January 15 |
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Newspapers on Demand at Vancouver Public Library
Source: Library Journal
Libraries have long provided readers with daily newspapers from around the globe. The Vancouver Public Library (VPL) is moving that service into the 21st century with NewspaperDirect, which offers online access to more than 150 international newspapers. The library claims that because of the time difference between western Canada and the publications' origins, the electronic service can deliver newspapers to the library as much as an entire day before the print arrives.
VPL is debuting NewspaperDirect, which was developed by a Vancouver company, at the Central Library's Newspaper and Magazine division and a dozen branches. VPL is NewspaperDirect's first library customer.
Not all 150 titles will be available immediately. Instead, the library is starting with a handful, including El Pais (Spain), Korea Daily News (South Korea), the Los Angeles Times, Le Monde (France), the Philippine Daily Enquirer, the UK Times, and the Washington Post. VPL is requesting that librarians make recommendations for additional titles to enlarge the base list.
Fit to print
Unlike many daily news-related databases and search sites, NewspaperDirect maintains the traditional experience of reading a newspaper. Gary Shilling, the company's marketing manager, explained to netConnect that with NewspaperDirect, newspapers are printed rather than read on a screen. "Publishers connect to our FTP server and send us electronic files in PDF," Shilling says. "All of our customers have a PC with our ND Print Station software and a printer. The library keys in the publication it wants, and our server sends it to the library where it is printed on standard 11"×17" paper in black and white." According to Shilling, the libraries receive a complete edition as supplied by the publishers, which sometimes omit classifieds and advertisements. "Otherwise, the page layout remains exactly the same." The printouts are scaled to roughly 70% of the original size, depending on the publication.
Since end users receive a print product, publications available through NewspaperDirect are not searchable. "Right now, our business model is to supply printed editions of the newspapers," Shilling says. "We do have technology that's being previewed that will allow for searching." Although NewspaperDirect is not an archive service, Shilling says that roughly two weeks' worth of each publication is available to customers.
Happy accident
VPL's hooking up with NewspaperDirect was the result of an accident: one of the newspapers meant for a hotel arrived at the library, where it was discovered by newspaper collection development librarian Thomas Long. Long, who recognized what a boon it would be to the library, tracked down the source. "The public reaction has been very positive," says Jeannie Cockcroft, head of VPL's newspapers and magazines divisions. "Before, we weren't able to provide newspapers in other languages that same day." Also, since September 11, some U.S. papers, like the Chicago Tribune, weren't available to us at all, says librarian Mark Koep, "and the ones we do get often are two to three weeks late."
Costwise, Cockcroft says NewspaperDirect is comparable to the print product but in some cases even cheaper. Koep told netConnect that the L.A. Times costs the library about $2500 CDN while the NewspaperDirect edition is about $1400. Not only does the service allow for same-day access, it also solves the problem of missing or mutilated copies. The papers are discarded after two months, as the library uses microform for archiving.
Michael Rogers
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