John, We used the Cardex when I first came here. You can show a lot of info. For example, if V. 10, #1 is Jan/Feb 2004, you draw a line that croses the first 2 boxes and write #1 in pencil (We used mechanical pencils with good erasers). Then you know it was Jan/Feb., etc. If no. 4 is dated Oct, you put it in the Oct. box. If it said Fall, you write Fall on the card. If no date, write n.d. You can note self indexes and supplements. We used to have small colored squares we would insert in the cardex: separate colors for titles to bind, titles to box, titles replaced by microforms, indexes, etc. Then every 2 or 3 or 4 weeks the serials technician would pick up those titles for processing. It was important to write down immediately missing issues and claim them in a timely fashion. (You get the July issue and discover that May/June never came). It was much harder to find out which titles simply stopped coming. A person would have to flip through the Cardex and check every card, unless a patron alerted us to the fact, which happened sometimes too. Good Luck, Carol Morse ******************************************** Address: Walla Walla College Library Periodicals Dept. 104 S. College Ave. College Place, WA 99324-1159 Carol Morse Serials Librarian morsca@wwc.edu 509) 527-2684; fax 509) 527-2001 ********************************************* >>> jlucas@ROWLAND.UMSMED.EDU 11/8/2004 9:21:03 AM >>> Hello Mary: Anything helps, as it shows to what complexity or simplicity how others use the boxes. Right now I am responding to all those whom have sent messages to me. I will then 'digest' them and begin my plan of attack. Thank you again for your help. Gratefully, John Lucas Serials Librarian University of Mississippi Medical Center 2500 North State St Jackson, MS 39216-4505 (PH) (601) 984-1277 (FAX) ( 601) 984-1262 JLUCAS@ROWLAND.UMSMED.EDU >>> meedwards@AII.EDU 11/05/04 02:03PM >>> John, We are one of those libraries who do not have a serials module (yet!) and still use cards. The cards we get are from Demco. We use Demco No. 28-145 for our daily/weekly/biweekly periodicals and Demco 28-144 for everything else. On the front of daily cards, there's pretty much just basic title and check-in information. I use the reverse for other things like customer service contact info., notes, expiration dates, etc. On the monthly cards, there are lots of things that you can use or not use. A space for issn would have been nice, but you can add that. All in all, the cards work okay for basic check in and claiming. It just takes a bit of organization and diligence to stay on top of it. But then again, that's life in Serialsland! :-) Hope this helps a little. Mary Edwards Librarian Art Institute of California - Los Angeles 2900 31st Street Santa Monica, CA 90405 310-314-6154 meedwards@edmc.edu -----Original Message----- From: SERIALST: Serials in Libraries Discussion Forum [mailto:SERIALST@LIST.UVM.EDU] On Behalf Of John Lucas Sent: Friday, November 05, 2004 8:30 AM To: SERIALST@LIST.UVM.EDU Subject: [SERIALST] Need expert advice from "Cardex" users or with small stand alone check in modules Hello Fellow Serialists: Next year, our library will be hosting 3 librarians from Iraq, with the purpose helping them get an idea of what is available to them with the amount of connectivity they hope to have in the near future. As they are starting from scratch, one of my immediate problems is to get them started on a minimal, manual check in system for what journals they do have and will be getting to start them off. An ILS appears to be a few years away. I am referring to the 'visible card' or Cardex system as most know it. I have worked in larger medical school libraries throughout my career and have really no experience with this formalized system. Even this would give them a sense of forward progress. In my P.F. (pre-fire) career, we used a very primitive index card system, but I have had to dump those experiences due to insufficient RAM and my current memory is none to reliable. Now I know it is not 'rocket science' but I have some questions on how some basic titles might be handled and how others might do it differently. (ie.) Do you use check marks or write in the issue numbers? What are the 'colored signals' used for, Claims and if so how? What parts of the card do you use, and what you ignore? And things like that. There still must be libraries, using this, or the library suppliers would not have these products. I am looking for some libraries who are willing to share their experience, and maybe their check in procedure pages. (Gaylord, Demco and the others do not have instruction sheets, so I guess that everyone should know how to use it to its fullest) Also I thought at one time there were some small, stand alone serials modules out there. I have been unable to find them to date. The small "periodical manager" programs the library suppliers have seem to be nothing more than an accession list. Even these might be currently beyond their capability at the present but would be another interim step towards an ILS system. Any knowledge would be greatly appreciated. John Lucas Serials Librarian University of Mississippi Medical Center 2500 North State St Jackson, MS 39216-4505 (PH) (601) 984-1277 (FAX) ( 601) 984-1262 JLUCAS@ROWLAND.UMSMED.EDU
