Selection Criteria
The MNP advisory board will be responsible for selecting those newspapers to be filmed. Overall the selection process will seek to accomplish two broad goals:
To adequately represent Michigan's press through a geographically and temporally distributed body of Michigan newspaper titles.
To actively seek to document diverse elements within the state of Michigan by preserving newspapers published for special communities.
The selection committee will rank papers in priority order, establishing a list of projects sufficient in size to create approximately six hundred reels of microfilm over a two-year period. The selection committee's proposed list of titles will be circulated to the full advisory board for comment and, amended as seems appropriate, board approval. The list will include alternate titles should the project staff encounter difficulty in obtaining any of the preferred titles.
Key to this process will be a database developed in Phase I of the project that lists all Michigan newspapers by county, city of publication, and title, and details the extant issues in hard copy and microfilm, as well as information about holdings. In considering titles for filming the following criteria will be employed to select historically important Michigan newspapers in danger of loss through deterioration.
The specific criteria will include:
Research Value : Newspapers of significance as historical documents that best reflect the growth and development of geographic areas will be sought. These include, but are not limited to, titles of statewide or regional influence and titles important as a source of information about a variety of ethnic, racial, political, economic, religious, or other special audiences or interest groups. Research value will affect other criteria. For example, when considering geographic representation the selection committee will give preference to titles that are the A paper of record for the county of publication and that contain published legal notices, news of state and regional government affairs, and announcements of community news and events, including births, deaths, and marriages.
Geographic Representation : Newspapers contributing new geographic coverage or adding significantly to existing geographic coverage by microfilm will be favored. In particular the committee will seek to ensure that one paper from each of Michigan's eighty-three counties, generally but not necessarily a paper published at the county seat, has been filmed.
Temporal Representation : Papers from all time periods will be sought. It is as important to document papers from the late twentieth century as it is to preserve publications from the early nineteenth century. Each time period is important.
In cases where more than one paper meets historical, geographic, and temporal criteria the committee will look at three additional factors before making a decision about filming.
Length of Run : Where there is a choice among titles, preference will be given to the newspaper with the longest most complete run.
Physical Condition : Where there is a choice among titles, preference will be given to the newspaper in greatest danger of loss through physical deterioration or where the only extant film is of poor quality.
Accessibility : Where there is a choice among titles, preference will be given to filming significant titles held only in private hands or at institutions generally inaccessible to the public.
Comparison with Previously Filmed Titles : The committee will take into consideration the existence of already filmed titles which may, to a greater or lesser degree, supply similar information to that found in the title under consideration for filming.