Newspapers

As used here, "newspaper" is restricted to any "publication appearing daily, weekly, or at other intervals, in sheet form, following conventional newspaper format (masthead, columnar arrangement, headlines), the chief function of which is to report, illustrate, and comment upon current events of either general or special interest."¹ Excluded from this policy are trade and professional journals, government gazettes, and news magazines.

1. Aaron L. Fessler and Saro J. Riccardi, Current Newspapers, United States and Foreign: A Union List of Newspapers Available in the Libraries of the New York Metropolitan Area (New York: New York Public Library, 1957), p. 3; as quoted in: Sam P. Williams, Guide to the Research Collections of the New York Public Library (Chicago: American Library Association, 1975), pp. 12-13.

Purpose:

The purpose of the WSU newspaper collection is to support the teaching, research, and public service functions of the University. Fiscal constraints do not enable the Library to collect newspapers from all political, social, ethnic, or cultural viewpoints or from all countries represented by students attending Washington State University. The following general considerations define the decision to enter a paid newspaper subscription.

Current Awareness: Current coverage of the news of the day is generally limited to the major State of Washington newspapers and a few others believed (1) to have exceptional importance because of published indexes, comprehensiveness, or other intrinsic merits (e.g. cultural or ethnic points of view); or (2) to add valuable foreign or regional American emphasis or interpretation not readily obtainable in other ways (e.g., the San Francisco Chronicle, London Times, Frankfurter Allgemeine Zeitung).

Newspapers of record: "Newspapers of record" are defined as those covered by published indexes. They serve the functions both of current awareness and research. In addition, they are circulated widely among influential groups; they report comprehensively on a wide variety of political, economic, and cultural events occurring throughout their countries; they commonly provide the most extensive coverage of foreign events; and they illustrate the principles of the best journalism. Because of their breadth of coverage and presumptive reliability, these newspapers have great value to the Libraries' readership and are selected in preference to other papers without regard to political point of view. No effort is made to include newspapers from all political viewpoints. We purchase both current copies and microfilm or electronic backfiles of "newspapers of record" as budget permits.

Please note: Some links below are only accessible in the WSU Library or by WSU Faculty, Staff, and Students.

Research: The use of newspapers in research is too specialized and too unpredictable to be fully supported by Libraries' purchases made in anticipation of need, especially in a time of declining serials purchasing power combined with the fact that a single daily newspaper subscription may cost over a thousand dollars a year. Only the relatively few newspapers which are known to be in steady demand by researchers are preserved in hard copy, on microfilm, or electronically. For microfilm backfiles of domestic newspapers, the Libraries rely on the extensive collection of the Center for Research Libraries. The collection at the University of Idaho Library is also taken into account in an attempt to avoid unnecessary duplication, particularly of Idaho papers. The Washington State Library in Olympia is a source for State of Washington newspaper backfiles on interlibrary loan. The University of Washington Library also has an excellent newspaper collection for which microfilm backfiles are available on loan. State historical societies, particularly the Eastern Washington Historical Society, are additional sources for microfilm of older, discontinued Washington newspapers needed for research. Also, electronic full-text newspaper archives available through our subscriptions to PROQUEST DIRECT and LEXIS/NEXIS are considered an alternative to paper or microfilm subscriptions. In addition, free Internet sites such as Kidon Media Link connect to extensive current newspaper coverage all over the world. Supplementing these sources are several specialized microfilm collections owned by the WSU Libraries, such as "Underground Newspapers," the "British Culture Series," the "American Culture Series," the "American Periodical Series," and the "Contemporary Newspapers of the North American Indian." An electronic collection, Ethnic Newswatch, has extensive coverage of minority and ethnic American newspapers.

Newspapers frequently change in quality of content or cease publication. The current subscription list therefore calls for frequent review.

Geographical Areas: Policies for collecting in various geographical areas are as follows:

1. State of Washington. We purchase most Eastern Washington weeklies, and are filming or preserving backfiles in accordance with the State Newspaper Preservation Policy of 1992. We purchase all Eastern Washington dailies, but do not preserve backfiles since the State Library is filming them and making them available on interlibrary loan. The only exceptions are the Spokane Spokesman-Review, the Pullman-Moscow Daily News, and the WSU Daily Evergreen, for which we do purchase microfilm, and microfilm copies of those few titles we are responsible for filming in accordance with the Washington State Newspaper Preservation Policy of 1992.

We purchase the major Western Washington dailies, but buy microfilm backfiles only for the Seattle Post-Intelligencer, the Seattle Times, and the Tacoma News-Tribune. Smaller Western Washington newspapers are made available as a public service to students who wish to read their hometown papers. We do not preserve backfiles or purchase microfilm. Microfilm backfiles of all Western Washington papers are available on interlibrary loan from the Washington State Library.

2. Major West Coast Cities. As the budget permits, we purchase both current copies and microfilm backfiles of at least one major newspaper from each of the following cities outside Washington State: Portland, San Francisco, and Los Angeles.

3. Regional United States. As the financial situation permits, we purchase newspapers which add valuable regional emphasis or interpretation not readily available in other ways. Several of these also fall into the category of "newspapers of record" as defined above. Except in the case of some "newspapers of record," microfilm backfiles are not purchased if they are also being subscribed to by the Center for Research Libraries unless experience shows that there is a regular and predictable demand for them. Access to electronic newspaper archives and holdings of other institutions, such as the University of Idaho and the University of Washington, are also factors to be considered in purchasing microfilm backfiles of regional newspapers.

It is recognized that subscriptions in this category might change as the character of the newspapers changes, as some papers cease publication or new ones appear, or as the financial situation changes.

4. Canada. We purchase one newspaper from Eastern Canada. Microfilm backfiles are purchased as budget permits (major Canadian dailies are available through the Center for Research Libraries and on-line through LEXIS/NEXIS).

5. International (other than Canada). Some of these newspapers (such as the London Times) also fall into the category of "newspapers of record," and thus receive top priority for purchasing. Within financial limits, we attempt to provide access to newspapers from all continents and from all geographical areas actively represented by research and teaching programs at WSU. We do not attempt to provide newspapers from all political viewpoints in a given country, or from all countries represented by students attending WSU. Microfilm backfiles for the world's most important newspapers are made available through the Center for Research Libraries.

Other factors to be considered in purchasing overseas newspapers are "lag time" and the availability of alternative air mail or electronic editions. Such editions are often less comprehensive than the daily paper editions, but usually contain enough of the substance of the newspaper to constitute a reasonable substitute. A daily overseas newspaper that would cost $1000-$1200 a year by airmail subscription may be purchased at less than a quarter of the cost in its weekly or electronic edition. Therefore, except for the cases of "newspapers of record," daily overseas newspapers will not be purchased if an airmail weekly or electronic alternative is available.