Dougherty and the Media.

This article presents the insights of American Library Association president Richard Dougherty about library issues in the national media in the U.S. According to Dougherty librarians can no longer be generous with their funds because of strained budgets. Librarians must begin to use the research they have conducted on journal use to make some hard choices. In making them, librarians can improve the performance of libraries and maybe even force some publishers to rethink their pricing policies. The comments of Dougherty on serials crisis were taken from the article about the authority of librarians to cancel subscriptions to seldom-used journals in the January 19, 1991 issue of the Chronicle of Higher Education. Librarians function as the nations information professionals by advocating, preserving, protecting and defending the exercise of free expression. Librarians believe in its importance and power. The restrictions covering the war operations threaten the ability of librarians to provide the needed information now and in the future. The insights of Dougherty were taken from the article concerning the Persian Gulf Conflict in the February 2, 1991 issue of the New York Times.