Convergence in the Librarya€?s News Room: Enhancing News Collections and Services in Academic Libraries

摘要

The use and importance of newspaper collections in academic libraries have been in decline as acquisition costs have increased significantly as the difficulty obtaining daily issues in a timely manner has grown, and as newspaper readership has declined nationally. In contrast, todaya€?s student and researcher are using television and Internet news sources heavily. This article explores the role of the academic librarya€?s news collections in complementing the universitya€?s Newspaper Readership Program and supporting faculty efforts to develop their studentsa€? critical thinking and media literacy skills. The authors suggest that digital news forms, including television, should be considered and included as part of the librarya€?s collections. In this light, lessons can be learned from convergence taking place in the news industry. Libraries must also a€?convergea€? news sources to provide library users with news sources, which reflect todaya€?s news environment and also reflect the a€?information cycle.a€? The newly created News Room at Pattee Library incorporates a three-television news viewing area; a broader selection of newspaper titles (particularly international titles); and a news magazine collection, as well as providing access to a wide variety of news aggregator database, and the librarya€?s significant historical microfilm collection. A temporary television installation and focus groups were used to help inform the development of the News Room and to determine interest and resistance to sound and televisions in the library. The Librariesa€? Serials Department provided analysis of newspaper delivery options (and reliability) and related subscription costs, as well as suggestions for reducing the number of missingonreceipt issues. In addition, greater focus was placed on niche reference service supporting news sources and news-related research. Use of the News and Microforms Library has increased.