What to do with old technical journals?

[poltr1]

The cats woke me up this morning, as they often do. I may go back to bed later, but for now, I'm up.

While I was going through the stuff I have in the basement of my mom's house, I came across two boxes of magazines. One was filled with issues of Communications of the ACM from 1983-89, and the other had issues of the IEEE Spectrum and Computer magazines from 1985-86. These are publications from technical/professional societies I belonged to at the time. My professors saved their old issues, as they had them displayed in their offices. And so I thought, why shouldn't I?

Somewhere, in a corner of my garage, I think I have a box or two of issues of Communications of the ACM from 1989-1999, when I chose not to renew my membership with ACM. I felt that I was paying for a magazine that I wasn't reading, and at the time, the society's news and activities were not relevant to what I was working on at the time.

I'd hate to throw out these old magazines. As with most of my paper output, I'd rather recycle them. But I think they'd be useful to someone. So I've been hanging on to them, hoping for a worthy recipient. I thought about local college and university libraries, but they probably already have the issues. Does anyone have any other ideas?

I'm keeping the issue that has Donald Knuth's "The Telnet Song", and the issue that Cliff Stoll signed for me. But everything else can go. And I'm keeping all the SIGGRAPH stuff because I think they're way cool.

Comments

[starmalachite.livejournal.com]

Perhaps a large public library would want them. Or even a community college library.

[athenawindsong.livejournal.com]

Recycle them. You are never going to get around to calling libraries to see if they have/want them. LET THEM GO.

[athenawindsong.livejournal.com]

And quit rationalizing a way to NOT recycle them. This is WHY you have clutter. This is a hoarding behavior. Recycle them. You've held on to them long enough, there are no worthy recipients and you won't take the time to call a bunch of libraries. LET THEM GO.