New for Journalism and Mass Communications

CQ Press.
Available online.   (W&L subscription)
Published as a two-volume set in 2008, this resource contains entries up to 1,500 words in length on the First Amendment's freedoms of religion, speech, press, assembly, and petition in American history, politics, law, and culture.
Links will be maintained in several locations in the library Web site, including this subject listing.

Posted by Dick Grefe at 10:58 AM | Permalink | Comments (0)

Citizen Media Law Project.
Available online.
"Two new cases testing whether state shield laws apply to user comments posted on news websites."
Links will be maintained in several locations in the library Web site, including this subject listing .

Posted by Dick Grefe at 12:57 PM | Permalink | Comments (0)

You may recall an earlier post about the effects of 2009-10 budget cuts for the Washington and Lee University Library.
We must reduce library acquisitions of all types, including books, but the greatest impact is going to be on subscription services -- those items which require year-to-year financial commitments (usually with ever-rising costs).
We have continued to work on ways to reduce our costs while minimally affecting the work of our students and faculty. The latest round of decision-making includes plans to drop our microfilm subscriptions to the following newspapers:

• Washington Post ($ 5,228.16/year)


• Richmond Times Dispatch ($ 4,396.35/year)


• Roanoke Times ($ 3,564.75)/year

Obviously, these titles are major research and regional information tools, but the microfilm format is very seldom used and we have multiple online resources which can retrieve nearly all the content. If need be, upon demand, we could purchase an individual reel of microfilm, and interlibrary loan usually is an option.
The $13,189.26 we will save through these three cancellations should mean that very few additional cuts will need to be made.

If you have comments or concerns about this situation, I would be glad to discuss them with you.

Posted by Dick Grefe at 7:59 AM | Permalink | Comments (0)