Policy and Procedure Statement 1.15.1
Periodicals and Newspapers
Current and Back Issues
October 2000
Current and back
issues of periodicals and newspapers are made available for patrons as follows:
I. MAIN COLLECTION
Periodical
Reading Room
Current issues of
selected periodicals in the humanities, social sciences, and sciences are
available in the Periodical Reading Room (PRR), located on the second floor,
West Wing. As a general rule, only issues of the most recent volume of these
periodicals are kept in PRR. Older issues are bound and shelved in the Main
Library stacks by call number. Both current and back issues of titles not
selected for PRR are housed in the stacks. In addition to the current periodicals
in PRR and the stacks, current issues of a few periodicals are available in the
Main Library's various specialized collections (Special Collections, Labor and
Industrial Relations, etc.). Back issues of these periodicals generally are
sent to the stacks. Both current and back issues of art related periodicals are
housed in the Fine Arts Library.
The decision as to
whether a periodical is to be housed in PRR or in the stacks is made at the
time that an order request is submitted for the item or the gift subscription
is accepted unless on receipt it appears to be of more general interest than
expected. Statement 2.2.1 designates who may submit order requests and outlines
the channels through which requests for materials are to be submitted. Any periodical
for which a request is submitted may be recommended for PRR. This is done by
designating PRR as the destination on the order request card. In conjunction
with the review of all serial order requests (see statement 2.2.1), the Associate Director for Collections Management
considers recommendations for periodicals for PRR and then decides whether the
title is to be housed in PRR or in the stacks.
As new periodical
titles frequently are being added to PRR and as there is only limited space
available, some titles must be transferred to the stacks. Recommendations as to
which titles should be transferred are made by the supervisor of PRR with the
final decision being made by the Associate Director for Collections Management.
Periodicals in PRR
are arranged alphabetically by main entry with some exceptions. Recent back
issues of popular titles and those periodicals requiring added security are
housed in file cabinets behind the PRR service desk.
Current issues of
many domestic and foreign newspapers are found in PRR. As a general rule,
issues are retained on the PRR newspaper shelves for 24 weeks with older
issues handled in one of three ways: a) stored until replaced by microfilm
copies which are housed in the Microforms collection; b) stored in cabinets on
3West for a period ranging from 5 months to indefinitely; or c) discarded
immediately. The only Main Library newspapers for which current issues are not
shelved in PRR are most underground newspapers, which are located in Special
Collections, and the trade newspapers in Labor and Industrial Relations. Back
issues of these newspapers are retained in these areas.
Periodicals and
newspapers on the current periodical shelves are arranged alphabetically by
main entry.
II. BRANCH LIBRARIES
General
Information
Current issues of
periodicals received in branch libraries are made available to patrons on the
current periodical shelves of these libraries. As a general rule, issues are
kept on the current periodical shelves until they are bound at which time the
issues are transferred to that library's stack area.
Some branch libraries
receive a few newspapers. These also are made available on the current
periodical shelves. When issues no longer are current, they are replaced with
microfilm copies, transferred to the stack area, or discarded.
Arrangement of
periodicals and newspapers
Current issues of
periodicals and newspapers are arranged alphabetically by main entry in most
the branch libraries.