Newspaper policy
I. Definition of Newspaper
According to the Library of Congress, newspapers are "those publications issued on newsprint and containing news coverage rather than being oriented toward specific subject matter (Serials: a MARC Format, Washington, D.C.:Library of Congress, 1970, p.16). Special interest publications such as The Wall Street Journal, Women's Wear Daily, etc. are considered a special category and are not part of this newspaper selection policy.
II. Purposes of the Newspaper Collection
- To support the teaching, research, and extension (public service) functions of the university.
- To provide examples of editorial and journalistic excellence.
- To give depth and breadth of regional, national, and international news coverage.
III. Criteria for Selection
(see also Newspaper Acquisition Policy Addendum)
A. Geographic Representation
- Local area - major newspaper published in Roanoke, Blacksburg, and Montgomery County;
- State - at least one major newspaper from the large metropolitan areas of the state with selective coverage of smaller cities and localities;
- North America - at least one newspaper from the major geographic regions of the United States and Canada and at least one paper representing Mexico.
- International newspapers - selection will be based on supporting curriculum and research needs. Papers should have an international reputation, index, and an availability of back files on microfilm.
B. Local History
A collection of local papers, for which there are already substantial holdings on microfilm, will be maintained in order to support local history holdings and the Appalachian Studies curriculum.
C. Editorial and Journalists' Excellence
Award winning newspapers and those papers recognized for journalistic excellence should be given strong consideration.
D. Gifts
Since the control and processing of these materials is expensive, University Libraries will not accept gift subscriptions.
IV. Indexes
Availability of indexes will be a major consideration in the selection of newspapers.
V. Online Access to Newspapers
Extensive collections of newspapers are available on-line from LexisNexis and Factiva (formerly Dow Jones Interactive).
VI. Retention
Newspapers received in microform format will be retained in hard copy until the microfilm is received. All other newspapers will be kept for three months and then discarded.
VII. Requests
Requests for new subscriptions should be made through the “suggest a book or other item for purchase by the libraries” link in the Forms section of the library home page. These will be sent to the newspaper collection management librarian and the requestor will be notified of selection or non-selection.
VIII. Microform Collection
Backfiles of newspapers should be acquired on microfilm for those papers heavily used in support of research and teaching, and for those for which indexes are available. This will be a major goal of the Virginia Tech University Libraries newspaper collection management librarians.
IX. Cooperative Collection Development
Virginia Polytechnic Institute and State University should work cooperatively with other Virginia libraries and the Southeastern Association of Research Libraries to establish newspaper back files on microfilm and accessible indexes for those titles.
X. Ongoing Evaluation
Periodic review of the newspaper collection should be conducted by the newspaper collection management librarians.
Bruce Obenhaus: July 2002
