One thing that I haven't seen mentioned in the discussion of dropping
periodicals check-in is the cost of the items themselves.  We check in
everything, although I could see that popular magazines and newspapers
might not be worth the time.

However, many of our scholarly journals are more valuable than books and
in many cases are irreplaceable if not claimed in a timely manner.  Can
you imagine a book acquisitions department not checking to be sure that
books ordered were actually received?

At one time our library only security tagged titles which had been stolen
in the past because of the high cost of our tags.  When I pointed out the
cost and inability for replacement of journals vs. books, we changed the
practice and now tag everything of value.  I think the same standards
should be applied to check-in policies.

Judith A. Koveleskie
Periodicals Librarian
Seton Hill University
Reeves Memorial Library
Greensburg, PA 15601
724-838-7828