Okay, I asked about folks who barcode their bound periodicals, and promised
to summarize the responses for the list, and I haven't. I'm not a bad
person, just a busy one. Herewith, then, a summing up of what I e-heard:

>Anybody know of a barcode that's specifically designed to use on bound
periodicals or buckram?  - No, no one did.

>Anybody have any secrets to getting them to stay on? - This was a
controversy, I'd say the answers were about half and half, they stay on with
no problems, they don't stay on at all. Several people who put their
barcodes on the outside did say that they had as big a problem with students
removing them thinking they were the security strip as anything else. Here
are some highlights: "We switched from the inside back cover to the outside
back cover ... 2 years ago. We are now seeing truckloads everyday of items
missing their barcodes." "We place our barcodes on the outside front cover,
in the upper, left corner. We have had no problems with the labels not
sticking and do not use any protective cover." "We barcoded our periodicals
about 8 years ago and put the barcode on the spine to facilitate future
inventories and use surveys. So far, heavy use has not caused them to fall
off on their own. We do have problems with people peeling them off, but that
could happen where ever the barcodes are placed." "We have barcoded our
entire periodical collection, bound and unbound, and all periodicals
circulate except for the 'current' year.  We have gone to using 2 qualities
of barcodes, a cheaper less durable one for the unbound periodicals and a
thicker very durable one for the bound periodicals...We have had a few
problems with patrons removing the barcoding...but usually, they stay on
until the volume is bound.  We have had no problems with the more expensive
barcodes staying on the bound periodicals."

>Have you found covers (over the barcodes) to be practical? Some used them,
some didn't.  Most didn't, but no one complained about them. One person said
: "We do not cover our barcodes, but other libraries have. Either way, the
barcodes will stay on. I have used mylar protectors from Demco, they are
easy to use and do not cause problems with scanning the barcodes." The other
person who mentioned covers said: "We use standard barcodes with a label
protector on it. We got the label protectors from: Universal Products, Inc.
Holyoke, MA, phone 1-800-762-1165. To make them stick better we used a
squeegee from Kapco Library Products, phone 1-800-791-8965".

>Any magic location that works best? - Of course, everyone thought their
location worked best, except one. They were variously: Upper left hand
corner on the front of the volume, outside back cover (this was the person
who was forced to switch from the inside cover to the outside cover, and is
now having truckloads to replace), on the spine (this one had trouble with
people removing them), lower left front cover, outside back lower right
corner, outside back cover, upper right hand corner [about 1/2 inch in from
the spine]

A few people sent specifics about where they got their barcodes - "I order
our labels through SOLINET...I sent my order to: Mary Phillips, Barcode
Label Service, SOLINET, 1438 West Peachtree St., NW, Atlanta, GA
30309-2955  ... they're covered with a protective laminate... $22.18 per
1000". "I just ordered a new batch from Yankee Concepts, Concord, NH" "From
1992-1995 State University of NY had a contract with Davis and Henderson of
Toronto, Ontario. I did hear that some of the SUNYs had problems with
barcodes, although I have not heard that we had problems here."

That's pretty much what I found out. If anybody wants more specifics, I can
forward the actual responses I got, although most of my responses were other
folks wanting to know what I found out. This seems to be a popular question
right now.  Thanks to everyone who responded, we still have not settled this
issue - right now we have too many people thinking about it.

            *************************************
Margaret Robinson Arnold
Bindery Supervisor         ali00mer@email.uncc.edu
Atkins Library                 (00 = zero zero)
UNC Charlotte                ph:704-547-2127
9201 University City Blvd
Charlotte NC  28223-0001
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