College and Research Libraries Current International Newspapers: Some Collection Management lmP,lications . I Stanley P. Hodge and Marilyn Ivins This article discusses current newspaper collection management practices among research li- braries; emphasizes the importance of incorporating use patterns into selection decisions; and offers a methodology for surveying the library's international user group. Based on the results of this study, factors to consider when drafting a collection development policy are provided. Interestingly, criteria such as journalistic reputation, geographic representation, and curricu- lar and research support may not accurately reflect users' actual reasons for reading interna- tional newspapers. urrent international newspa- pers1 in university libraries are typically acquired on the basis of their journalistic reputations and representative geographic origin to serve as primary source materials for uni- versity curricula and research. In ''Role of Newspapers as an Information Re- source," Joel Rutstein commented, ''There is no broad uniformity of control relating to the selection, processing and handling of current newspapers in aca- demic libraries. " 2 And, in "Academic Li- brary Newspaper Collections" Janell Ru- dolph and Byunn noted, ''there seemed to be little, if anything written about acquisi- tion and retention of newspapers by uni- versity libraries. ''3 The published research on library collection management _does not indicate how current international newspapers are selected and how fre- quently they are actually used. A study of selection criteria and of current interna- tional newspaper use would be helpful to those with collection management re- sponsibilities. Thus, the authors deter- mined that obtaining answers to several questions related specifically to interna- tional newspapers would be useful to other librarians. OBJECTIVES AND RESEARCH QUESTIONS The purpose of this study is to identify current international newspaper selection patterns in academic research libraries; to determine which selection criteria are con- sidered most important; and to ascertain who typically uses current international newspapers and for what reasons. Ques- tions included 1. How many current international news- papers are typically received by a research library-through paid subscriptions or gifts- in English or in a non-English language? The number of subscriptions placed is Stanley P. Hodge is Director of Collections Development at Ball State University in Muncie, Indiana 4.7306. Marilyn Ivins is in the Resource Development Division, Evans Library, at Texas A&M University, College Sta- tion, Texas 77843. The authors wish to express their appreciation to Peter Hernon for his advice throughout the research process and to Gloriana St. Clair for her comments and suggestions on the final draft. 50 interesting be!;ause the annual cost for an international newspaper may easily ex- ceed $300, particularly if it is a daily airmail edition. Although surface mail is far cheaper, a frequent complaint heard from readers of international newspapers is that the latest copy on the shelf is too old to be of interest. Collection development librarians often face the option of selecting a representative title in English or in an in- digenous language of another country. Whose language preference should be considered first: the U.S. students who comprise the majority of a university's en- rollment or the international students who usually prefer to read in their native language? 2. What are the most and least important criteria considered when selecting a current in- ternational newspaper? Various selection criteria may receive different emphases depending on the col- lection's purposes and clientele. Even when provided in collection policies, Ross Atkinson notes that these criteria ''must still always be interpreted by each selector on the basis of his or her personal experi- ence at the time of each selection deci- sion.''4 However, when considered in the abstract, which criteria are considered most important in terms of selecting cur- rent international newspapers? 3. What considerations do newspaper poli- cies typically include, and what additional ele- ments might be incorporated when formulating a policy? Collection development policies serve to guide the selector through making deci- sions to meet certain stated objectives. A review of research library newspaper poli- cies should theoretically reveal the bases for selection decisions. However, faced with a specific situation, a librarian may use additional selection criteria. When this situation occurs frequently, these ad- ditional criteria might be considered for incorporation into newspaper collection policies. 4. How long do research libraries usually re- tain paper copies of international newspapers, and what are the primary factors in determin- ing their retention period? A collection manager's job does not end with selection alone. Current newspapers Current International Newspapers 51 can create special problems, especially when several issues per title are retained. Their size, diverse languages, and ten- dency to scatter become a nuisance to those responsible for maintaining some semblance of order in the newspaper reading area. Although microfilm hold- ings decrease these problems for many re- search titles, the lags in receipt often cause space and access problems. 5. For what reasons are international news- papers actually used and by whom? Does the use of these newspapers vali- date the traditional emphasis placed on selection criteria in collection develop- ment policies? Again, the literature con- tains little information on this subject. ''The lack of literature treating various ap- proaches to newspaper use suggests that librarians have paid little attention to this major purveyor of information.''5 Hypothesis on Newspaper Use The authors postulated that the pre- dominant use of current international newspapers is by students primarily for the purpose of obtaining news from their home country. 6 In order to compare major differences in reading patterns between user groups, it was also postulated (in the form of nondirectional hypotheses) that the same proportion of each type of user group who read international newspapers for five surveyed reasons would be the same proportion as for the other groups combined. (For example, "the proportion of graduate students who read interna- tional newspapers for news from home is the same as the proportion of all other user groups who read international newspa- pers for news from home.") The user groups studied were categorized as fac- ulty, staff, graduate students, undergrad- uates, and others. The reasons for reading were categorized as class assignment, means of obtaining news from one's home country, current events awareness, recre- ation, and research. In order to test these hypotheses, a sur- vey of international newspaper readers in an academic research library was con- ducted. Such a survey would hopefully produce information to aid that library's collection development officers in the se- 52 College & Research Libraries lection of international newspapers. It would also serve to illustrate how well various selection criteria compare with ac- tual use. Additionally, the methodology and resulting data could well be of interest to other academic librarians coping with the perplexities of international newspa- per selection and use. SURVEY METHODOLOGIES ARL Library Survey Two surveys were conducted in order to answer the above questions. First, the ninety-three U.S ._ university libraries that are members of the Association of Re- search Libraries (ARL) were assigned to one of the four geographic regions: Mid- west, Northeast, South, orWest. 7 Second, the libraries in each region were alphabet- ized according to the name of the institu- tion, and every fourth library for each re- gion was selected for survey purposes. A questionnaire was developed and pretested by collection development offi- cers at two ARL libraries. Minor modifica- tions were made in the survey instrument. The authors next called the chief collection development officer in each of the twenty selected libraries and asked them to partic- ipate in the survey. This procedure en- abled the authors to obtain the name of the appropriate librarian to complete the questionnaire. The questionnaires were mailed in May 1985, and by November, re- sponses from eighteen libraries (90 per- cent) were received. Newspaper User Survey The user survey was conducted at Texas A&M University's Evans Library in 1985. This library served a student population of 33,859 (spring); 14,491 (first summer ses- sion); and 35,675 (fall). The international student population during these terms was 1,584, 1,046, and 1,596, representing about 100 nationalities. Approximately 58 percent of these international students were graduate students and 42 percent undergraduates. Although the primary focus of the university's curricula is on en- gineering, science, agriculture, and busi- ness, there are sizable enrollments in the colleges of liberal arts and education as well. January 1987 The newspaper collection is housed in the Current Periodicals Department of the library; 86 international newspapers rep- resenting forty-eight nations are received here. The library receives 25 of these as gifts and purchases 61 through subscrip- tions; 30 of these newspapers are in En- glish and 56 in other languages. Evans Library has a newspaper collec- tion policy statement divided into two sec- tions, the first governing microform col- lections and the second, original paper copy. In the latter, international newspa- pers are addressed as follows under Scope of the Newspaper Collection: International newspapers of primary impor- tance are acquired to provide broad coverage on international affairs in areas of the world in which the academic community has a continu- ing interest; provide news coverage of coun- tries from which the University has a significant number of faculty and/or students; and provide at least one newspaper in each language in which courses at Texas A&M University are taught. 8 The survey was conducted through a questionnaire consisting of six multipart questions eliciting twenty items of infor- mation. The information sought included the title of the newspaper being read, the reason(s) for reading it, participant status in the university, nationality, and year of arrival in the United States. Two international students who worked in collection development tested the sur- vey questionnaire with no problems. The first survey was conducted in April1985. During a one-week period, the authors distributed the questionnaire to readers of current international newspapers every two hours that the library was open for service. While distributing the survey forms, the authors provided a brief intro- duction and offered to explain or clarify the questionnaire. Two additional surveys were conducted in this manner in June and October of 1985.9 RESULTS AND DISCUSSION Characteristics of Newspaper Collections The first question asked about the num- ber of international newspapers acquired; how many are obtained through paid sub- scriptions or gifts; and the language of Current International Newspapers 53 200 , 90 180 MEAN OF TOTAL = 61 0 170 MEDIAN OF TOTAL = 43 w , 60 > w , 50 () w , 4-0 0::: lQ , 30 UJ 120 Cl.. , 1 0 ~ ~ , 00 90 z 80 IJ.... 70 0 ffi 60 co 50 ~ 4-0 ::::;:. z 30 20 10 10 EZJ SUBSCRIPTIONS UBRARIES REPORTING (1m_ rs:::sJ GIFTS r@ TOTALS ONLY FIGURE 1 Number of International Newspapers Received by Eighteen ARL Libraries publication. Figure 1 illustrates that the number of international newspapers re- ceived through paid subscriptions (and through gifts as well) varies considerably among research libraries. Several factors are likely to affect this phenomenon: ma- terials budgets, number of international students enrolled, type of research and curricular programs emphasized, and li- brarians' perceived value of newspapers as a service to readers . The "typical" re- sponding library receives 43 (median fig- ure) international newspapers. Seventeen respondents separated paid subscriptions from gifts; the median figures are 34 throufh subscriptions and 12 through gifts. 1 It is the authors' opinion that interna- tional newspapers may play an important role in undergraduates' liberal education by acquainting them with a broad spec- trum of viewpoints and by promoting their respect for other cultures. From this standpoint, and from an assumption that international students are more fluent in English than most U.S. students are likely to be in foreign languages, a case can be made for preferring English-language newspapers when they are available . The question of language preference was directly addressed in only one of the newspaper collection policies examined. However, a selection predisposition may exist when policy statements emphasize journalistic reputation, or so-called elite newspapers. Respondents were not asked to state their usual practice regarding se- lection by language, but were requested to indicate how many titles were received in English and non-English languages. Seventeen libraries responded to the question regarding the receipt of English and non-English titles. The number of En- glish language titles received ranged from 5 to 66, while non-English titles ranged from 7 to 128. For English-language inter- national newspapers received, the mean average was 22 and the median 18. The li- braries received a mean average of 41 and a median of 25 foreign-language titles. As collections become very large, the foreign- language titles predominate. Policy Statements The justifications for a newspaper col- lection policy statement are similar to 54 College & Research Libraries those for collection policies in general and have been well documented in other sources. 11 Rutstein has noted, ''Without guidelines the newspaper collections can easily become unmanageable, since their bulk and expense lead to formidable de- mands on staff and budget. ''12 Respondents were asked if their library had a newspaper policy statement, and if so, to forward a copy to the authors. Nine of the eighteen libraries responding (50 percent) had a newspaper policy, while seven did not; one had a policy in draft stage and one left the question unan- swered. The nine newspaper collection policies received vary greatly in length and detail. A few were confined to short, general statements appended to an overall selection policy. In these cases respon- dents often indicated that they were still struggling with the policy issues raised by current newspapers. As a guide to those who are reviewing their newspaper poli- cies or who are developing one, several factors to consider are outlined in appen- dix A. These are based on the information gained from the two surveys conducted by the authors. 13 Criteria for Newspaper Selection Analysis of the nine newspaper policies received indicated that selection criteria for current international newspapers em- phasized . • Quality or journalistic reputation-7 • Curricular or teaching support-7 • Research-7 January 1987 • Geographic coverage-6 • News from foreign students' home countries-2 • Languages taught-2 • Current awareness-1 • Cost-1 • Expected use-1. The questionnaire asked respondents to indicate the importance of ten criteria for selecting an international newspaper for their library. Many of the criteria sug- gested were the same as Rudolph and Byunn used with response categories ranging from "not considered" to "very important'' on a five-point scale. The ten criteria in ranked order of importance to the respondents are listed in table 1. In addition to seeking librarians' views on the importance of various selection cri- teria for current international newspa- pers, one question asked them to ascertain which criteria might actually be consid- ered by a collection development librarian in a hypothetical, but typical, situation: A student from Andrusia (fictitious country) comes to see you to suggest a newspaper for your library. This student mentions that he has been in the U.S. for only two months and has become concerned about some recent political developments in his country that have resulted in armed insurrections. Your library does not receive a newspaper from Andrusia. What fur- ther information would you seek and consider with regard to this student's suggestion that you acquire an Andrusian newspaper? The responses indicate that when pre- sented with a typical situation, collection TABLE 1 SELECTION CRITERIA FOR INTERNATIONAL NEWSPAPERS RANKED IN ORDER OF IMPORTANCE BY EIGHTEEN COLLECTION DEVELOPMENT LIBRARIANS Criteria 1. Geographical representation 2. Quality or reputation 3. Curriculum support 4. Faculty request 5. Perceived use 6. Cost 7. Student request 8. Index availability 9. Microform availability 10. Recreational interest Importance 4.6 4.6 4.4 4.4 4.4 4.1 3.1 2.9 2.9 2.0 5 = very important; 4 = moderately important; 3 = equally important/unimportant; 2 = of little importance; 1 = not considered. development librarians are quite percep- tive and pragmatic in determining the sev- eral possible factors that may have an im- pact on a selection decision. Some of their answers suggest criteria that should be in- corporated in their newspaper collection policies. The categorized answers are listed in table 2 by frequency of mention. Retention of International Newspapers The surveyed librarians were asked how long their libraries generally retain paper copies of international newspapers and which factors were the primary reasons for discarding them. Table 3 illustrates the re- sponse and indicates results very similar to those found by Rudolph and Byunn in their study. Nine librarians in the present study qualified the maximum retention period by noting "unless replaced by microfilm." In stating the primary factor for discard- ing international newspapers, six librarians Current International Newspapers 55 indicated space, six indicated use, two indi- cated space and servicing, and one indicated space and use. Three respondents did not provide a reason. One approach to length of retention is to have no standard period for all newspapers but to consider the crite- ria of space, use, and servicing on a title-by- title basis. There may not be a long-term need for many titles acquired by the library. For example, if their use is primarily fulfill- ing the need for current events awareness, 7 or fewer issues may suffice. The Use of Current International Newspapers The fifth and final collection manage- ment question examined was that of cur- rent international newspaper use. For what reasons are these newspapers used and by whom? This study has shown that the selection criteria for international newspapers in academic libraries empha- TABLE2 RESPONSES TO HYPOTHETICAL QUESTION Responses to Further Information Sought Frequency 1. The number of university faculty/students from the country or the potential number of readers of a particular newspaper. 2. Cost of the newspaper subscription. 3. The relationship of a newspaper from that nation to the curriculum. 4. The existence of a "recogmzed" newspaper in that country. 5. Availability of an airmail subscription. 6. The political orientation of a specific news_paper and the reliability of its news. 7. The significance of events in that nation mcluding their importance to U.S. policy. · 8. The existence of another paid subscription by the library already covering that region of the world. 9. Budget constraints. 10. Alternative sources of information in the library. 11. Langua~e of the newspaper. 12. The availability of a newspaper from that country in a nearby library. 13. Other single responses. TABLE 3 RETENTION OF CURRENT NEWSPAPERS Hodge & Ivins Study Number of Rudolf & Byunn Study Number of 13 11 6 4 4 4 4 3 3 3 3 2 6 Libraries Percent Libraries Percent 2 months or less More than 2 months to 1 year More than 1 year Other No answer 6 9 1 2 0 33.0 50.0 6.0 11.0 0 6 11 2 1 3 26.1 47.8 8.7 4.3 13.0 56 College & Research Libraries January 1987 size geographical representation, journal- quently read newspapers were those rep- istic quality or reputation, and support for resenting the nations with the largest university curricula and research. But, number of participants in the survey. This does the actual use of these newspapers correlation also extends to the total inter- validate the emphasis on these selection national student body at Texas A&M dur- criteria? ing 1985 when students from Taiwan, Ko- A 1984 survey questionnaire seeking the rea, and India led all other nationalities in reasons for reading newspapers at the number. Puerto Rican students are not University of Notre Dame disclosed the counted in the international student totals following answers from 229 newspaper- because of their United States citizenship. reading respondents (see table 4). This However, evidence of their presence in survey included readers of both foreign the university is indicated by the high and domestic newspapers, the latter being readership of the Puerto Rican newspaper the most heavily used. 14 El Mundo. Results The participants represented faculty, staff, graduate and undergraduate stu- In the Texas A&M Survey, some 313 dents, and a miscellaneous ''other'' questionnaires were completed. Fifty- group, composed of visitors, faculty eight (18.5 percent) of the participants spouses, postdoctoral candidates, former took part in the survey during more than students (an Aggie designation for one term. The participants represented 48 alumni), and a student from another col- nationalities and read 56 different interna- lege in the area. These data clearly indicate tional newspapers. The most frequently that the predominant use of international read newspapers and the countries of ori- newspapers is by students, since 261 read- gin most frequently cited by the partici- ers, or 83.4 percent of the readership, pants are cited in table 5. were undergraduate (28.8 percent) and Table 5 indicates that the most fre- graduate students (54.6 percent). The fac- TABLE4 REASONS FOR READING NEWSPAPERS (DOMESTIC AND FOREIGN) UNIVERSITY OF NOTRE DAME SURVEY Reasons To keep up with national and international news For news from my hometown For news from my home country outside the U.S. To learn about the culture/current events of another country To improve knowledge of a language To locate a piece of information To read classified ads As a class assignment As part of a research project TABLE 5 Total Responses Percentage n = 229 Indicating Reason 184 80.3% 84 36.7% 42 18.3% 28 15.3% 25 12.2% 24 10.5% 13 5.7% 11 4.8% 9 3.9% MOST FREQUENTLY READ NEWSPAPERS AND READERS' COUNTRY OF ORIGIN Readers' Country of Origin/ Number of Readers Newspaper Times Cited Taiwan 54 18.8% China Daily News 35 Central Daily News (Taiwan) 16 Korea 43 13.7% Korea Times 44 Puerto Rico 41 13.1% El Mundo (Puerto Rico) 24 India 22 7.0% Times of India 22 ulty accounted for 5.4 percent. Liberal arts majors were noticeably lack- ing among student readers. Indeed, fur- ther analysis of combined graduate and undergraduate majors showed that 26.8 percent of this group of survey partici- pants were studying engineering, "the most popular field of study among foreign students in 1983/84. " 15 Reasons for Reading For the purposes of this study, the most important data in the survey concerned the reasons for reading current interna- tional newspapers. Five choices were listed, and the participants indicated the primary reason(s) for reading. The choices were 1. Class Assignment 2. News from Home 3. Broader Perspective on Current Events 4. Recreational Reading 5. Continuing Research Interest The respondents were not restricted to one of these choices and often checked several. As figure 2 shows, 87.9 percent of the participants cited II news from home. II "Broader perspective on current events" was second with 41.5 percent, followed by "recreational reading" with 33.5 percent. Current International Newspapers 57 As in the Notre Dame survey, "research interest'' and II class assignment'' were of very low priority at 5.4 percent and 1.9 percent respectively. In figure 3, partici- pants are divided by group according to university status. These data clearly indicate that "news from home" was the most important rea- son cited for reading international news- papers. II Getting a broader perspective on current events" ranked second in impor- tance for all the groups, followed closely by "recreational reading." Again, "con- tinuing research interest'' and II class as- signment'' percentages were very low. Faculty and "other" groups did not cite these two reasons at all. The combined graduate and undergrad- uate student readers (83.4 percent of the total readership) indicated that they pri- marily read international newspapers for news from their home country (88.5 per- cent of the cases), thereby affirming the authors' basic hypothesis that this was the predominant use. 16 Furthermore, there was no discernible pattern between the readers' length of residence in the U.S. and the frequency of reading for news from their home countries. Results for the nondirectional hypothe- ses concerning proportions of the five IZZl CLASS ASSIGNMENT ISSJ HOME NEWS ~ CURRENT EVENTS ~ RECREATION - ~ RESEARCH FIGURE2 Reasons for Reading Newspapers 58 w st ~ u f5 a... College & Research Libraries 100 90 80 70 60 50 4-0 30 20 10 0 FACULTY STAFF IZ:ZJ CLASS ASSIGNMENT ISSJ NEWS FROM HOME January 1987 GRADUATE UNDERGRADUATE OTHER ~ CURRENT EVENTS ~ RESEARCH INTEREST ~ RECREATIONAL READING FIGURE3 Reasons for Reading by University Group groups of readers and the five reasons for reading international newspapers were also computed using the StatPac corrected chi-square program. The hypothesis of no difference between groups was rejected only in the case of undergraduates read- ing for recreation. 17 This statistical rejec- tion was interpreted to mean that under- graduates read international newspapers for recreation in a different proportion (higher) than did all other groups. No dif- ferences in other reasons for reading by any other group were statistically signifi- cant. CONCLUSIONS AND RECOMMENDATIONS Summary of Findings This study determined that the number of current international newspapers re- ceived varies considerably among ARL li- braries but may typically consist of 40 to 50 titles. The ~ajority of these are in foreign languages and their ratio to English- language international newspapers in- creases as collections grow in size. Gifts account for a significant portion (30-40 percent) of international newspaper titles in most libraries. Paper issues are retained from more than two months to a year by most libraries, space and use being equally cited as reasons for their eventual discard. About half of the ARL libraries have some form of newspaper selection policy, ranging from brief statements appended to more comprehensive policies to a sepa- rate policy with very detailed selection cri- teria. ''Geographical representation'' and ''quality or reputation'' are perceived as being the most important selection criteria by those surveyed, while curriculum sup- port, faculty requests, and perceived use were also highly ranked. However, well over a dozen other factors were reported as possible considerations in a typical se- lection decision. User studies at two research libraries in- dicate that reading international newspa- pers for "news from home" and other forms of recreational reading far exceed their use for class assignments or re- search. The use of newspapers by lan- guage or country of origin is closely linked with the national characteristics of a uni- versity's international student body. The authors believe that in newspaper policies more emphasis should be placed on what Atkinson terms the ''communal context'' of selection. In this context, a primary se- lector responsibility is to respond to clien- tele needs determined by systematic and aggressive observation and user studies. 18 Need for Policy Reviews The total number of foreign students in the U.S. for the past thirty years has stead- ily increased. In 1983-84 international stu- dents attended 2,498 academic institu- tions in the United States. 19 "Their numbers in American higher education will swell from the present 312,000 to over a million in the early 1990's."20 By then, ''the presence of foreign students could be one of the most powerful themes in Amer- ican higher education.'' 21 Given the increasing numbers of inter- national students attending U.S. colleges and universities, it seems time for aca- demic librarians in institutions with signif- icant foreign student populations to re- view their selection policies and practices for acquiring international newspapers. To respond to the needs of this growing enrollment and to hold high costs in check, librarians should solicit gift sub- scriptions from student associations, em- bassies, etc. Selectors should also con- sider subscribing to some of the so-called ethnic newspapers, which are published in the U.S. for foreign-language readers, as a way of eliminating costly airmail rates. Current International Newspapers 59 Although these foreign-language news- papers are often slanted by homeland pol- itics, most of them provide reports from the mother country, national news with an ethnic angle, and local cultural calen- dars. Some examples of the most popular ethnic titles are Philippine News, Korea Times, China Daily News, Nguoi Viet, and Diario las Americas. 22 While provision of news from one's home country may not appear as lofty an objective as curricular and research sup- port, it may serve no less noble a purpose. Those students from the fictitious Andru- sian nation are likely to be struggling with language proficiency, concerned about unstable political conditions in their homeland, adapting to cultural differ- ences, and confronting an alien educa- tional system. A well-selected and respon- sive international newspaper collection may serve as a vehicle for alleviating sepa- ration from their homeland and may pro- vide a crucial link with the culture to which our guests will return. It therefore has the potential to fulfill important social as well as educational roles in academic re- search libraries. The results of this research increase our knowledge about current international newspaper collections in academic re- search libraries. The characteristics of such collections, the primary criteria con- sidered in their selection, and their client use patterns were examined and reported. This information will be useful to collec- tion development librarians in evaluating their own collections and in developing more effective service policies. REFERENCES AND NOTES 1. The operational definition of current international newspaper for the purpose·of this survey is a publi- cation issued in newsprint and containing general news coverage rather than specific subject mat- ter . It may be published outside the U.S . in English or the national language or within the U.S. in a non-English language. 2. Joel A. Rutstein, "Role of Newspapers as an Information Resource: A Survey of Academic Li- braries," Library Scene 7:17-21 (Mar. 1978). 3. Janell Rudolph and Kit Byunn, "Academic Library Newspaper Collections : Developing Policy," College & Research Libraries 43:80-83 (Jan. 1982). 4 . Ross Atkinson, "The Context as Intertext: Toward a Theory of the Selection Process," Library Re- sources & Technical Services, 28:109-19 (Apr.-June 1984). 5. Rutstein, p .l7. 60 College & Research Libraries January 1987 6. This postulation was based on observing the use and users of current international newspapers in a research library over a period of several years. 7. U.S. Bureau of the Census, Statistical Abstract of the United States: 1985 (Washington, D.C.: Govt. Print. Off., 1984), fig. 1. 8. Sterling C. Evans Library, Policy Statement #14B, in "Newspaper Collection Policy" (Jan. 1982), original paper copy. 9. The weeks selected to conduct the reader surveys fell about midsemester in each case. The data from the completed questionnaires were then compiled and analyzed using a StatPac program. 10. Higher :mean averages of 61 (total), 45 (subscriptions), and 18 (gifts) are attributed to three very large international newspaper collections. 11. For example: Sheila T. Dowd, ''The Formulation of a Collection Development Policy Statement,'' in Collection Development in Libraries: A Treatise, ed. Robert D. Stueart and George B. Miller, Jr. (Greenwich, Conn.: JAI Pr., 1980), p.67-79; Y. T. Feng, "The Necessity for a Collection Develop- ment Policy Statement," Library Resources & Technical Services 23:39-44 (Winter, 1979). 12. Rutstein, p.20. 13. Three of the more substantial newspaper policies sent were from the libraries of the University of California-Berkeley, Colorado State University, and the University of Texas-Austin. The collec- tion development officers at these institutions have stated a willingness to share their policies with those who request a copy from them. 14. Maureen Gleason, "Report on Newspaper Survey, January 20, 1984." University of Notre Dame Libraries, South Bend, photocopy. 15. Institute of International Education, Open Doors: 1983/84, (New York : liE, 1985), p.27 . 16. Percentages of responses in each category were very consistent in each of the three separate sur- veys taken over the year. This indicates reliability of findings. 17. Statistical analysis yielded a corrected chi-square value of 4.829 for this reason. A chi-square value of 3.841 or less is required in order for a hypothesis to be accepted at a .05level of confidence. 18. Atkinson, p .. 116. 19. Open Doors, p.4 . 20 . Sally G. Wayman, "The International Student in the Academic Library" Journal of Academic Librar- ianship 9:336-41 (Jan . 1984). 21. Malcolm G. Scully, "One Million Foreign Students at U.S. Colleges Seen Likely by 1990," Chroni- cle of Higher Education 23:1 (Oct. 21, 1981) . 22. James Kelly, "In the Land of Free Speech," Time 126:95-96 (July 8, 1985). 23. Examples of selective lists appear in John C. Merrill, The World's Great Dailies: Profiles of Fifty News- papers (New York: Hastings, 1980); Martin Walker, Powers of the Press: Twelve of the World's Influen- tial Papers (New York: Pilgrim Pr., 1983); John C. Merrill, ed., Global Journalism : A Survey of the World's Mass Media (New York: Longman, 1983); Linda Ervin, "Building a Collection of Canadian Newspapers," Serials Review, 5:45-48 (Jan.-Mar. 1980). For a good bibliography of sources about African newspapers see John Bruce Howell, "African Newspapers: Current Sources and Retro- spective Guides," Serials Review, 10:45-63 (Fall1984). APPENDIX A: POTENTIAL ELEMENTS FOR INCLUSION IN A POLICY STATEMENT ON CURRENT INTERNATIONAL NEWSPAPERS Reasons for Collecting International Newspapers To support continuing curricular requirements To provide broader coverage of current regional and international events To provide news from home countries of international students and faculty To support continuing research interests, i.e., particular geographic regions or area studies pro- grams Selection Responsibilities Those who are assigned to evaluate the collection, to make selection and cancellation decisions, and to determine retention periods Potential Selection Criteria Quality Reputation Language Political stance Current International Newspapers 61 Perceived use (consider international student enrollments by country of origin) Actual use (based on user studies) Cost Availability of airmail, weekly edition subscriptions Alternative sources of information, e .g., weekly newsmagazines from the country Selection Tools Used (See reference 23) Cooperative Arrangements Availability of gift subscriptions from student associations, embassies, publishers, or exchange agreements Consortia Bibliographic Control and Access Types of access provided, e.g., serial listings or indexing Arrangement on shelves and storage provisions Newspaper Maintenance Those who are responsible for receipt, shelving, and disposal or storage