-------- Original Message --------
Subject: To Bind or Not to Bind - summary of responses
Date: Thu, 28 Oct 1999 12:54:23 -0400
From: "Anderson, Iris" <IANDERSON@IMF.ORG>

> Dear Colleagues,
>
> I am pleased to submit a summary of the excellent responses I received
> this past May concerning the management of paper journals in library
> collections. The responses have been incorporated into a broader paper on
> this topic called To Bind or Not to Bind: Pros and Cons of Maintaining
> Paper Periodicals in the Library's Collection. It will be published in the
> November 1999 issue of Information Outlook published by the Special
> Libraries Association. My intent in writing the paper was to stimulate
> ongoing discussions of the need for BOTH paper and electronic journals in
> libraries, in the present and near future, and possibly, much longer than
> that.
>
> With thanks to all of you!
>
> Iris W. Anderson, Team Leader
> Document Delivery
> Joint Bank-Fund Library
> ianderson@imf.org
>
>
> Summary of Online Discussions about whether "to bind or not to bind"
> periodicals
>
> In order to gather information from a wide cross section of librarians
> from around the world, the author posed several questions to a broader
> audience. Specifically, the following questions about the pros and cons of
> binding periodicals were sent out in May, 1999 to the Serials in Libraries
> Discussion Forum (SERIALST). The following is a list of the original
> questions with a summary of the responses:
>
> I am interested in hearing from other libraries about the pros and cons of
> continuing to bind journals that you are currently receiving
> electronically through services such as JSTOR or other electronic sources.
> 1. How do you determine the value of paper vs. electronic archives for
> individual titles? Do you look at circulation statistics or rely more on
> perceived or historical value of "core" journals? How do you envision best
> serving your clientele in the future, while also considering physical
> space constraints, shrinking budgets, and pressure to downsize your
> in-house periodicals holdings?
> 2.  Do you think binding journals will become a thing of the past? If you
> have stopped binding or never done it, have there been any awful
> consequences?
>
>
> Here is a summary of the responses:
>
> Pros to Binding Paper Periodicals:
> 1. Media Obsolescence -
>  "the newest info tech seems fabulous today but in 20 years it will look
> quaint and old-fashioned...we might not have the machines that can read
> them...so if you have materials you want to be able to access in 10 -20
> years, good old fashioned acid-free paper could outlast today's electronic
> formats by many years"
> "acid free paper is the best medium for long-term storage of information"
> 2. Technology not universal -
> "not all of our students have access to a computer"
> "not all workstations have a printer"
> "often all the computers/workstations are busy-100 are available to the
> public"
> 3. Maintenance & preservation issues -
> "we have not bound as a policy due to cost but the collection is looking
> very tattered and torn"
> "in favor of binding for organization and security reasons"
> "we also get microforms for some titles in lieu of binding"
> 4. Archival concerns -
> "willing to regard the electronic as archival if securely maintained by a
> permanent trusted organization...I do not regard any of the commercial
> publishers, even the largest, as suitable in this context because it is
> impossible to be sure of future business considerations"
> "whether JSTOR and other such organizations are secure enough for this may
> still be an open question"
> "the assumption here is that those libraries whose key field of
> concentration it is will regard archival access as their responsibility"
> "we are considering retention of one paper copy in the consortium for
> items available electronically"
>
>
>
> Cons to Binding Periodicals:
> 1. Lack of Space -
> "we no longer have room to bind and shelve all the periodicals we
> subscribe to...for those titles we have electronic access to, we plan on
> putting the volumes into remote storage, which will essentially not be
> accessible"
> 2. Lack of Usage -
> "if there is a layer of dust on a run of a bound periodical, then it
> appears to be unused"
> 3. Non-Core Journals -
> "for widely held journals which are not in one of our key fields of
> concentration, we rely on the electronic access"
> 4. Availability of Electronic Access -
> "we are subscribing to JSTOR, Ideal, ACS, OCLC Electronic Collections
> Online"
> END