3 messages, 101 lines:

(1)-------------------------
Date:         Thu, 20 Mar 1997 09:00:14 -0900
From:         Freya Anderson <anfna@UAA.ALASKA.EDU>
Subject:      Re: Newsweek (v. 129 #1 ???)

After reading Tim Lawrence's reply to Kevin Randall's message, I had to
add my two cents!  Firstly, if there is something that bothers us, it's
perfectly valid for us to complain, even if it only affects libraries.  If
enough people complain and are heard, something will be done.  If not, it
won't.  But you don't know the outcome until you try.  Secondly, there are
more problems than trying to deal with automated systems.  We still use
a Kardex, so checking in these items may not be as neat, but it's not a
problem.  We run into difficulties, though, when it comes to binding.
Deciding which volume to put the double issue in and how to label the
spine are a couple of biggies.  Even if title in question is received on
microfilm, labelling is a problem, and confusion for the patrons ensues.

Freya Anderson                          anfna@uaa.alaska.edu
Serials Clerk                           phone:(907)786-4627
University of Alaska Anchorage          fax:  (907)786-6050
Consortium Library

******Life's uncertain...eat dessert first!!*****

On Thu, 20 Mar 1997, Tim Lawrence wrote:

> Kevin M. Randall <kmr@nwu.edu> wrote:
> >I have been noticing an increasing trend for journals to combine the last
> >number of a volume with the first number of the next volume, and it is very
> >disturbing.  Does anyone have any idea of how we can broadcast our extreme
> >displeasure about this?
>
> I find this annoying as well, but how is it our business to criticize this?
> It makes sense to howl about bad title changes, because these are bad for
> everybody in the end, including publishers and subscribers. But end of year
> combined issues are for the most part awkward only to us. And by far the
> biggest reason they are awkward is that our automated prediction systems
> aren't designed to handle them, and that's nobody's trouble but ours.
> Patrons might find such citations irritating enough to just skip sometimes,
> but this isn't going to hurt a major popular weekly.
>
> Tim Lawrence                            Northern Kentucky University
> Serials Assistant                       Steely Library Serials/Periodicals
> lawrencet@nku.edu

(2)----------------------------
Date:         Thu, 20 Mar 1997 12:50:22 -0600
From:         "Kevin M. Randall" <kmr@NWU.EDU>
Subject:      Re: Newsweek (v. 129 #1 ???)

I think it is our business to criticize the practice, if we are subscribing
to the journals.  We're customers, not just disinterested bystanders.
Awkward numbering practices affect the processing of the materials and also
the retrieval of information further down the road.  (Thanks to Mike Beier
for elaborating on this in another posting.)  This affects nearly every
library in the country, for titles like the Newsweek/Time twins (competitors
which have to copy everything the other does), their nearly identical
siblings, and others who jump on the weird year-end numbering bandwagon.

Kevin M. Randall
Head, Serials Cataloging Section
Northwestern University Library
Evanston, IL   60208-2300

email: kmr@nwu.edu
phone: (847) 491-2939  **New Area Code!**
fax:   (847) 491-7637

(3)---------------------------
Date:         Thu, 20 Mar 1997 11:30:39 -0700
From:         kathleen <kathleen@SJSUVM1.SJSU.EDU>
Organization: San Jose State University
Subject:      Re: Newsweek & end-of-year combined issues

I strongly agree with Mike Beier and Kevin Randall (hi, Kevin!), and I
do think it is very much our place to point out the problems to
publishers who combine last issue of one volume with first issues of
the next -- many times the publisher per se is not the one making the
decision, but rather the editor of that particular title. If the
editor does not have the background of a librarian, (s)he may be
blissfully unaware there is any problem with such a publication
decision.

There is a big difference between raising holy heaven and informing a
publisher of a problem -- this publication pattern is a point that
should perhaps be raised with the publisher in the manner that Mitch
Turitz has written about this past year: give the publisher the
concrete example(s), the problems that it causes, and request that the
publisher give some attention to the solution in the best interest of
both publisher and libraries.  After all, we're all in this business
together, and through NASIG many of us librarians know many of the
publisher reps or editors, and through the years have agreed that we
can indeed work together. Sounds rather Pollyanna-ish, I know, and I
don't mean it to be so: maybe I'm mellowing!

Kathleen Thorne
Serials Cataloger/Librarian
San Jose State University
kathleen@sjsuvm1.sjsu.edu