RUSA Update to be discontinued

Contact: Cathleen Bourdon


312-280-4395

ALA News Release


For Immediate Release


July 2001

RUSA Update to be discontinued

RUSA Update, a quarterly newsletter published by the Reference and User Services Association (RUSA), a division of the American Library Association (ALA), will be discontinued as a separate publication beginning in 2002.
The final issue of the newsletter, Volume 22, Number 4, will be mailed December 17, 2001. After that date,
RUSA Update will be issued as a column in
Reference and User Services Quarterly and also will be made available on the RUSA Web site.

The decision to discontinue separate publication of the newsletter was made by the RUSA Board of Directors, based on the recommendation of the RUSA Publications Committee. The Publications Committee had been directed by the Board to consider alternatives for the production and distribution of the division's newsletter to members.

"We considered four alternatives, two all-electronic and two involving both electronic and some form of continued existence for the newsletter in a paper format," said Publications Committee Chair Charles Gilreath. "In the end, we selected the option of a combined print and electronic format to reduce expenses while still providing needed information to members."

The electronic publication will ensure that information about division programs at conferences is available to members in a timely fashion," Gilreath added.

RUSA Update editor, Suzanne Sweeney, will be the editor of the news column when it moves to
Reference and User Services Quarterly in 2002.