(Material snipped for brevity)

Date: Tue, 18 Jun 2002 12:19:47 -0500
From: Amy Anderson <andersoa@southwestern.edu>
Subject: Re: Claiming statistics? (Albert Henderson)

Unfortunately, sometimes publication patterns and mailing schedules are so
erratic that we don't realize an issue (or issues!) is missing until a
significant amount of time has gone by.

***This is an excellent point.  Our current system (Voyager) is quite good
at predicting issues, when those issues arrive predictably.  It has no clue
that we haven't received v. 25 #1  because in 3 months the publisher will
send us v. 25 #1/2.  Or even #1-4, in Its Own Good Time.  Some publishers
are really good about letting us know what is going on; many are not.  I
have notes on the titles that are historically erratic; to my chagrin they
are also invariably the titles whose issues are most zealously guarded by
their publisher/fulfillment houses.

Once again, I will state that we do take responsibility for issues that have
been lost or damaged after arrival at our library, and in no case are these
claimed from the publishers.  I have been hearing this type of comment since
I began serials work in 1990, and I wish there was a way to convince
publishers of our good faith.

***Amen.

Jeanette L. Skwor
Serials Dept.
Cofrin Library
University of Wisconsin - Green Bay
Green Bay, WI 54311-7001
(920) 465-2670