Free and Inexpensive Materials

With this issue, Collection Building reinstitutes the popular column on free and inexpensive materials developed by Kathleen Weibel in the three issues of our first volume. Most of the material included will be items suitable for the vertical files, although occasionally items will be mentioned that may be substantial enough to warrant standard cataloging and shelving as books or periodicals. Format will be unrestricted and efforts will be made to find and include nonprint materials even where some of these, such as slide sets or films, may be available for loan only. As costs of library materials continue to rise, the struggle to provide up‐to‐date information on the great variety of subjects of importance to our patrons becomes ever more difficult. Following the column's earlier pattern, we will attempt to identify and describe in each issue material on a broad topic that is free, or available for postage and handling costs, or is inexpensive. Our definition of inexpensive, alas, has risen from Weibel's $1.60 to $2.50.