---------- Forwarded message ----------
Date: Wed, 2 May 2001 11:00:55 -0400
From: David Goodman <dgoodman@Princeton.EDU>
Subject: Re: Arranging academic periodicals (Lesley Tweddle)

Your last paragraph is an interesting possibility, because of the same
question with  electronic journals. There the very high use found for
previously unsubscribed titles is various ascribed to a/random curiosity
or b/ true increased use. The same qy appears here.
For ejournals, I have repeatedly argued that it's a/ rather than b/ .
And I would guess the same here.  But the correlation is fascinating.

> ---------- 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

--
David Goodman
Biology Librarian
and Co-chair, Electronic Journals Task force
Princeton University Library
Princeton, NJ 08544-0001
phone: 609-258-3235
fax: 609-258-2627
e-mail: dgoodman@princeton.edu