I'm looking closely at some of our serials processes to see where we
might make some labor- and time-saving changes.  One of the ideas
floating around now is to eliminate check-in and/or claiming.  I*ve
checked with our internal auditors about this and the reply was that we
should check now and then to see that we are receiving items but it is
not strictly necessary to check in each and every issue.  As we use
students for the majority of our check-in, this would not be a great
savings for us.  We are looking at ways to cut down on claiming but
haven*t implemented any changes yet.

Another area I*ve been thinking about involves our procedures for
current periodicals.  We have two sections of current periodicals with
humanities and social sciences titles on one floor and science titles on
another.  We are very likely to combine these into one current
periodicals section in the near future.  We check in on our ILS, date
stamp, and strip each issue and then send them to the public areas where
they are arranged on flat shelving in alphabetical order.  I*m
wondering about the need for all of our current periodicals to go to the
current shelves.  Why couldn*t we have a closed stacks arrangements
for a subset and only send browsing types of titles to the open
shelves?

We are dropping print subscriptions where possible.  We are still left
with a sizable number of academic titles for which we have print+online
access but cannot drop print for a variety of reasons.  We prep these
titles, send them out to the public shelves (where we are fairly
confident that they sit for nearly a year without being touched), then
collect them and bring them back down to be sent to the bindery.  My
thought is to identify some of these titles and instead of actually
checking them in, have a note to put them on the closed stacks shelving
(we have some extra room in the back of Acquisitions where we could put
some shelves).  We wouldn*t check-in or strip since we won*t worry
about them being lost.  If we have the title name taped to the shelves
we would have a clear visual clue if a title isn*t coming in.  Most
issues would never leave the room.  When we have a binding unit it*ll
be right there twenty feet away from the person who prepares the bindery
shipment.

I*d like to hear from libraries that keep their current periodicals
in closed stacks.  What issues do you encounter?  Do you have notes in
your OPAC that say that current issues are available on request?  I*m
debating whether to say that or not mention current periodicals at all
because most patrons would just assume we had dropped print for online.
I don*t think we*ll get many requests for the titles I have in mind.
 When I look at our current periodicals areas I only ever see the glossy
magazines lying around needing re-shelving.  We would put a title back
out on the public shelves if we find a demand for it.

Has anyone else tried such a hybrid arrangement?  Even if you
haven*t, I*d like feedback on the advantages or disadvantages
that other serials librarians see with this experiment.  I*ve brought
up the idea to our reference librarians and some of them are dubious and
some of them are already making plans for the space we could be freeing
up.

Thanks in advance,

Paula Sullenger
Head, Acquisitions Dept.
Auburn University Libraries
231 Mell St.
Auburn University, AL 36849-5606

334-844-1725 phone
334-844-3148 fax
sullepa@auburn.edu