Newspaper acquisition policy (addendum)

The library is able to acquire only a small fraction of the domestic and international newspapers of potential interest to our readers. The purpose of this note is to clarify the policy governing selection of the library's present newspaper collection. The policy statement concerning the selection and display of newspapers in this collection is displayed in another statement on this bulletin board.

The purposes of the newspaper collection are: to support the teaching, research and extension (public service) functions of the university; to provide examples of editorial and journalistic excellence; and to give depth and breadth of regional, national and international news coverage.

The policy is designed to fill the programmatic needs of the university. It is a very selective policy with no pretensions to comprehensiveness. Selection is usually driven by the recognized journalistic excellence of the papers. The policy does not address the personal needs of students and faculty for newspapers from their home towns or countries, and it does not attempt to give coverage to the numerous political or religious points of view prevalent throughout the world. No country-by-country coverage is attempted, even for countries represented by students and faculty on campus. In order to ensure maximum usefulness to the university community at large, foreign journals are acquired in their English versions. The acquisition of newspapers in foreign languages is guided by programmatic needs.

With very few exceptions the library does not retain newspapers permanently in its collections. Due to their large size and poor paper quality, newspapers cannot be bound or otherwise retained. Unless a second subscription for a microfilm copy is purchased, the newspapers do not become part of the library's permanent collection.

We hope that this information will clarify the library's newspaper policy. Any questions or comment regarding the acquisition of newspapers should be addressed to.

Paul Metz, Principal Bibliographer
Newman Library
CAMPUS 0434
(540) 231-5663
(pmetz@vt.edu.

Revised: July 2002