I used to go to the U. of M. for both my undergrad and graduate
degrees.  I never had a problem finding stuff, once I understood the
layout and the LC classification scheme.  I only used the grad
library there as it was more fun to browse the subject areas.
Excellent library.

To the patron, I would say, "We shelve by subject, not title.  This
allows you to browse the shelves for similar items that are of the
same subject matter as the title you are looking for.  It allows for
a serendipitous search.  Whereas when periodicals are shelved by
title, you must know the title before you can retrieve it from the
stacks.  What if you are looking for periodicals on the same subject,
but only found one title, how would you find others?  If they are
classified by call number, then you need only look at the adjourning
titles.

If you want a list of periodicals you have, the better OPACs have
report generators that should allow you to create an alphabetical
list of all periodicals (by location and/or fixed field values).  You
should be able to designate which data you want to appear in the
list, such as title, your library's holdings, "continues" &
"continued by" notes, and location (if you have more than one
location for periodicals). You can even include the URL if your want,
for online titles which are still in print. Such a list would need to
be regularly updated since titles are always being cancelled,
suspended, or added as "new" titles.  Essentially I don't understand
why someone would want a paper list.  Looking it up on a computer is
just as fast as looking through a list of thousands of titles, since
you already the title you are looking for. The list is out of date as
soon as you do any kind of maintenance to any of the periodical
records.  The amount of maintenance done to create such a list, for a
small number of people using it may not be justifiable.

If I were rude, I might say, "You're a high school graduate, you
should be able to type in a title to retrieve the record for it."

-- Mitch

Date:    Sat, 26 Aug 2006 08:38:34 -0400
From:    Pamela Bruner <pbruner@UMICH.EDU>
Subject: Re: What would YOU say to this disgruntled patron?

I heard these comments many times when I was head of serials at the
University of Michigan Graduate Library.  I explained that we were a
research library, and researchers expected the periodicals to be
organized by subject.  I directed them to the undergraduate library,
where they could find a smaller collection of popular titles, in
alphabetical order.  Also, I would hate to have to shift a large
collection each time a title changed!
Pamela Bruner
Head of Serials
Palm Beach County Library System
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