Academic journal of unknown scope Hank Young 08 Aug 2008 13:48 UTC

            Dear Serialists,

            I am cataloging a journal from Venezuela which is rather
ambiguous in scope, I have the first issue in hand and in it are 4
articles, one on the politico-economic and social future of Venezuela,
one on access to higher education in India, one on "the predatory state"
(author from Sweden), and one on education in Canada.  The guidelines
for submission and call to papers specify topics should be of academic
interest, but does not specify a topic, only that they should be in
English with a Spanish abstract.

            I don't feel comfortable using the institution as a subject,
or even Venezuela as a geographic qualifier.  I suspect that as this
journal gains popularity it will narrow its focus and I know they are
hoping to draw more authors from the publishing institution, but for
now, what do I do about a subject and call number?  We classify all our
periodicals by LC call number rather than shelving by title.

            Any thoughts?  Ideas?  I don't want to consign this to the
backlog until another issue comes out (in 6 months).

            - Hank Young

William C. (Hank) Young

Cataloging & Metadata Dept.

Smather's Libraries

University of Florida