Date:         Sun, 12 Jan 1992 18:44:18 CST
Reply-To:     "SEREDIT: SERIALST Editors" <SEREDIT@UVMVM>
Sender:       "SEREDIT: SERIALST Editors" <SEREDIT@UVMVM>
From:         Gaele Gillespie <GGILLESP@UKANVM>
Subject:      Re: Serials Departments
In-Reply-To:  Message of Mon, 6 Jan 1992 22:10:00 EST from <TUTTLE@UNC>

In answer to Barbara Weir's inquiry on division of labor for processing
continuations and periodicals:

While some continuations are ordered through the Acquisitions Dept. (when they
are available on approval at a sizeable discount or when they are issued less
frequently than annual), most continuations (or what I think of as standing
orders as opposed to subscription) are ordered through the Serials Dept.

The Technical Services Division of our Serials Dept. has two units, one that
handles receiving and check-in, and one that processes orders, claims, and
invoices.

Invoice processing for such standing orders ("continuations") and periodicals
is -- and always has been -- done with no separate procedures.  However,
prior to 1987, there *was* a difference checking them in and claiming them:

Our former batch-mode serials system could not accommodate check-in for
unnumbered series (regular or irregular), numbered series which were
published/received out of sequence, or split-year annuals (this was
especially true of fiscal-year annuals), so they were routed from the Serials
Receiving Unit to a person in the Serials Acquisitions Unit, where they were
checked in on cards in the Pay File.  The claims assistants had to claim using
information from these same cards -- it was hit & miss at best, with one very
experienced full-time person having to kind-of oversee the continuations.

Once we implemented our new on-line system, which *could* accommodate all
the continuations-type publications that the old system couldn't, they were
set up for check-in along with periodicals, with the old check-in cards being
closed out once displaying notes were added to the on-line records to alert
staff where prior check-in records could be found.

This also made a difference in claiming, because the new system could generate
claims reports and forms for titles that had formerly only been claimed using
the often inadequate information on the check-in cards or pay cards in the
Pay File. This lifted them out of that "special processing" category where one
person had to be devoted to manually checking them in and claiming them.

E. Gaele Gillespie / Asst. Head, Serials      University of Kansas Libraries
(913)864-3535   e-mail (BITNET): GGILLESP@UKANVM   Lawrence, KS   66045-2800