[The original posting is in the list archives at:
http://www.infomotions.com/serials/colldv-l/06/0102.shtml
and responses follow below.]
==#1==
From: John Rutledge <jbr_at_email.unc.edu>
Bryan,
The non-area bibliographers here have been wanting to revise and cut
our newspaper subscriptions for some time. Probably not cut entirely,
but at least convert many of the subscriptions to microfilm copy only
for long-term research use. We also believe (based on casual
observation--scanning to see if they have been opened) that use has
greatly declined--and the reading room is in a very prominent spot,
right at the entrance of the library. My feeling (unsubstantiated by
anything but personal experience) is that for "current awareness"
people turn directly to the Net nowadays. That's what I do, at least.
(I have not cancelled my personal subscription to the NYT, however.
Seeing it in print forces me to consider what the editors have
deemed important enough to print, even if I don't read the story.)
(I suppose that the value of newspapers to the area studies is
somewhat different. But if you want to know something about a tsunami
in some distant land, do you wait 10 days for the paper copy of the
newspaper to arrive in the library?)
When we hire a new AUL for Collections, forming a newpaper review task
force will probably be something s/he has to deal with. (Speculation
on my part, of course.)
> We also find that actual use of print newspapers falls far short of
faculty *perceptions* of current need or use.
Yes, I think it's true that use falls short of perceptions of need.
I recently suggested cutting a certain German newspaper to generate
new subscription money. The bookchair in German replied that he
"couldn't imagine a research library without" that newspaper in print.
I think for the language disciplines it continues to be a point
d'honneur to have certain internationally recognized newspapers
physically present on campus. Having foreign and international
newspapers in Lexis/Nexis is not the same. And coverage seems to come
and go.
Newspapers are, it seems to me, much more useful to certain
disciplines than others. That same faculty member in German
linguistics would probably find very little use for newspapers in his
discipline. We have been buying them for "current awareness" and as
primary sources for research. The current awareness use has largely
been supplanted by the Net, IMO. That leaves the research value for
the historical disciplines mainly. Unfortunately, converting to
microfilm also costs money.
John R.
======================================================
John B. Rutledge
Bibliographer, West European Resources
Head, Humanities, Social Sciences, and West European Collection
Development
Davis Library CB# 3918
University of North Carolina, Chapel Hill
North Carolina
jbr_at_email.unc.edu
==#2==
From: Elizabeth Mengel <emengel_at_jhu.edu>
Bryan,
Funny you should be asking that question, we just had a meeting about
evaluating our newspaper collection last week. At this point we
haven't cancelled anything. The problem is that the electronic is
often very unlike the print so making comparisons on formats is very
difficult. This becomes especially hard if a class is doing an
assignment where they have to track the progress of a story. Story
importance is still measured in print terms - above the fold on the
front page, etc. I'd also be very interested to here what others are
doing with their print newspaper collections.
Liz Mengel
Liz Mengel
Head, Collection Management
Johns Hopkins University
3400 N. Charles St.
Baltimore, MD 21218
410-516-0809
emengel_at_jhu.edu
==#3==
From: Janet Fischer <jfischer_at_ggu.edu>
As a law library, we subscribe to several legal newspapers which
people do ask for and read. We occasionally get a request for the
local city paper, which we don't receive.
Janet
Janet Fischer
Acquisitions/Government Documents Librarian
Golden Gate University Law Library
536 Mission Street
San Francisco, CA 94105
phone: 415-442-7826
fax: 415-512-9395
email: jfischer_at_ggu.edu
http://www.ggu.edu/lawlibrary
==#4==
From: Thomas Izbicki <izbicki_at_jhu.edu>
We do an annual review of the use of print newspapers. By and large,
the highest use is of local papers (New York to DC). Some of the
foreign students, esp. from South Asia, have been heavy users of
newspapers.
Nonetheless, we have been moving most of the papers from the rest of
the US & overseas to online. They are easier to keep current.
Tom Izbicki
Thomas Izbicki
Research Services Librarian
and Gifts-in-Kind Officer
Eisenhower Library
Johns Hopkins
Baltimore, MD 21218
(410)516-7173
fax (410)516-8399
==#5==
From: "Guilfoyle, Marvin" <mg29_at_evansville.edu>
Were down to almost zero print newspapers. We have links to selected
papers homepages on our website.
Marvin Guilfoyle
University of Evansville Libraries
==#6==
From: John Abbott <abbottjp_at_appstate.edu.
It is a hard question. Are newspapers about news or news and also
about the culture of the area, as expressed in the layout choices in
by the newspaper in question? Is the web version just as valid
an expression of those aspects? Are there really significant
differences between papers in layout with congolmerate
ownership and company-wide style manuals? I was recently
in Lafayette, LA and the local paper was almost indistinguishable
from other medium-sized city Gannett papers. Will the
above-the-fold types of distinctions of continuing importance to
anyone now under 25yo? Can medium and smaller universities do
without hard copy and rely on the local ARL's for microform copy
access via ILL for other than the current year?
John
Received on Thu Jun 08 2006 - 09:17:24 EDT