---------- Forwarded message ----------
Date: Wed, 2 May 2001 16:02:52 +0200
From: Lesley Tweddle <ltweddle@aucegypt.edu>
Subject: Re: Arranging academic periodicals (2 messages)

A few years ago, we were planning a compact shelving installation for
our serials and the decision had to be taken - keep the serials A-Z by
title, or re-arrange by call number.

I did a search of the Serialst archive, and drew up a summary list of
the libraries that did this or that and their reasons.  It was 50 - 50.

For everyone saying "the readers won't like having to look up the call
number of a title" there was someone else asking "how do we treat title
changes if we shelve A-Z by title?".  Plus, if you have separate
sequences of periodicals - e.g. oversize, microform, in branch libraries
- the reader who really wants to know if you've got a title should use
the catalog anyway - not to mention checking if your holdings go back or
forward as far as required.

Anyway, the clinching factor for us was the compact shelving.  If only
one row in six can be opened at a time, it's better if that row houses
most of the journals on the same subject.

So, at the same time as moving our journals into compact shelving, we
re-organised them into class mark order.  Nobody has lodged a complaint.

BUT NOW READ ON!!! There may have been an even more pleasing
consequence!

Some years before all that, we did a year-long serials use survey based
on reshelvings, and all except the popular weeklies and monthlies and a
very few extremely well-known academic titles had relatively low uses.

This year, we have done a use survey again.  I have been astounded at
the high use of the academic titles.  It is wonderful to see how many of
even our high-cost titles are working out at a very moderate cost-per
use.

Could it be that people who began by looking for a known title by class
mark, and finding themselves surrounded by other titles, previously
unknown to them, on the same subject, decided to break out and browse
around?  After all, if shelving books by class mark is supposed to be a
good thing, why shouldn't it be a good thing for serials too?

Lesley Tweddle