Newspaper policy

Aim

To provide a clear and consistent approach to the provision of newspapers in Kirklees Libraries.

a) Objectives

• To set out a policy for the selection and retention of newspapers.
• To address the problems relating to storage and provision of backfiles.
• To measure stock performance and use this to develop the service.
• To seek customer feedback and use it when considering the development of the service to meet the needs of all customers.
• To address social inclusion issues.
• To include the use of on-line resources in provision

b) General principles

• Newspapers are a primary source of information, current affairs, news and general interest debate. The range of newspapers provided in libraries should reflect this.
• Users should have the opportunity to exploit the use of on-line subscription services. These provide access to a wider range of titles, with searchable content and large backfiles.

c) National daily papers

Huddersfield Reference Library and the B and C libraries * will provide daily newspapers with a national reputation, reflecting a broad spectrum of thought, belief and opinion.

The principle considerations for selection will be:-

• That they contain a representative selection of world, national and regional news.
• That they address issues around current events
• That they offer a wide perspective.
• That they appeal to a wide audience.
• That they offer a range of job vacancy advertisements.

The level of provision will be determined by the grade of the library with some adjustment to meet local need.

Backfiles

• Huddersfield will provide a permanent backfile of Times and Sunday Times.
• For reasons of space and preservation these will be retained as microfilm only. Paper copies will be disposed of when the microfilm format is received.
• Newspapers held in other libraries will be principally the current issues. Back copies will only be retained temporarily. The length of time to be decided locally taking space and demand considerations into account.

d) Local papers

The Kirklees area is well served by a large number of local evening and weekly papers.

Libraries will provide the principle local papers for their area with coverage of news, views, job vacancies and local events.

B libraries will provide one local evening and one local weekly newspaper.

C and D libraries will provide an appropriate local evening paper Monday to Friday. They will also provide one appropriate local weekly paper.

Backfiles

• Huddersfield Local History Library will provide a permanent backfile of local daily and weekly newspapers.
• For reasons of space and preservation these will be retained as microfilm only. Paper copies will be disposed of when the microfilm format is received.
• B libraries will maintain backfiles of local daily and weekly papers in accordance with Local History policy.
• C and D libraries will primarily hold the current weekly issue. Other copies to be retained only temporarily as appropriate to storage and demand.

e) On-line newspaper provision

Huddersfield and the B libraries* will provide access to an on-line newspaper service direct to users via the public computers.

Content

• Currency -- How up-to-date is the product?
• Backfiles -- How deep are the backfiles?
• Which UK national titles does it have?
• Are any local newspapers covered?
• Are they available now or in the future?
• Does the newspaper database contain all news articles from the

source, selected articles, or are articles simply missing?

Customizable?

• Can you choose the newspapers that your library patrons really want or are you forced to purchase content that you really don't need and won't use.

Interface

• Is the display of newspapers transparent or is it hidden? In other words, are the newspapers listed on the opening screen of the interface for quick viewing or are they several clicks away?
• Can you easily select newspapers individually for searching or is this difficult to do?
• Are there both keyword and advanced search options?
• Can you search on fields of the article? Headline, lead, first paragraph, author, and index terms?
• Can you e-mail the article?
• Is there a good help section with instructions on how to search?

Customer Service

• Does the vendor provide dedicated customer service to the library?

Price

• Is the cost by site/concurrent users or a mixture of both? Which is the most appropriate for our needs?

f) Withdrawal

All newspapers no longer required in libraries will be disposed of by sending for recycling.

g) Funding

• Hard copy newspapers will be purchased from a central fund.
• The allocation of funding will be determined by the minimum provision that has been set per grade of library. This standard will be reviewed annually by library based staff and the Reference and Information working party. This will take into account changes in library grades, public demand and customer feedback.
• Microfilming copies of the Times and Sunday Times will be funded from Huddersfield Reference Library budget.
• Microfilming of the local newspapers permanent backfile will be funded from the Huddersfield Library Local History Library Budget.

* View a full list of B, C and D libraries.