Date:         Mon, 17 Jun 2002 23:55:09 -0400
From:         Albert Henderson <chessNIC@COMPUSERVE.COM>
Subject:      Re: Mis-addressing of labels (Was: Claiming Statistics) (Judith
              Koveleskie)

on Fri, 14 Jun 2002 Judith Koveleskie <kovelesk@setonhill.edu> wrote:

> One of the problems is that although the vendor sends correct
> information, renewals are processed by people at the publisher who are
> not always careful about entering data the same way from year to year.
> If Street is spelled out on the current subscription and abbreviated as
> "St." on the renewal, it may be processed as a new subscription.  In
> fact, another librarian told me that publishers sometimes did this
> deliberately to boost their circulation statistics for advertisers, but I
> don't know if that is really true.  Our vendor is very careful about all
> of this, so I am convinced that the problems are with the publishers.

        To maximize their automation discounts with the post
        office, publishers run their addresses through
        software that revises them according to rules based
        on the above USPS address guidelines and a database of
        'deliverable' addresses. Too often institutions'
        original addresses fail to come close to the standards
        and the results may be worse than the originals.
        Addresses like 'Hollywood and Vine' may satisfy
        tourists, but don't expect post office automation to
        make sense of them.

        It would also help if everyone followed post office
        guidelines for addresses, which include the use of
        "ST" for 'Street" as well as locating a 'deliverable'
        street or PO box address immediately above the city /
        state / Zip code. The general guidelines are posted at
        <http://www.usps.com/cpim/ftp/pubs/pub201/yourmail.htm#address>

        Moreover, I have seen too many instances of higher
        education institutions running library mail through
        their central mailroom, where it can easily be
        misdirected. There is no reason why the post office
        cannot deliver all mail directly to the library.
        All any library needs is a street address or PO box.

        Best wishes,

Albert Henderson
Former Editor, PUBLISHING RESEARCH QUARTERLY 1994-2000
<70244.1532@compuserve.com>