I  think it might be best to begin by asking those who in the power
structure who advocate the cessation of check in what sort of role they see
paper journals as playing.  Will they be thrown out?  Are they still going
to be shelved in order?  What about missing numbers?  Do the various
university departments need archival journal issues or will online access
take care of these needs?  How does the plan square with accreditation
requirements? How will this affect your library's interlibrary loan
activities?

It would be very easy for the folks performing complicated serials duties
to just stop, but the basic question is what will this mean to the library
and to the university's various programs?  Make no mistake, I think that
this is what we will all come to eventually.  But I envision many pitfalls
and missteps along the way as we are increasingly driven by momentary
exigency rather than thoughtful, realistic weighing of the available
alternatives.

Diane M. Lewis, Serial Records Librarian
U.S. Geological Survey Library--MS950
Reston, Virginia  20192  USA
Tel. 703-648-4399
Fax 703-648-6376

Opinions expressed are my own, not my agency's!

"When 96% of the native forests in this nation are gone, what balance can
be struck over the meager 4% remaining?"--John F. Borowski

Cynthia Hsieh <chsieh@PACIFIC.EDU> wrote:

Hi,

I wondered how many of you have dropped checking in serials?  Do you
dropped all the check-ins or just selected types of serials? What are
the pros and cons of this practice?

After reading an article about the practice at Univ. of Nevada- Las
Vegas, our library administration strongly encourages our library to
drop checking all the serials.

I feel comfortable to drop checking in weekly magazines, daily
newspapers, and periodicals with online access; however, I am a little
skeptical about expensive  periodical titles.  I am not sure if it will
create more work by just dropping check-ins for selected titles since a
new sorting procedure is needed.

Any advices are greatly appreciated.

Cynthia

Cynthia Hsieh
Head of Technical Services/Assistant Professor
University Library
University of the Pacific
3601 Pacific Ave.
Stockton, CA 95211
Tel: 209-946-2571
chsieh@pacific.edu