HIT National Geog. (try #2) LONG

[Susan Freymiller <sfreymiller@YAHOO.COM>]

Hello again.  Here's the second try for the Nat. Geo. hit.  Thanks to
everyone for their input.

Hit: National Geographic

1)  Toss the old issues of National Geographic!  The journal is
available on microfilm and CD-ROM. Articles your students need can be
obtained this way.

We finally took the plunge and dumped ours a few years back. I have
often wondered why that is *the* one journal that everybody keeps
forever.  A while ago, one of the science humor magazines published a
satirical article called "National Geographic, The Doomsday Factor,"
the essence
of which was that the weight of old stored back issues was rapidly
approaching the weight of the earth's crust which would shortly
collapse into the core of the planet and destroy us all! :-) (I regret
I do not have the original reference for this article.)


2)  At my old school, the students had lots of research in science,
geography, and business. An example is an assignment for eighth grade
geography students  to find "pictures of apartheid."  We found lots of
pictures of black working  in diamond mines and whites working in the
clean, bright factories that  processed the diamonds for export. We
also had pictures of protests and all  kinds of political things. There
were pictures of all white beaches and signs  about coloreds. One sixth
grade unit was on natural disasters. Again, we  found tons of
information over a historical period.  A business class studied  the
methods of advertising over the past 50 years.  Our collection ranged
from 1939. They did use the National Geographics because we had the
indexes for them,  which are not too expensive.

However, if none of your teachers do units that require that kind of
information, toss them and get the CD ROM which is not as good, but
will do  the job for just in case.  My initial reaction is to throw it
out if it is  not used regularly to support the curriculum.

3)  I'd keep them.  Or you can have kids cut and mount the ads and have
picture sets for various decades.  Perhaps you can sell them to a used
book store.  You might offer staff the geographic of their birthday,
month and year. If nothing else, I think your art teachers might like
them, even tho
the photos weren't so great then.

4) Don't get rid of these until you see for yourself what you will make
use of...do you have a National Geo. Index....these are not that
expensive and will enable you to make better use of these as a source.
I only have these back to the late 60's  and consider it an excellent
source...I don't use it as much as i use to...because of the Internet
and CD-ROM databases...but...the value of
these cannot be over estimated just on their value as a picture source.
You said yourself...you don't really need the space...I think that
really answers your question...why throw out somthing that is quite
useful when you don't have to....

5)  I find we do use our old NG collection, mainly to make photocopies
of articles the kids have found in the NG cumulative index.  We have
the whole shebang on cd-rom, but only one station runs it and printing
is time-consuming (and expensive, with a color printer).  The kid can
find
the magazine and make himself/herself a photocopy in less time than it
takes to hunt up the article on the cds.


6)  I'd strongly recommend waiting a year before you dispose of
anything you're not sure of. That being said, I would hesitate about
EVER tossing those geo's - the currently available CD version of the
geo is POOR, so don't plan on substituting it. (Actually, the pictures
aren't too bad, but the
text is very difficult to read.) If your students are involved in
historical research (History Day, etc.) these geo's may come in handy.
About 5 years ago my son (then in H.S.) was required to do a group
research project from one decade of American history - he got a geo
from the mid-twenties at a used bookstore and it was a treasure trove
of info for his group (old car ads, etc.). With the natural disasters
we've had recently, older geo articles and photos may come in handy for
comparison purposes - what did areas of Turkey look like before the
recent devastating earthquake? In addition to the human toll, what
historical landmarks, buildings, or art works are
lost? And for comparing the status of endangered animals, etc. - now
that bald eagles, peregrine falcons and others have may a "comeback"
and are off the endangered list, students may need to research what the
statistics were during the last decade or the one before that. Geo's
have lots of good info on topics such as these.

7)  I know how you feel!  I have them back to 1924 and most of them are
bound!  Fortunately, I have no space problems. I found last year, that
if I pushed using the index(es) the magazines
were used!  The social studies teachers in my high school wanted me to
purchase the nat. geo on CD's, which I did not do after reading many
reviews.... They are happy knowing about the indexes, and the mags got
used. Doesn't help your problem, however.  I would be interested in
hearing what other LMS's think about the back issues.

8) In my spare time, I volunteer with the American Association of
University Women on their annual used book sale.  We cannot give away
copies of National Geographic.  We tell people we will not accept them,
but they somehow manage to sneak them in on the bottom of bags and
boxes.  Several years ago I called around to NG collectors.  They only
wanted certain issues and special editions.  My school had them bound
back into the 1900's.  I told my staff to take what they wanted by a
certain date, and then I pitched the rest.  I think maybe 1 or 2 got
taken.

9)  I started weeding NG last year. I had some copies going back to the
early 1900's. The first weed, everything went from before 1975. This
year I eliminated everything except the 1990's. I offered them to
teachers to cut up or save. I did buy NG on CD Rom, so I do have the CD
copy. they took up too much shelf space, and were a real pain to keep
in order.

10)  Do you have the index to the National Geographics?  Do your
teachers use it, or could they be convinced to use it?  If space is not
crucial right now, I would keep all this stuff for this first year, let
the faculty know you are evaluating the situation with them, and see at
the end of that year how you feel about them.  NG loses a lot of its
appeal to me if you don't have an index, but there is a hardback one
for up thru 1988 I think, and maybe smaller ones, annuals I think, for
more recent years.  Again - to me -  it all goes back to how your
collection meets the needs of your students and teachers.  If you do
decide to discard, announce it here because others may grab them.  Or
your public library may want them, etc.


11)  National Geographic is available as a set of CD-ROM's covering all
issues ever published at very reasonable price.  There are about 24 CD
's in all. You can even print color copies from them.  Buy the
electronic version for the library and give the paper copies to the
teachers for cut and paste activities.

12)  I am also in the process of doing some extensive weeding of my
periodical section.  I have NG's dating back to 1930.  If you get any
replies, could you send them my way also!?  Thanks!

13)  I got rid of the real old ones. I think I have from 1960 on. I'm
thinking about getting rid of more of them. They are not used. I have
the CD-ROM collection, but I don't like it and the kids don't use it
either. The science teachers here don't require reports that call for
the students to use Nat. Geo.

14) It's amazing how often we call on them.

15)  Last school year at Xmas I got rid of everything except the past
three years (which is what I keep for all magazines.) I did not have a
single teacher notice they were gone!!! Most probably still don't
realize it's any different. I needed the space, and I figure I'm not an
archival library. Just to share my few thoughts.

16)  I just got permission from the Principal  (he has to be the final
authority in everything) -- so I am now pitching most of the National
Geographic, all the filmstrip/cassettes, and I am looking at the old
issues of American Heritage, Current Biography and a very old set of
Dictionary of
American History.   My reason is -- I need extra space for the VCR
tapes (they are kept under lock and key and not shelved where students
can get to them) I got 2 extra computers, and the old photocopier from
the office. Something has to give.   If nothing else, try boxing the
items, and keeping track of requests for a year or two--  that is how I
got permission.

17)  We were not desperate for space, either, but like you, we
questioned the need for National Geographic issues from the 1950s.
They took  up space that we knew we would need eventually.   We decided
to ask the  teachers if they wanted them for pictures for bulletin
boards or just for the
articles.  The ones that noone wanted we threw away after giving ample
time.  Now we just keep two years worth.  I know it is a 'standard' but
I was so  tempted to not even order it again for next year.  Even
though no one has  touched an issue in the 2 years I have been here,
with my luck someone would  notice by October and it would cause a
stink.

18)  I am an elementary librarian, but I had a similar situation with
National Geographics that I thought I'd tell you about.  I had most
from 1968 on, and a bunch of them had already been put into bound
volumes.  Our sixth grade students participated in History Day and we
found that the N.G.s were useful for this project.  So I went out to
old bookstores and put the word out to parents to find all the volumes
we were missing.  When I collected them all I had everything bound that
had not been.  Our central library offices handle all our rebinds and
the company they were using charged $7 per rebind (6 issues can be
bound as one book), so that's $14 a year to bind the magazines.  Here
we have a lot of junior highs and high schools that participate in
History Day and also in Geography Day.   If you think your N.G.s will
be used, I would consider having them bound or bound from a certain
year that you decide on (maybe just the last 20 years depending on your
needs).   On the other hand, we don't keep most periodicals past 2
years if that, so first decide if you need them.  Teachers are always
on the lookout for the pictures if you decide to throw them away.  The
other thing I have done with old N.G.s (sometimes parents bring a batch
in that I already have bound) is clip out articles on topics that
teachers and children are always asking for i.e. Titanic, Ancient
Greece, rainforests, ocean, etc.  Then I keep them in a vertical file
for when people ask for stuff on that topic.

19)   If you have room keep them. In fact, let the students know you
have them and make them available to them. I have found that that is
one of the few magazines that students seem to enjoy going through.

20)   I saw a decorating show this summer where they glued them
together in a spiral shape and put a piece of round glass or tray on
top and called it a table.  It was really quite cute.

21)  We have NG on CD-ROM, but still keep the paper copies. Not
everything is on the CD-ROM series. At the very least I would keep all
of the maps in a separate file. They can be helpful. Also, I might try
to save some of the pictures/photos, they could be useful for scanning
in   for reports.

22)  I have NG back to 1939 and because I like it and we use it a lot,
I think the shelf space is worthwhile. The NG indexes make the material
available easily to us and kids like the pictures etc. If you use it
and the space is OK, keep it.

23)  National Geographic comes in a CD ROM version.  108 years of
coverage
full text and pictures. Go electronic a toss the paper version.

24) Last year I had a student do a research paper on social
implications of British rule in India. NGs from the 1940s were great
help. I think there were three good articles that addressed the topic.
We have a limited history selection otherwise, and old issues of NG
continue to be great support. There are lots of potential pertinent
topics to consider - NG isn't always comprehensive in historical
perspective, especially in older issues, but great to have as one valid
point of view.
25)  We have NG back to 1922!  I sort of call people's attention to
this as a special highlight or collection in our library....BUT I am
starting to need the space.  Last year I started getting rid of the
ones from the fifties.....wanting to keep the WWII ones and older.
This may not help you, but  you are not alone....  Budget, use, and
space will help you decide eventually.

26)   National Geographic has such great pictures and so many uses from
art, to history, to science, to cultural diversity, that I would vote
to keep them.  Even though we now have the CD-ROMS of the past 100
years, we still use the paper copies with the help of the great index
(1988-1998)  Also with periodical databases, one has access to the some
of the issues.  But we  find the paper index and issues even quicker.
(BTW the update index from 1988-1998 is coming out in September.)



===
Susan Freymiller
Media Specialist
NorthWood High School
Nappanee, IN

"It is difficult to say what is impossible, for the dream of yesterday is the hope 
of today and the reality of tomorrow." Robert H. Goddard (Pioneer of Modern Rocket 
Science)
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