Date: Fri, 14 Jun 2002 11:32:49 -0500
From: "Skwor, Jeanette" <skworj@uwgb.edu>
Subject: RE: Claiming statistics? (Judith Koveleskie)

***Judith Koveleskie says, in part:

 However, there are a few publishers who assume
that if a label was produced, that the item was
correctly mailed, and therefore the item was received.
This may be a good assumption if the label is printed
directly on the journal
------------------------------------------

***It may be, but in my experience, it may not.  For the
past 3 years, we have been plagued with mysteriously-generated
labels limited to 3 lines; the line that is invariably
removed is the one that directs the journal to the Library.

***First, I blamed computers, but it turns out that when I
file a change of address, the problem is corrected, so
obviously four-line addressing is doable.

***Publishers, subscription houses and other nameless
responsible entities:  Sending a journal to a university,
with no further direction as to where in that university
it should be directed is akin to sending a letter
addressed to the Pentagon, Washington, D.C.  Maybe worse -
if the right department gets it, it's a miracle, and in
the case of journals, the mailroom may well guess to send
it to the subject department (ie, several of our art journals
went to the head of the art department), and that entity
may well keep them.  In fact, I've had several problem
journals with which the professor actually called, and
was told the subscription was a gift!

***It may be a small number, percentage-wise, that are
affected, but I would urge Those Who Send Out to take the
word of libraries that say they did not receive an issue.
We really are not looking for a way to fill our empty
hours when we file claims.

Jeanette L. Skwor
Serials Dept.
Cofrin Library
University of Wisconsin - Green Bay
Green Bay, WI 54311-7001
(920) 465-2670
<skworj@uwgb.edu>