Date: Tue, 16 Sep 1997 09:46:22 +0000
From: "Fiona A. McPherson" <Fiona.McPherson@FCT-CF.X400.GC.CA>
Subject: Enumeration question (Mitch Turitz) -Reply

We automated our kardex system over four years ago. We
decided at the time to keep the enumeration of the issues
and volumes as they are stated on each volume. We have
not had any complaints or problems explaining things.

Being a federal institution of the Canadian government, we
have publications in both English and French.

We could have standardized everything to the same
descriptions, or even moved in a completely unorthodox
direction and used legal citation methods, but it all seemed
to be too confusing for all involved, least of which, the
training of the check-in clerk. Can you imagine how much
more time it would take to use a concordance at check-in
versus just copying what actually appears on the issue?
With all the other lists you will most likely be making
(exceptions, exceptions, exceptions) why have another
when it's so much easier to report it "as is"?

Every September we get a new crop of law clerks arriving at
the Court. Fortunately, they have already learned how to
read a legal citation after two years of law school, so we
don't have to teach them how to translate it into something
readable. It only makes sense to us in Tech. Services and in
Reference Services to have the check-in record reflect the
information as it appears on the journal being cited. If the
citations are done properly and according to proper citation
format, don't they refer to the volume and issue as they
appear on the periodical, not some translation thereof?

As for foreign languages, as you stated, if they can't
understand the citation in the foreign language, will they
understand the article? And as our colleague Ms. Zappen
stated, is it not part of the function of Reference Services to
show your students how to read these citations? Perhaps a
clear illustration of different citation formats at your OPAC
terminals or at the Ref. Desk, would be more useful than
constantly translating at check-in.

In the end, with all the rules and standards we use in our
libraries, we also need to be flexible in order to reflect the
individual needs of our clients and the unique nature of our
organizations. In the end, you will do the same, but I
suggest you find whatever is easiest. Automating kardex,
although it provides a wealth of information for several areas
of the library, does not save time... not in anyone's
technicolour dreams, so find the easiest, most efficient and
most easily understood method you can before you step off
the slippery slope of automating serials... And remember, it
all comes out in the OPAC.

Best of luck!

Fiona A. McPherson
Collection Development Librarian
Federal Court of Canada
fiona.mcpherson@fct-cf.x400.gc.ca    (Phew!)