Mike Randall asks:

> What's a good source of world periodical publishing statistics?
> I'm interested in getting several years' worth of recent
> statistics on the total number of current published periodicals.

Publishing statstics are elusive as long-time readers of PUBLISHING
RESEARCH QUARTERLY know. No database is complete. Some employ
methodologies that would be considered faulty from a statistics point of
view, since they were not designed to yield reliable statistics. Some make
no effort to verify actual publication starts and continued activity. Some
may contain some duplication. Most of the databases are subject or
discipline oriented. All are constrained by resource limits that make it
necessary to exclude various categories (f.e. government, non-English,
trade, etc.). In the Fall 1995 issue of PRQ, which was devoted entirely to
database statistics, you will find ample coverage of the topic -- but no
"statistics on the total number of current published periodicals."

I would recommend that you consider library statistics reported via
Association of Research Libraries, British Library, Bibliotheque
nationale, etc. as indicating the number of periodicals worth collecting.
Their catalogs are databases that I have found useful as long as I don't
want to include comic books, house organs and friends of the library
newsletters.

Albert Henderson, Editor, Publishing Research Quarterly
<70244.1532@COMPUSERVE.COM>