This is long, but I wanted to give some examples on the software tool
that I make the most use of working in Serials.  Like Cecelia, I also
use a custom Microsoft Access database for Serials.  My Serials Database
helps me track all sorts of information about our serials, run custom
reports, communicate serials changes to our Cataloging department, and
even track usage statistics.

The database has really helped us to be more efficient and moved us
toward being a more paper-free department.  For example, EBSCO, our
subscription agent, used to send us a huge paper invoice every year that
needed to be checked manually.  Now with the database, they can send the
same thing in excel format and I can use the database to crosscheck the
data to search for problems.

We used to keep our serials information in several different types of
files--for example, our serials holdings data was in one microsoft word
table and our direct subscription invoice information was in an excel
file.  The MS Word file was so huge that it was always in danger of
crashing.  And much of our data wasn't in computer form at all.  Having
the database let me put all of the information together so that it can
be combined and manipulated in any way that I wanted.  Now we can pull
information from SFX on which journals we receive electronically through
our online databases and compare it to our paper subscriptions to see
what journals we're paying for twice.  The old way of checking each
title one by one would have taken forever--so it had never been done
before. This is saving us a lot of money!  I also pull holdings from
JSTOR and Project MUSE and reports from EBSCONET which saves me a lot of
data entry time.   The nice thing about a database is that you never
have to type the same information twice--the old way required that we
update the same data in 3 or 4 places!

One of the most beneficial things about the database is when we were
able to make it accessible to the Cataloging department.  All of the
communication between Cataloging and Serials used to be done using paper
forms.  Now they can log on to the database whenever they like and see
changes to our Serials instantly, including explanatory notes from
Serials.  They then can send messages back to serials when they find
problems.
The latest addition to the Serials Database is tracking journal usage
statistics.  We used to track statistics through Voyager and it was not
a very reliable system at all.  Student workers would scan barcodes for
each journal that they shelved into the Voyager system.  Then yearly, we
would receive a report from our server-side support team with our usage
numbers. The problem was, there was no date-stamp associated with the
scans.  So the report we got would actually tell us usage statistics
from when we first installed Voyager--back in 1999!  So one of our
serials people had to take the current year's usage statistics and
subtract last year's numbers.  Sometimes, the current year's numbers
were less than the previous year's.  I have no idea how that happened.
Needless to say, our usage statistics weren't very reliable.  Once I
learned enough about Access, I realized that it would be a simple matter
to scan the barcodes directly into the database and run a query that
would count them.  We had been wanting a custom program written to track
statistics for 3 years--we were able to solve the problem by using
Access in only one morning.

That's only a few examples of what the database does for us.  Microsoft
Access works for me, but I only chose it because it is what we had.  I
have no experience with other database products.  I can only recommend
that serials departments use a database, no matter what brand.  I had no
database experience when I started this job over 2 years ago, and I was
able to learn it on my own (with online help) and move all of our files
and data to it in less than a year.  It took several more months to
really learn about all that it can do.  So, I think that any Serials
department can make the transition if they have someone with a basic
understanding of computers who is willing to learn.

If you have any questions about how we use our database in our
department, feel free to ask me.

-Melissa Farley

William Shakalis wrote:

>
>Software tools and technologies for Serialists
>
>I'd like to ask the Serialists out there what software tools, skill sets, and technologies
> they use in their work, other than the usual vendor supplied packages (EBSCO EJS, SFX, etc).
>Software tools can be Microsoft Office Suite, database software (Oracle), etc.
>
>
>William Shakalis, MLS
>Serials/Government Documents Librarian
>Ruth A. Haas Library
>Western Connecticut State University
>(203) 837-3252
>shakalisw@wcsu.edu
>
>

--
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         Melissa Farley
   Library Technical Assistant
 Irvine Sullivan Ingram Library
   University of West Georgia
      Carrollton, GA 30118

         (678) 839-6492
       mfarley@westga.edu

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