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Allen Memorial Library

Student Training

This libguide contains instructions for Library Student Employees.

Newspapers at AML

Newspapers except Valley City Times Record (VCTR) and The Fargo Forum arrive in the morning mail around 10:30. The newspapers that are brought from the FMC and that are addressed to Allen Memorial Library  have to be on the Browsing Newspaper stands  NO later than 11:30 am  Monday – Friday. The VCTR and The Forum are checked in by the person who is assigned to get them from the drop box.

  • The Forum is delivered (in the drop box) before opening.
  • Valley City Times Record is usually delivered daily around 4pm in the Drop Box. Hence, the Drop Box will need to be checked  first thing in the morning and late afternoon around 4:30pm for VCTR. 

How to Check-in Newspapers

Supplies needed to check in newspapers:

    Newspaper Index Card Box, pen, red stamp pad, and Library Valley City State University stamper.

NOTE: If you are unable to complete the entire process, please put the blue card which says "Please check these in" on top of the newspapers and leave the papers on the work table.

Steps:

1.  Put the newspapers in order alphabetically, removing and putting advertisements into the recycle box, and putting sections one inside the other for newspapers with multiple sections.

      Exception: Put the VCTR and Forum advertisements into the designated slot by the Weekend Editions.


2. Stamp the top left side of each section of every newspaper with the red VCSU stamp

3. Locate the card corresponding to the newspaper title in the Index Card Box. Check in the newspapers as follows.

  1. For titles without an orange sticker, do the following:
    • Put an “X” in the box with the date that matches the newspaper published date, NOT today’s date.
    • If the newspaper is a weekend edition, you will mark all dates involved with a slash and a horizontal line.
    • If the newspaper is weekly – X the corresponding week of the month: week1, 2…
  2. For titles with an orange sticker:
    • Simply “X” out the address label on the paper with a fine line black marker and place it in the correct newspaper slot, removing the previous week’s issue and placing it in the Free Box in the Lobby. These titles will no longer be checked in or taken downstairs.

4. Remove the previous issue and place the most recent issue in the newspaper stands in the Browsing room. There are two stands: a wooden one for daily papers and a wire one mounted on the wall for weekend editions.

      Watch for the following weekend (Saturday & Sunday) papers as they’ll go in the “Weekend Newspapers” pockets and remain until the new weekend editions arrive:

  • Bismarck Tribune
  • The Forum
  • Minot Daily News
  • Star Tribune
  • USA Today

5. Do a quick check of the newspaper display stands when you are exchanging new for old to see if there are any papers with "old" dates. Contact the Library Assistant  if there seems to be something out of the ordinary.

6.  Put the old newspapers in the crate that is labeled "Newspapers to store in Periodical Room" Exception: Put the Wall Street Journal and the USA Today in 2 separate piles on the top shelf of the small bookcase behind the Assistant Librarian's desk. Pull out the bottom issue, stamp Withdrawn on each section of each newspaper, find a routing slip (in the Magazine check-in supply cabinet) and address it to Luis daVinha/ Social Studies, attach it to the newspaper(s) and place them in the mailing crate in the Back Office. There should always be 7 of each newspaper in the pile behind the desk.

Where to Shelve & How Long?

All newspapers are retained for a month except Valley City Times Record (VCTR). That means we keep last 4 to 5 issues of weekly and 24-28 issues of daily newspapers. Newspaper shelves are located in the Periodical room and they are arranged alphabetically from left to right.

1. Gather the newspapers from the crate and put them in alphabetical order. A good place to do this is on top of the filing cabinets in the hallway by the periodical room

2. Place the newspaper in the correct stack on the shelves in the Periodical Room.  The newest edition goes on top of the stack.  Make sure to keep them in order chronologically including the weekend issues!

3. Check the date of the most recent newspaper, and then check the date of the paper on the bottom of the pile.  If the date is more than a month older than the newest date, it goes to the blue crate in the ante-room. For instance, if the current issue date is May 25th, the bottom issue should have Apr 25th date or close to it.

   The Valley City Times Record is not shelved  with rest of the newspapers! They are shelved at the end of boxed VCTR newspapers and we keep them INDEFINITELY.

We never throw out the Valley City Times Record . We keep them indefinitely in Periodical room. Below are the instructions for boxing these titles.

                                                                                                            VCTR

At the beginning of each month, take all issues from the previous month and check to see that they’re all there by marking them off on a calendar that is in the supply tray in the Periodical Room.  If any are missing, report it to the Acquisitions staff member, who will order a duplicate if necessary since AML is the sole archive for this newspaper, which means we store every single issue!

Lay the newspapers flat (horizontal fold open) and double-check that they’re in chronological order, with the most recent issue on the top.

Bind the issues together by taping three paper strips with a clear label cover, wrapping each around an end of the newspaper, about three inches down from the top and bottom.

Secure the strips with clear label covers ensuring that the strips aren’t too tight and the newspapers can be slipped out easily. Write the month and year on the binding paper.

Place the bound issues for each quarter (Jan – Mar, Apr – June, July – September & October – December) in an archival box. The archival boxes are kept in the periodical room. Make sure to label the boxes neatly and clearly with in pencil. When you are down to only two boxes, suggest that the Library Assistant obtain more.

Wall Street Journal and USA Today

These are retained for one week behind the Library Assistant's desk. Each day when newspapers are checked in and removed from the Display area the bottom issue is removed. The instructions for removal are in the box above.

 

                                               Barnes County Independent

The back issues of the Barnes County Independent are bound together and are stored in the same area as the VCTR. They stopped arriving in 2014.

Ticklers

December (during Christmas break):  Make new check-in cards.

December (during Christmas break):  Make a new calendar to use when binding the archive papers.

December (during Christmas break): Make labels for archive boxes.