Stefanie DuBose wrote:
> I have recently starting working with serials at East Carolina University
> and have been asked to come up with a serials payment schedule to see what
> we pay to whom and when we can expect it.  I am new to serials and have
> been told, and think, that MS Access might be the best bet for handling
> this. Has anyone done this or have ideas?

Either Access or Excel would work for this.

I would like to caution against promising to create a fully reliable
schedule.  Your figures and timetable will probably be thrown off by:

1.  Standing order titles, whose prices aren't known until the item is
shipped.

2.  Publisher price increases that happen after vendor bills have been paid.

3.  Titles that cease, for which you may or may not receive a refund.

4.  Mid-year additions to your collection (at your option, but faculty
pressure can be pretty intense).

Creating a schedule with these "buts" is far better than no schedule at all,
just go into it knowing that it won't be 100% accurate.

Welcome to serials!

Steve Black
Reference, Instruction, and Serials Librarian
Neil Hellman Library
The College of Saint Rose
392 Western Ave.
Albany, NY 12203
(518) 458-5494
blacks@mail.strose.edu