As a recently graduated grad student, I have to applaud your answer here,
Max.

The university I attended did NOT check-in serials and it meant that I
(and other students and faculty) never really knew what the library had
available.  The university is primarily a commuter school and it was very
frustrating to look at the online catalog from home, see that the library
subscribed to most of the journals needed, and then drive 30 minutes to go
to the library and find out that almost all of the issues needed were
missing.  It was extremely frustrating.

Heather Cannon
Serials & Electronic Collections Librarian
Loyola University Health Sciences Library
708-216-5302
hcannon@lumc.edu

>>> MShenk@MC3.EDU 08/04/04 12:34PM >>>
"A little inaccuracy, disorder and instability are not always bad."

????!!!!

Try telling this to a student who has a paper due, who cannot get
online access, and who needs an article in a missing journal NOW.

The main reason we continue to check in is so that there's a record of
our library's periodicals holdings for our students and other patrons.
Other secondary considerations (knowing what to claim, knowing if there
are missing issues come bindery time, etc) all serve that main
objective: having the materials available for students when they need
them, and letting them know if an item is (or isn't) available, and in
what form.

I could be wrong, but isn't that why we're here?

Max Shenk
Periodicals Assistant
Montgomery County Community College Library
Blue Bell, PA