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TL11.4FALL2004_singles The Teaching Librarian volume 12, no. 1 13 index, but the ephemeral material is up for grabs. I rarely pay the asking price for a magazine subscription. A phone call to the subscription department has, at times, saved us as much as $40. The Economist will give you an education rate if you fax or mail them a request on school letterhead. Some magazines will take Canadian dollars at par if you send them a cheque. On- line rates are even cheaper than the phone call. When dealing with American titles, multi-year subscriptions save a few dollars. However, with the Canadian dollar climbing, this may not be the concern it was in the past. I use Excel to keep track of the prices and renewal dates. If you quote last year's price, companies will often allow to renew at the same rate. Keeping track of magazines is time consum- ing so we use Canebsco for many of the sub- scriptions. There are a number of magazine subscription services to do the bulk of the work for you. They may issue catalogues or lists from which to select titles. Some compa- nies will send you magazines that are a month or two out of date for a fraction of the cost. There are many magazines available for free. These are mainly profession-specific, but a phone call to the organization or professional association could get you a free subscription. Back issues of some magazines appear on-line. For example, The Lancet and The New England Journal of Medicine -- too rich for any school I know -- provide free access to back issues after six months. The students have to register, but it is free. At one point we had E-library, Bigchalk and Proquest, but now we can afford only the E- library Curriculum Edition and the Toronto Star Pages of the Past. These have saved many a student's life, but it is difficult to convince teachers and students alike that on-line maga- zine databases are not simply internet sites. While they are functional and the searching is efficient (if done efficiently), electronic access is simply not the same as holding a magazine in your hands. I like being able to go to a magazine store and see the display and do the old hockey card trading mantra: got it, got it, got it, don't got it -- hey! Why not? I am always on the prowl for new magazines. The hardest to serve group is teenage boys. GQ was popular but a little over the top, Men's Health always wants to improve your sexual prowess, and MH18 -- which was a great magazine -- lasted only five issues. Sports Illustrated and Hockey News are stan- dards, but not all boys like sports. So the quest continues. A die-hard nationalist, I try to fea- ture as many Canadian magazines as possible. It was through a magazine that I discovered one student was a fan of Noam Chomsky. This led to many a discussion. As a result, I pur- chased a number of Chomsky's books, which the student took out and recommended to his friends. That student has graduated, but I know there is another one either in the school somewhere or on the way. When he or she arrives, and Chomsky is replaced by Canadian film, or animation, or animal rights, or Italian cooking, or soccer, or whatever, we will be ready. ❚ COLLECTION DEVELOPMENT @ y ou r lib ra ry ®