Magazines

Revised August 2012

General Comments

The purpose of the magazine collection is to meet the recreation and information needs of patrons, with the particular timeliness and freshness that magazine literature provides. In addition to helping keep the information in the book collection up to date, magazines can fill in subject areas where book holdings are weak. At the time of this revision, the Wyoming State Library provides access to electronic magazines for all state card holders with simultaneous seating.

Development Plan

In order that the magazines be useful to patrons, the Library will:

• provide a broad range of subject areas in the collection.
• provide standard indexing tools (online and paper).
• evaluate collection titles as to degree of use.
• evaluate suggested new titles and add them to the collection as warranted and as funds are available.
• collect in English only.

Magazines about subjects of general interest such as business, sports, homemaking, current events, fashion, science, and hobbies are purchased. Magazines emphasizing subjects of particular regional interest, like the environment and out-of-doors, mining, and agriculture, are purchased. Librarianship journals to assist library supervisory and administrative staff are also purchased.

The collection is supported by standard indexing tools, both of a general nature and some that are subject specific. On-line databases are also available in some full-text sources.

The Library designates a few magazine titles as "magazine in newspaper format". These titles, printed on newsprint and in tabloid format, are displayed as magazines but stored as newspapers, with a correspondingly shorter retention time.

A few government document magazines of particular popular interest are shelved with the magazines (rather than in the government documents collection) in order to increase their visibility and use.

Influencing Factors

Purchases and buying patterns are determined in large part by:

• budget constraints.
• circulation statistics.
• patron requests.
• present and potential relevance to the community.
• shelf space.
• availability of new titles.

Retention/Weeding

• Once a three year back file is attained for each title, weeding and discard of the sixth year is performed every January with three exceptions: Government document periodicals must be discarded according to depository library guidelines, designated titles are kept longer as part of the state's Cooperative Collection Development Project for Serials. Certain other titles are selected for longer retention as they further support the general collection.
• Magazines in newspaper format are retained for one year, plus the current year.