One could rank order your periodicals and newspapers according to the quantum of shelf space that would be saved per dollar of expenditure on the film equivalent, and cut from the bottom.  One might also consider whether the paper it is on is subject to severe chemical deterioration (as newspapers are) or would be cumbersome in bound format.  Our bookbinder tells us that his equipment is such that stitch-binding is a necessity for all items over certain dimensions (as all broadsheets are and as tabloids tend to be).  You would have a large item in a volume difficult to open, which would be a deterrent even if the paper were not shot through with acid.  A third criterion to employ would be the salience of the pictorial content.

For these reasons, we have generally maintained our subscriptions to newspapers on microfilm.  However, the use of microfilm for archival maintenance of periodical titles seems less and less utile given consumer preferences for electronic content conjoined to the advent of services (Project Muse, ECO, JSTOR, and Portico) which provide passably secure rights to electronic archives.  Purchases of microtext to supplement insufficiently secure electronic access, to add to your collection  long deceased titles, and to get hold of sets of historical documents for your constituency seem a useful thing to do still.

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

Half the harm that is done in this world is due to people who want to feel important. They don't mean to do harm -- but the harm does not interest them. Or they do not see it, or they justify it because they are absorbed in the endless struggle to think well of themselves. -  T.S. Eliot

-----Original Message-----
From: SERIALST: Serials in Libraries Discussion Forum [mailto:SERIALST@list.uvm.edu] On Behalf Of Koveleskie, Judith
Sent: Tuesday, October 28, 2008 3:19 PM
To: SERIALST@LIST.UVM.EDU
Subject: Re: [SERIALST] Microfilm Renewals

We have cut everything except one title that is still less expensive in microfilm than online or in print.  Once that pricing changes, we will switch.

Judith A. Koveleskie, MLIS, MA
Periodicals Librarian
Seton Hill University
Reeves Memorial Library
1 Seton Hill Drive
Greensburg, PA 15601-1548
kovelesk@setonhill.edu
724-838-7828
This document may contain confidential information and is intended solely for the use of the addressee. If you received it in error, please contact the sender at once and destroy the document. The document may contain information subject to restrictions of the Family Educational Rights and Privacy and the Gramm-Leach-Bliley Acts. Such information may not be disclosed or used in any fashion outside the scope of the service for which you are receiving the information.

-----Original Message-----
From: SERIALST: Serials in Libraries Discussion Forum [mailto:SERIALST@list.uvm.edu] On Behalf Of Michelle Makkos
Sent: Tuesday, October 28, 2008 8:43 AM
To: SERIALST@LIST.UVM.EDU
Subject: [SERIALST] Microfilm Renewals

Hello everyone!

Our library is looking at cutting back our microfilm budget and I was wondering if anyone can share information regarding this.  We're mainly looking at criteria that we can use while evaluating what microfilm titles to cut.

Thanks!

Michelle

**********************************
Michelle Makkos
Senior Subject Department Librarian
General Reference Department
Cleveland Public Library
325 Superior Avenue
Cleveland, Ohio  44114
(216)623-2904
(216)623-2972 Fax
michelle.makkos@cpl.org
http://www.cpl.org