a \exception{LookupError} in case the encoding cannot be found.
+\end{funcdesc}
+
+\begin{funcdesc}{getwriter}{encoding}
+Lookup up the codec for the given encoding and return its StreamWriter
+class or factory function.
+
+Raises a \exception{LookupError} in case the encoding cannot be found.
+\end{funcdesc}
+
 To simplify working with encoded files or stream, the module
 also defines these utility functions:
 
diff --git a/Misc/NEWS b/Misc/NEWS
index aca9b8b..f103705 100644
--- a/Misc/NEWS
+++ b/Misc/NEWS
@@ -34,6 +34,10 @@
 
 Library
 
+- The codecs module has grown four new helper APIs to access
+  builtin codecs: getencoder(), getdecoder(), getreader(),
+  getwriter().
+
 - SimpleXMLRPCServer: a new module (based upon SimpleHTMLServer)
   simplifies writing XML RPC servers.