June 3 |
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Printed Same-day Copies of Global Newspapers Now Available at Ohio University
Source: The Athens NEWS
Ohio University Libraries now have eight more newspapers offered on a daily basis, thanks to a new print-on-demand (POD) service that is being piloted in Alden Library.
NewspaperDirect, a technology company specializing in the global delivery of printed and online replicas of newspapers from around the world, has launched a digital service for academic libraries. OU Libraries is the first academic library system to offer the print version of this service.
The prestigious Missouri School of Journalism is testing the online version of this service.
The service enables libraries to provide patrons with same-day editions of out-of-state and international newspapers. The newspapers can be printed on industrial standard printers in an 11"×17" format, or replicas can be viewed online in a Web browser. OU is using the POD version, which prints the paper out in tabloid size in black and white.
NewspaperDirect currently distributes more than 185 newspaper titles in 40-plus countries in more than 25 languages. These titles include: USA Today (USA), The Guardian (UK), Ha'aretz (Israel), The New York Times (USA), Sydney Morning Herald (Australia), Handelsblatt (Germany), Folha De S. Paulo (Brazil), Yomiuri Shimbun (Japan), The Times of London (UK), Dagens Nyheter (Sweden) and Le Figaro (France).
"These are top newspapers in their markets with a potential for worldwide readership," said NewspaperDirect Vice President of Sales & Marketing Richard K. Miller, NewspaperDirect vice president for sales and marketing, on the service's Web site. "Readers can keep abreast of local news, business and politics and even follow their local sports teams from anywhere, both in print and online."
OU is currently purchasing eight titles on a daily basis: The Moscow Times, Atlanta Journal, Boston Globe, San Francisco Chronicle, Le Monde, La Republica, Frankfurter Alegemeine and The Globe and Mail.
A major advantage of this service is timeliness, said Kent Mulliner, assistant dean of collection development for OU Libraries. "A print subscription to the San Francisco Chronicle would arrive here one to three weeks after publication date by post. Now they arrive the same day, first thing in the morning."
Interestingly, Le Monde from Paris actually arrives at OU in the morning of the day previous to its publication date.
Alden Library is using the service to replace print subscriptions that it had previously. Many of the newspapers being replaced cost $500 per year for the subscription and postage costs. Additionally, the subscription is paid a year or more in advance, with mid-stream cancellation with a refund difficult. According to Mulliner, with NewspaperDirect, each day is a separate purchase, so in the event of a budget crisis or demand shift, response can be instantaneous, either to stop receiving a title or to switch one title for another.
The newspapers, upon being printed out, receive a library property stamp and can be used throughout the building, but not removed. As the library has done with the regular newspapers, back copies are retained for a couple months. After being kept in the library for a while, the foreign-language titles are passed on to the language departments for classroom use.
The service is receiving praise from students and faculty members. "The paper is smaller in size and comfortable to read," said Molly Morrison, assistant professor of Italian. "The text is easy to read; I like the loose pages stapled together."
NewspaperDirect was established in 1999 to open new distribution channels for international newspapers. Currently, the service distributes digitally imaged, full-format newspapers to a wide variety of locations including luxury hotels, libraries, cruise ships and airlines.
The company is headquartered in New York City, with offices in Vancouver and London.
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