There are practices but no policies.  We use a mix of approaches.

1.  Temporary retention - issues are discarded after an interim period of time
2.  Film archive - purchased from ProQuest or Gale or (in odd cases, National Archive Publishing).
3.  Storage in archival boxes.

I am none too familiar with why we have no commitment to retain an archive of some newspapers.  These decisions were made 'ere I held this job.  With a couple of exceptions, we do retain an archive of periodicals printed on newsprint.  We bind only two publications issued on newsprint.  With some exceptions, the dimensions of publications on newsprint are such that our bookbinder is compelled to make use of stitch binding, often with heavy twine.  This makes them difficult for our customers to use.

Nicholson Baker will just have to pound sand.

IW

I.  Woodward
Serials Office
Colgate University Libraries
Case Library and Geyer Center for Information Technology
13 Oak Drive
Hamilton, N.Y. 13346
Ph.:   315-228-7306
Fax:   315-228-7029

-----Original Message-----
From: SERIALST: Serials in Libraries Discussion Forum [mailto:SERIALST@list.uvm.edu] On Behalf Of Henney, Dawn
Sent: Monday, July 14, 2008 5:31 PM
To: SERIALST@LIST.UVM.EDU
Subject: [SERIALST] Newprint retention policies

Dear Colleagues,

Would those of you with a significant number of titles in newsprint (including newspapers) be willing to share any of your policies regarding handling, treatment, and retention?

Thanks,

Dawn Henney

Head, Serials Division

UCLA Library Print Acquisitions Department