Penn State University is launching a pilot programme in a partnership with USA Today, which distributes its "e-edition" of the publication to all students, faculty and staff, the Daily Collegian reported.

Students can also choose to sign up and receive their e-edition through "Campus Buzz," an e-mail notification.

"We want to know how people react to the online edition," said Nancy Gromen, web developer in education resource development for USA Today Education.

The e-edition has different features than these on the newspaper's Web site, she said. The Campus Buzz can also direct readers to the entire story through a direct link.The new programme will be evaluated in the spring semester next year, compared to the hard copies distributed on campus. "Changes will be made based on the evaluation," she said.

According to journalism professor Russell Frank, the e-edition is a positive effort. He said the numbers of hard-copy circulation and online registration may not truly reflect the total amount of students reading what's there.

"Any mechanism that gets the news into students' hands or in front of their eyes is worth a try," he said. "But the interest has to be there.