Alkek Library News

Want to Read a Newspaper?

As a Texas State student, we’ve probably got the paper you want at the Library or through our online databases. Visit the 3rd floor to read the hardcopy of the newspaper.

We’ve got Texas papers from San Marcos, Austin, San Antonio, Houston, Dallas, and the Valley. Nationally, we have the New York Times, Washington Post, USA Today, Chicago Tribune, and the Wall Street Journal. Internationally, we have the Financial Times and papers from Germany and India. And that’s just a choice listing. Stop by to browse.

Another option is to read the paper online. We have many papers that you’d have to have a subscription to see the full articles online.

Just go to the Library homepage and click on Research Databases link. At the top of the page, you’ll see the Databases by Type and a link for Newspapers. Scroll through the 24 databases, and if you don’t see the paper you’re looking for there, some good options are Newsbank, Library PressDisplay, InfoTrac, and Factiva.

Another way to check to see if we have access to the newspaper you are looking for is to search the Periodical List for it.  Enter in the exact name of the newspaper and if we have it available online (or in print) you will see an entry for it.  The links in red with the dates listed beside it are the online access.  Make sure it says "to present" for the latest issue. Sometimes online access will be delayed for a period of time.

Here is an entry for the Wall Street Journal (Eastern Edition):

Microfilm HG 1 .W2 - 1946 to present

Print Holdings Newspaper Rack, Floor 3 - CURRENT ISSUES

ProQuest Historical Newspapers 1889 - 1992

ABI/INFORM Global 1984 to present

Factiva 1979 to present

Library Press Display digitizes the actual newspaper. Most of the databases offer only the text of the newspaper with images, not the actual look. Here is a sample view from the Library Press Display database (click on the image for a larger view):

If you have any questions about this or any other Periodical, you can ask at the Reference Desk on the 2nd floor or at the RPM Service Desk on the 3rd floor.
Guy Dore, 3rd Floor Reserve, Periodicals, & Media Assistant.

Welcome to the "New" 3rd Floor

Come see our DVD and CD collections on the “new” 3rd floor Reserves, Periodicals, and Media area or for short, RPM. We have a lot of great resources some folks in the university community may be unaware of. For example, did you know about these?

 Attention movie lovers!

We have recent titles like Slumdog Millionaire and Rachel Getting Married, along with classics in our Criterion collection and a lot of other favorites. Come on up and browse the shelves or search the catalog, choosing “DVD” under Material Type. You can search by title, year, actor’s name, key word, or if you want to browse everything we have in the collection, just type an asterisk (*) in the search box. You can check out up to 4 DVDs at a time.

Attention commuters! Did you know we have CD’s: Music, audio books, and language courses?  

We have lots of great audio books on CD, both educational and entertaining. Listen to Booker T. Washington’s Up From Slavery, the “Blockbuster Bestseller,” Everything She Ever Wanted by Ann Rule, or how about a hearing a lecture about the Story of the Human Language? Search “Audiobook on CD” under Material Type in the catalog or browse the shelves yourself, behind the reserve counter.

Music choices include Bach to Bob Dylan, Willie Nelson and Tejano collections. Search “Music on CD” under Material Type in the catalog, or browse the shelves yourself, behind the reserve counter.

Want to learn a new language or practice what you’ve learned? We have CD language sets for Spanish, Italian, Japanese, and many others. Come and browse behind the reserves counter.

Stay tuned for more from the 3rd floor! Next: Popular magazines and newspapers

Kay Hetherly, RPM & Bindery Assistant

Reorganization of the 3rd and 4th Floors

Some of you may have noticed the changes taking place on the 3rd floor recently.  The removal of the study carrels is to prepare for the bigger changes over the next few months.

Construction and reorganization will soon begin for the merger between the Periodicals/Microforms and Reserves/Media units. During this time, there will be a great deal of movement of furniture, shelving, and collections on the microform area of the 3rd floor.  Eventually, room will be made in this area to house the Audio/Video and Reserves Collections currently located on the 4th floor. 

This merger will better utilize the space on the 3rd floor and free up space on the 4th floor for future use. The media collection has grown over the years and is reaching the limit in the current location on 4th.

Expected completion of the reorganization is July 2009. Please excuse the commotion. It is our hope this will streamline services offered by both units and increase accessibility to the media and reserves collections.