Date: Thu, 12 Mar 1998 13:09:41 +0000
From: P.Jansen@AUCKLAND.AC.NZ
Subject: Serials Review

Dear Serialist

The Philson Medical Library (part of the University of Auckland
Library system) has been asked to undertake a serials review
exercise. This has two aims:

(1) focussing on how our collection meets the needs of our user group.
The user group includes both medical researchers and clinicians.

(2) how to decrease the overall cost of our subscriptions in a
balanced way.

Both of the aims are concurrent. Whilst the overall level of our
subscriptions will be reduced this exercise may involve replacement of
titles as opposed to mere cancellation. We currently subscribe to
over 800 medical journals.

The first stage in this process is determining the most suitable
methodology for achieving these aims. Our initial inclinations are
towards some sort of user survey distributed amongst staff and
postgraduate students. The contents of this survey, or even whether
such a survey is preferable, is currently our primary query.

We would like feedback to identify any successful methodologies people
have used or have read about in library and/or survey literature.

We are hoping to complete this survey over a period of 2-4 months.

Looking forward to your suggestions.

Regards
Peter Jansen
Acquisitions Librarian
Philson Library
University of Auckland
Private Bag 92019, Auckland, New Zealand
Phone (+64 9) 373 7599 ext 6131
Fax (+64 9) 373 7491