The mission of the University of Washington Libraries is to connect people to knowledge for life. The physical presence of the University Libraries stretches from Friday Harbor to Tacoma. Somewhere near the middle, on the ground floor of Suzzallo Library, the Microform & Newspaper Collections is heavily grounded (Literally! One microfiche cabinet can weigh up to 500lbs) and committed to connecting people to knowledge for life.

The microform collection consists of items on microcard, microfiche, and microfilm. The "micro" nature of the holdings allows more than six million items to be kept in this relatively small physical space.

Experts believe that microfilm lasts for 500 years...assuming that the film is never used and is kept in the best of environmental conditions.

Despite the possibility of such a long shelf life, the microform and newspaper materials are collected and maintained for use by people in the University of Washington community and beyond.

The holdings support research in the humanities, sciences, and social sciences. A few of the major microform collections available include Early American Imprints, Early English Books, ERIC documents, German Baroque Literature, Pre-1900 Canadiana, Black Literature 1827-1940, and Landmarks of Science.

Extensive holdings of national and international newspapers on microfilm are housed here, with the London Gazette, 1665, being the oldest.

Microform readers, printers, and scanners
While they show signs of heavy use, readers are available for viewing microcards, fiche, and film. The printers sometimes jam and they only accept dimes, but they will print copies from the various microformats. The newest machines in the area are two scanners that will produce digital facsimiles of the images on microfilm and microfiche.

Current and historic newspapers
McNews staff has the unique opportunity to experience history as it unfolds. On any given day, we look at the front pages of more than two hundred foreign and domestic newspapers. Once processed, these "current" newspapers are placed on the shelves for the public to read.

Some newspapers are more "current" than others - the New York Times, Seattle PI, and Seattle Times arrive daily while the Hindustan Times, New Light of Myanmar, and Vientiane Times arrive months after publication. In the past, Library of Congress Field Office newspapers from India and Sri Lanka traveled by surface mail (ship), arriving rather moist and reeking of some sort of pesticide spray. Sometimes we were greeted by the occasional unusual bug, and once a really huge spider crawled out of the newspapers.

The Headlines collection and historic newspapers collection contain print newspapers from the Pacific Northwest and across the nation. Holding a newspaper commemorating the death of President Abraham Lincoln (even if the newspaper is protected in mylar) or a bound volume of Bremerton Sun issues printed during World War II seems to excite people of all ages. Newspapers provide a unique opportunity to connect people with the knowledge and events of the past.

Individuals, libraries, organizations, and publishers have donated print newspaper gifts as small as a single newspaper issue to complete runs of a newspaper to the Microform & Newspaper Collections (McNews). While space is limited, we do our best to accommodate these valuable and irreplaceable resources.

Preserving newspapers for future generations
If I had a dime for each time someone said "Using microfilm makes me sick to my stomach" or "I hate using microfiche," I would be able to purchase the digital Chicago Defender for the Libraries. Since I cannot (and would not) charge our patrons, I remind them that we would not have access to these materials if they were not available on microform. People would have to travel far and wide to reach the originals. Digitization is changing these issues of access; however, microfilm continues to be the means to preserve materials.

McNews staff is committed to preserving and providing access to historic and current newspapers. We subscribe to newspapers on microfilm produced by commercial vendors, as well as produce microfilm of over 60 newspapers through the University Libraries Microfilming Program. Materials filmed through this program are available for purchase by libraries and researchers through our duplication service http://www.lib.washington.edu/mcnews/duplication/.

Our commitment to microfilming remains strong, we are exploring the world of digitized newspapers. We hope to participate, along with the Washington State Library and other libraries across Washington state), in the National Digital Newspaper Program http://www.loc.gov/ndnp/. Through this program, newspapers published in each state will be digitized and made available through the Library of Congress Web site for free. While digital newspapers cannot reproduce the feeling one gets when holding a newspaper with headlines that scream that a president has been shot or the United States is at war, they can be delivered to homes with a computer and internet access.

While no one seems to remember when Microform & Newspaper Collections first opened - it's just always been here - most agree that it will continue to serve the University of Washington community and beyond by connecting people to knowledge for life.

Jessica Albano is the Communication Studies Librarian on the University of Washington Seattle campus and the Assistant Newspaper Librarian in the Microform & Newspaper Collections.