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“Pamphlet material has some definite functions in college libraries and therefore should be accorded more consideration than it usually receives. Often librarians give this part of the collection very little thought, sometimes because of lack of time, but more often because they are not interested in such material and they fail to see the values of it.”

Call it a vertical file, an information file, a pamphlet file, or give it any one of a number of more creative titles. Regardless of its name, this file is likely to be the place in your library that will offer the best and most workable storage for what are commonly called “ephemeral materials.” Such materials include pamphlets, documents, clippings or photocopies from newspapers or magazines, newsletters, annual reports, flyers, maps, charts, pictures, posters, or occasional sample periodicals, any or all of which may be relevant to your library's collection.

Every few years a “new” social issue comes to the forefront of attention in American society, and homelessness is the most recently profiled issue. Because homeless people are encountered on a daily basis and the topic is frequently publicized in all news media, public awareness is heightened. One result is that library patron requests increase and this may indicate the need to supplement library holdings, collect relevant research, and make various viewpoints available to a wide‐based constituency.

Developments in the technology of electronic transmission of information are rapidly transforming the tools available to the general public for gathering information about current events. Direct access to news and retrieval of bibliographic information pertaining to traditional printed news sources are a daily reality for a growing number of individuals, on the job, at home, through personal computer terminals or at libraries. The purpose of this paper is to examine the characteristics of electronic databases providing access to news, as well as applications of these tools to various library settings.