Evaluating children's literature

There are many ways of evaluating Children’s Literature. Mary Norton, in Through the eyes of a child, provides a set of questions that expands the material presented in class. You should review these questions and apply them as well when you’re evaluating a children’s book.

1. Is it a good story?

2. Is the story about something I think could really happen? Is the plot believable?

3. Did the main character overcome the problem, but not too easily?

4. Did the climax seem natural?

5. Did the characters seem real? Did I understand the characters’ personalities and the reasons for their actions?

6. Did the characters in the story grow?

7. Did I find out about more than one side of the characters? Did the characters have both strengths and weaknesses?

8. Did the setting present what is actually known about that time or place?

9. Did the characters fit into the setting?

10. Did I feel that I was really in that time or place?

11. What did the author want to tell me in the story?

12. Was the theme worthwhile?

13. When I read the book aloud, did the characters sound like real people actually talking?

14. Did the rest of the language sound natural? (124)

Beyond literary elements we also need to look at the value of the story. Good literature, whether it is intended for children or adults, is multi-layered. Peel back the elements, such as plot and characterization, and ask what effect will that particular book have on the reader.

Edward H. Rosenheim, Jr. Explores the effect of literature on children with the following list of questions from an essay in Only connect:

• Will this book call into play my child’s imagination?
• Will it invite the exercise of genuine compassion or humour or even irony?
• Will it exploit his capacity for being curious?
• Will its language challenge his awareness of rhythms and structures?
• Will its characters and events call for – and even strengthen – his understanding of human motives and circumstances, of causes and effects?
• Will it provide him with a joy that is in some part the joy of achievement, of understanding, of triumphant encounter with the new?

Notes on picture books

• Picture books provide children with visual experience that is different from story books.
  Definitions
  • Story book
  o Puts emphasis on story
  * Words carry the story
  * Plot development
  o Can be fully understood without pictures
  * Pictures’ purpose is to enhance words
  
  • Picture book
  o Words cannot stand on their own
  o Meaning of story unclear without pictures
  * Pictures supplement text
  * Provide info not contained in the words
  * Also may clarify or take the place of text
  o Picture books are plot oriented
  o Little room for character development
  
  • Story books express both sight and sound through words. Picture books separate the two.
  
  • Sight = pictures
  • Sound = words
  o Not a matter of number of words or pictures
  o Essence is different
  o Picture book presents a unique concept
  o Both pictures and words are “read”
  
  • Picture books are naturally more dramatic than story books
  o No words to interfere
  o See and hear directly
  o Direct, immediate and vivid
  o A lot is happening in the picture
  
  
  • Picture books require two kinds of interpretation
  o Verbal/text
  o Pictorial
  • Because meaning is generated in two different ways
  o Not read the same way as a story book
  * Read pictures through the words
  * And the words through the pictures
  • Unceasing interplay and interaction between words and images
  
  • How words and pictures work together in picture books:
  o Two mutually dependent ways of telling a story
  
  • Words drive us forward
  o Find out the complete meaning
  • But pictures may pull us back to explore illustrations in more detail
  
  • Some terms used to describe the functions of illustrations
  o Extend/elaborate/amplify/expand
  * Expands a child’s realm of experience
  * Picturing things child could not have imagined on their own
  * Extend words by showing details that not included/emphasized in the text
  * Pictures can fill in the gap
  * May change our responses to the text
  • Example: create atmosphere – Fairy Tales
  o Romantic to gothic
  o Medieval to modern
  o Realistic to grotesque
  * May amplify words, but at the same time
  • Limit theme – offer only one interpretation
  • E.g. Where the wild things are – much less frightening than what you could imagine on your own
  o Complement/complete
  * Words tell what pictures cannot show
  * Provide a soundtrack
  • E.g. “roared their terrible roars” from Where the wild things are
  * Words can be non specific
  • E.g. Text reads: One Monday morning
  o Pictures show setting (see below)
  o Redundancy
  * Illustration supported by very few words
  * (are they even necessary?)
  o Symmetrical
  * Words and illustrations are identical
  • Picture books and setting
  o Words describe space/setting
  o Illustrations show it
  o Artist/editor decides what to leave in/take out
  o Illustrations act like scenery in a theatre
  * May be realistic, symbolic, elaborate, simple
  o If no words, reader can interpret more freely
  o Historical
   Provide details
  o Fantasy
  * Provide details
  • Setting ...
  o Limited visual settings
  * Book does not date as quickly
  o Setting may determine how we read the story
  * Place the story in context
  o Setting can create/enhance mood
  * Is setting integral or a backdrop?
  * Can contribute to plot development
  • Creates conflict by moving character out of familiar surroundings
  * Are there jokes in the setting
  • E.g. Things to be read on boxes, cars, buildings
  * Diversion distracts us from the action (e.g. In the night kitchen)
  * Takes our attention from words
  
  • Pictures cannot communicate every idea
  o Sometimes do not convey information more readily than words
  * E.g. – child sitting at a window
  * How long? Just sat down?
  * Purpose
  * Remembering? Planning? Waiting for someone?
  o May need words to fully understand the pictures
  
  • But pictures can tell us about the way things look
  o Give us information/knowledge of character’s appearance and personality
  o Help children with limited linguistic ability
  
  • Pictures show things words cannot convey
  o Pictures get our attention
  * Demand an emotional response
  o Both to the style of picture and how subject is depicted
  
  • Pictures can change the meaning of words by interpreting them in a specific way
  o Vague words?
  * Pictures provide more specific information
  o Children like looking for clues and detail
  * e.g. Richard Scarry – like a visual puzzle
  
  • Picture books and characters
  o Description can be both visual and verbal
  * Can confirm or contradict each other
  o Can demonstrate how character relates to setting
  o Physical describtion best done by illustration
  some internal characteristics can be difficult to illustrate
  * E.g. brave, clever, innocent
  o Can be suggested through poses, gestures, facial expressions
  * Need support from the words
  o Emotions and attititudes are easier to illustrate
  * E.g. happiness, anger, fear
  * May need little support from the words
  
  • Pictures cannot show time passing
  o Series of pictures
  * Shows only a sequence of isolated movements
  * Not the connection between those two movements
  o Words describe space and time
  * Pictures can show only space
  o Double page spreads – no words
  * E.g. Where the wild things are
  o Further enhance rhythm created by our movement between pictures and words
  o Concerntrate our attention on a series of carefully perceived movements of stopped time
  o Length of time between pictures?
  o How long does the action in the picture last?
  * E.g. Where the wild things are
  
  • How is movement depicted in still pictures?
  o Blurs, motion lines, distortion of perspective
  o Action in progress, action not yet complete
  * E.g. character with foot about to step
  o Clarify an action, link two pictures together
  * E.g. millions of cats
  • Growing plump, pond, grass
  
  • How we read pictures
  o Scan pictures in Western World
  o Read from left to right
  o Top to bottom
  o If we go from left bottom to top right corner
  * Diagonal – creates uneasiniess
  o What happens if picture is reversed?
  
  • Some final questions about picture books
  o Should pictures be clear, simple and colourful?
  o Should not be abstract?
  o Should not be large/out of scale?
  o Are pictures easier to understand?
  o Pictures contain information that allows children to understand the words
  o Are children that simple-minded?
  o Words are not harder to understand
  o Children understand words before they can actually speak

Sources: 

Niklajeva, Maria and Carole Scott. How Picture Books Work. New York : Garland Publishing, 2001.

Egloff, Shelia et al. Only Connect Readings on Children’s Literature. Toronto: Oxford University Press, 1996.

Serials automation

In a strict sense, the term automation refers to the application of machinery to perform work that would otherwise be done by human beings. Therefore, the use of photocopiers, facsimile machines, and (in bygone days) typewriters in libraries could technically fall under the rubric library automation. Currently, however, library automation is generally understood to refer to the use of computers, computer networks, or CD-ROM – the meaning used in this chapter.

Serials automation covers several distinct concepts, including automating serials control procedures in libraries, the electronic journal, automating bibliographic access to serials, and automated vendor services. Some of these topics have been dealt with wholly or partially in other chapters, such as the electronic journal in chapter 9. This chapter discusses the history of serials automation, the role of standards, and steps in the automation of serials processing. The focus is on automation’s use for serials management and control rather than technological details about hardware, software, systems specifications, etc. No attempt is made to compare systems, and mention of a particular system should not be interpreted as endorsement.

History of serials automation
The application of computer technology to library functions is greatly considered to have begun during the 1960s or 1970s. Yet as far back as the 1940s, Ralph Parker, at the University of Texas at Austin, reportedly experimented with modifying for serials control his circulation system based on Hollerith punched cards. During the 1950s scattered reports on the application of noncomputer technology to serials management appeared in the literature. For example, in 1953 Ralph R. Shaw described the use of Photoclerk, which made photographic reproductions of serials records, in periodical claiming, routing, ordering, and renewing at 11 U.S. libraries, including Columbia University, the Enoch Pratt Free Library, and the U.S. Department of Agriculture. A Flexowriter Automatic Writing machine was used to create periodical holdings lists at the U.S. Naval Postgraduate School library in Monterey, California.

The earliest computerized serials systems were developed in-house, often by an academic library collaborating with a university computing cente. Vendor-supplied systems were not available on the market, so libraries wishing to automate serials had no other option. Patrick G. Kilgour writes that the first computerized serials control system was developed at the University of California at San Diego library in the early 1960s. Prepunched cards corresponding to serials issues were processed at the university computing center. This system produced lists of serials holdings, received items, nonreceived items, claims, and expired subscriptions as well as binding lists.

Gary M. Pitkin notes that certain functions were likely to be automated with each other, such as check-in and claiming, binding and holdings information, and routing and renewal. Moreover, the earliest automated serials systems were rather crude by contemporary standards. They tended to focus on creating lists and operated in a batch mode.
The Kansas Union List of Serials, issued in 1965, was reportedly the first computer-produced, multiple-institution serials holding list. It listed 22,000 serial titles held by eight academic libraries. During the 1970s computer technology was used to produce the Pennsylvania Union List of Serials and the Minnesota Union List of Serials as well as similar lists at the University of California in Los Angeles (UCLA), Stanford, and the University of California at Berkeley.

By 1968 an online serials control system was operating at Laval University in Quebec, Canada. Undoubtedly the most famous in-house serials system was PHILSOM (Periodical Holdings in the Library of the School of Medicine), developed by the School of Medicine Library at the University of Washington (in St. Louis) and originally implemented in 1962. William Saffady lists the San Francisco Public Library and the UCLA Biomedical Library, as well as the libraries at the University of Arizona, the University of Massachusetts, and the University of Washington, as others that implemented their own custom-designed online serials control systems during the early decades of library automation.

Several of the successful systems were adopted for use, often with modifications, in other libraries. For example, the Lister Hill Library of the Health Sciences at the University of Alabama at Birmingham adopted a modified form of the PHILSLOM system in the late 1960s and in the mid-1970s implemented a modified version of the UCLA Biomedical Library controls system.

The late 1960s and early 1970s saw the development of the four major North American bibliographic utilities: OCLC Online Computer Library Center (OCLC), Western Library Network ( WLN), Research Libraries Information Network (RLIN), and University of Toronto Library Automation Systems (UTLAS, now called ISM Library Information Services). Their initial purpose was to support the automation of the cataloguing function, but they now offer a wide variety of services, including retrospective conversion, authority control, archiving electronic journals, and so forth. The widespread acceptance during the 1970s of the MARC r ecord (machine readable cataloging), including the MARC-S (machine readable cataloging serials format), was a major boost to library automation. The Cooperative Online Serials Program (CONSER) project (discussed in chapter 8) to create machine readable bibliographic records for serials, became operational in 1973.

During the 1970s many of the in-house serial systems of the 1960s were upgraded and converted to online. During the late 1970s OCLC introduced its serials subsystem for check-in, which Sara Heitshu describes as “never a total success... [but] a highly visible project and much discussed by librarians.”

However, the decade’s major library automation efforrts focused on circulation, which, along with cataloging, was one of the first two functions to be automated. According to Saffady, circulation lent itself well to automation because of its labor-intensive nature and because its resemblance to inventory control was easily understood by computer specialists with little knowledge of library operations. Although there is no reason why serial volumes can not be bar coded and circulated, circulation automation was clearly oriented totward monographs.
In the 1980s, vendors began offering a variety of serials automation options to libraries, so that in-house development was no longer a necessity or even a desirable option. Heitsu reports the number of vendors marketing automated serials control systems increased from 4 in 1980 to 60 in 1986. Early in the decade serial subscription agents began offering access to their databases on a time-sharing basis. For example, in 1981 Faxon introduced the LINX system, which offered serials check-in and access to payment records. Its DataLINX provided online access to the Faxon database of more than 200,000 titles. EBSCO also introduced EBSCONET.

The major automation developments of the 1980s were Online Public Access Catalogs (OPACs) and integrated systems – both of which often treated serials as a stepchild. An integrated system uses a single database to perform such basic library functions as cataloging, circulation, acquisitions, and serials control. The same bibliographic r ecord is linked to separate records for ordering, payment, routing, etc. Using of the same record for multiple functions is cost-effective and reduces the probability of inputting errors. When all modules are fully functioning, an integrated system allows exchange of information among the various modules, so that received serials issues or new serial titles on order can be displayed in the OPAC. Unfortunately, serials control was all too often among the weakest modules or the last to be fully developed. Many of the initial OPACs did not include serials holdings information. However, serials presented an automation challenge because of their ongoing nature, frequent title changes, and the number of exceptions involved in serials work. Heitshu stresses that academic libraries now had a choice between the serials module of an integrated system (e.g., GEAC or NOTIS) or a stand-alone serials control system, such as B. H. Blackwell’s PERLINE.

During the 1980s a number of microcomputer-based serials control systems for small and medium-sized libraries entered the market. Saffady mentions CHECKMATE, marketed by the Cooperative Library Agency for Systems and Services, and the SC350 Serials Control System, developed by OCLC, as examples. In 1982 REMO was developed by Readmore, and in 1986 Faxon introduced Micro-Linx, SMS Canada produced the DavexPC serials management system, and Dawson U.S. acquired PC Max, developed in the early 1980s by Dawson U.K.

Also during the same decade, many libraries began using off-the-shelf word processing or database management software run on microcomputers for a variety of serials management or control functions, such as creating print-format serials holdings lists, budget control, assigning titles to subjects and departments, and organizing data for cancellation projects. Some commercial binderies began marketing their automated binding systems to libraries.
The 1980s witnessed the rise of so-called turnkey vendors, who provided libraries a complete automation system, including hardware, software, installation, staff training, and ongoing maintenance. The term’s derication refers to the library ability to metaphorically “turn a key” and receive an automated system – just as one can turn a key and drive an automobile off a dealer’s lot.

In 1987 Roy Rada and his collaborators published a paper about the use of expert systems for journal selection in the field of medicine. However, this was not representative of a major trend of the decade. Indeed, the use of expert systems for library materials selection has only been tentatively explored by a few scholars.

A 1985 survey of college libraries by John A. Camp and others found that only 12.5 percent of the respondents (26 of 208) had online serials control systems: 8 (30.8 percent) were from bibliographic utilities; 7 (26.9 percent) were developed in-house; and 3 (11.5 percent) were obtained from turnkey vendors. At the same time, 35.8 percent (73 of 204) took part in online union lists of serials. A 1986 survey of Association of College and Research Libraries (ACRL) college library directors by Jamie Webster Hastreiter, Larry Hardesty, and David Henderson found that 52.5 percent (62 of 118) had automated at least part of their periodical operations. Specifically, 10.2 percent had automated periodical ordering; 16.9 percent, check-in and claiming; 41.5 percent, holdings and 22.0 percent, periodical cataloging.

The 1990s represent the fourth decade of library automation, yet in 1995 Chiou-sen Dora Chen wrote, “Finally in the 1990s, the time has come for serials automation.” A major trend of the mid- to late- 1990s is the shift to client/server integrated systems, although Jeff Berry, José-Marie Griffiths, and Gerald Lundeen wrote in April 1995 that the term client/server had become a “buzzword” whose precise meaning is ambiguous.
In the 1990s the vendor market remained somewhat volatile. In 1994 Trisha Davies and James Huesmann wrote, “In the past year, several serials control systems have been phased ouot of production, others have been replaced or updated by dramatically different versions, and new systems have been introduced. It is a dynamic, growing field.” Also system migration (i.e., changing from one automated system to another), and networking among libraries, sometimes on a statewide basis such as the OhioLinks project, continued to increase throughout the 1990s, as did interest in the Serial Item and Contribution Identifier (SICI) standard and X12 for Electronic Data Interchange (EDI), discussed later in this chapter. Web-based OPACs, with direct links to electronic journal Uniform Resource Locators (URLs), which allow the end user to proceed seamlessly from the catalog to the journal itself, represent a significant trend of the late 1990s. The other major automation developments of the 1990s – the Internet, the World Wide Web (WWW), and electronic journal themselves – have been discussed elsewhere in this book.

In summary, the major automation trends affecting serials may be briefly recapitulated as follows. Prior to the 1960s few attempted to apply primitive or noncomputer technology to serials control. During the 1960s a number of systems were developed in-house, first in a batch mode and later online. In the 1970s these systems were further developed and not infrequently adopted or modified by other libraries. The 1980s witnessed integrated systems, off-the-shelf software, OPACs, and stand-alone systems run on microcomputers. The major trends of the 1990s are system migration, the client/server model, the Internet, the WWW, and electronic journals. Who knows what developments the third millennium will bring?

The role of standards in serials automationBecause standards are necessary for automation’s effective use in serials management, they require considerable attention. What is a standard? According to the International Organization for Standardization (ISO), “Standards are documented agreements containing technical specifications or other percise criteria to be used consistently as rules, guidelines, or definitions of characteristics, to ensure that materials, products, processes and services are fit for their purpose.” There is not always a clear distinction between an automation and nonautomation standard because a single standard, for example, the International Standard Serial Number (ISSN), can be used in both an automated or nonautomated environment. Yet standards are especially critical to automation because they promote compatibility among different hardware, software, and systems. Accordingly, this section discusses the major organizations and standards that affect serials automation.

Standards organizations
The major standards organizations whose actions affect serials are described below.

American National Standards Institute
The American National Standards Institute (ANSI) describes itself as a “private-sector, nonprofit, membership organization” that serves as “administrator and coordinator of the United States private sector voluntary standardization system.” Founded in 1918, ANSI is headquarted in New York City with an additional office in Washington, D.C. ANSI is the U.S. representative in the ISO. This organization is probably familiar to readers because of the ANSI number assigned to adopted standards. ANSI has officially sanctioned at least six major standards pertaining to serials, several of which are discussed later in this chapter.

National Information Standards Organization
The National Information Standards Organization (NISO) is one of almost 300 U.S. organizations involved in developing technical standards for various industrial sectors. NISO specializes in standards pertaining to information. Its constituency comprises publishers, libraries, indexing and abstracting services, other information services, and automation vendors. NISO was founded in 1939 under the name the American National Standard Committee Z39. After some name changes and restructing, it incorporated as a not-for-profit educational association and assumed its present name in 1984. At present there are more than 55 voting members of NISO, including the Library of Congress, the National Library of Medicine, the American Library Association (ALA), Readmore, Faxon, and EBSCO. NISO publishes a newsletter entitled Information Services Quarterly, and NISO Press sells standards and draft statements.

A list of NISO standards may be found in a recent Bowker Annual. Among the six standards relevant to serials one should mention: ISSN (Z39.9-1992); SICI (Z39.56-1994); Serials Holding Statements (Z39.4-1986); and Electronic Manuscript Preparation and Markup (Z39.559-1987). The latter two are presently under review or revision.

International Organization for Standardization
The ISO (the abbreviation is from the French language, which is also used by this organization), founded in 1947, is a worldwide federation of more than 100 national standards organizations. The ISO Central Secretariat is located in Geneva, Switzerland. A keyword search of the ISO Catalog of Standards on the WWW under the term serials retrieved seven items, including ISO/DIS 3297 for ISSN and ISO 9230:1991 for “determination of price indexes for books and serials purchased by libraries.”

Book industry systems advisory committee
Although originally founded in 1974 for promotion of International Standard Book Numbers (ISBNs), the Book Industry Systems Advisory Committee (BISAC) later turned its attention to application of the ANSI Accredited Standards Committee (ASC) X12 standard for EDI in the book industry, explained below. BISAC should be noted because it has been termed a “sister Committee” of the Serials Industry Systems Advisory Committee (SISAC).

Serials industry systems advisory committee
SISAC was founded in 1982 at the behest of the Book Industry Study Group to develop serials automation standards for presentation to NISO and ANSI. It focused on three areas: computer-to-computer transmission of serials business transactions through the X12 standard for EDI; automation of serials check-in and control through the SICI standard; and standardization coding of articles to ease document delivery and royalty payments.

Its members include publishers, librarians, serial subscription agents, and document delivery vendors. Headquarted in New York City, SISAC publishes the SISAC Newsletter, SISAC News and SISAC-L – an Internet listserv for the discussion of SISAC business. Two of its major achievements have been the SICI and the SISAC Bar Code Symbol. In the early 1990s it began to focus on the application of EDI to serials.

Canadian serials industry systems advisory committee
Organized in 1991, the Canadian Serials Industry Systems Advisory Committee (CSIASC), is, as the name implies, the Canadian equivalent of SIASC. Through international committees, CSIASC has been collaborating with SISAC and the International Committee on Electronic Data Interchange for Serials (ICEDIS) on the development of EDI. CSIASC has also explored SICI, Standard Generalized Markup Language (SGML), and document delivery.

Automation standards
The major automation standards pertinent to serials are discussed below.

International standard serial number
The ISSN was discussed in chapter 2. Although not exclusively an automation standard, ISSNs contribute to the handling of serials in automated systems by allowing unique identification of a particular title and differentiating between serials with similar titles.

MARC
As stated on the Library of Congress Home Page, “The MARC formats are standards for the representation and communication of bibliographic and related information in machine-readable form.” MARC is, in the words of Walt Crawford, “the single most important factor in the growth of library automation in the United States and other countries.” Histories of MARC’s early development have been written by Henriette D. Avram and Karen M. Spicher. The Library of Congress developed and tested the MARC record during the 1960s. In March 1969 the Library of Congress began weekly distribution of MARC records for English-language books. MARC was adopted by ANSI as a national standard in 1971 and as an international standard by ISO in 1973.

MARC-S was initially published in 1970, and the Library of Congress began distributing MARC serial records in 1973. In 1974 a second edition of the MARC serials format was issued, and in 1977 it was implemented by OCLC.
Especially significant for serials is the MARC standard for holdings data. The Library of Congress published the USMARC Format for Holdings and Locations in 1984. The revised version, the USMARC Format for Holdings Data, Including Guidelines for Content Designation, was published in 1989. For an in-depth explanation of the MARC holdings format, see Frieda B. Rosenberg’s chapter on managing serials holdings in Marcia Tuttle’s Managing Serials.

By the end of the 1980s, there were nine types of MARC records, for holdings data, authority records, and seven bibliographic formats: books, serials, maps, computer files, music, visual materials, and manuscripts. The USMARC Format for Classification Data and the USMARC Format for Community Information were issued during the early 1990s.

Detailed examination of the MARC record’s structure is beyond this chapter’s scope, but the four basic components will be briefly outlined. The “leader,” the first 25 characters, contains information on the record itself rather than the bibliographic item being described and allows the computer program to read the record. Next, the “directory” indicates the position of each MARC field within the record, thus allowing the program to quickly locate specific information. The first 9 fields or “tags” of a MARC record (001 through 009) compromise the “variable control fields.” These generally use fixed-field codes (i.e., one, two, or three place numerals or characters) to present data about both the record itself and the bibliographic item. As Deborah J. Byrne explains, “The coded information in the fixed field expresses the information explicitly and succinctly. This allows a computer to recognize the information and use it efficiently and effectively.” Finally, the “variable data fields” contain the textual information that describes the bibliographic item being cataloged. The number of fields and the length of each will vary from record to record. Tags and subfield codes are used to help the computer program locate specific fields and subfields. For example, tag 247 identifies the field for a former title or title variations. An “indicator” conveys specific instructions to the system about processing or a field’s content. The reader is referred to Crawford and Byrne for further explanation of MARC record structure.

MARC’s major benefit is the creation of a uniform standard for machine readable cataloguing records. It thus promotes the exchange of records among libraries and the use of bibliographic utilities. Moreover, it renders a library’s database independent of specific hardware or software (as long as both are MARC compatible), thus supporting system migration. Yet, MARC may not be necessary for every automation objective. Crawford notes that “MARC is not the answer” for projects such as a small library’s current periodical list. It is doubtful that a full MARC record is needed for acquisitions.

MARC “format integration” has recently received considerable attention within the serials community. For well over a decade, the system of different MARC record structures for seven separate bibliographic formats was clearly creating problems, especially for serials. Ostensibly, such nonserial items as maps, video-cassettes, sound recordings, and computer files can simultaneously assume a serial form. MARC-S, developed for print serials, did not fully provide for describing the characteristics of nonprint materials. Further difficulties were presented by mixed media items, such as a map or datafile accompanying a periodical.

In 1988 the USMARC Advisory Group approved Proposal 88-1, which established the guidelines for format intetgration. After some delays, the Library of Congress began implementing format integration in early 1996 and the first records appeared in the MARC Distribution Service in March 1996. With format integration the seven separate MARC records have been replaced by a single record structure. A new 006 MARC field allows the cataloger to indicate an item’s secondary aspects (e.g., a datafile accompanying a periodical or the fact that a map is also a serial would be noted here). Also, many other fields, subfields, or indicators in MARC records have been added, deleted, expanded, or made obsolete by format integration.

According to Rosenberg, format integration’s practical implication for serials cataloging is that the nontextual format of nonprint serials will be their primary aspect, and seriality will be noted in the 006 field as a secondary characteristic. In other words, a serial computer file will be cataloged primarily as a computer file and secondarily as a serial. Wayne Jones and Young-Hee Queinnec proclaim that format integration’s major benefit is “better provision for the recording of data concerning nonprint serials.” Format integration should also improve searching and retrieval from online catalogs. Rebecca R. Malek-Wiley asserts, “because the same data should be in the same fields for all types of material, consistency both of indexing and retrieval and of display should be facilitated.” Possible disadvantages associated with format integration include the logistics of its implementation, the cost for reconfiguring computer systetms, and problems presented byolder MARC records p r edating format integration.

X12 for electronic data interchange
EDI refers to the electronic exchange of business data, such as purchase orders, invoices, etc. EDI offers some advantages over paper communication, including rapid transmission, verification that the message has been received, and reduction of both labor and the possibility of error because trading partners do not have to rekey paper messages into their systems. In the United States, EDI was first used in the transportation, pharmaceutical, and electronic industries, as well as in warehousing.

In 1979 ANSI established the ASC X12 for the purpose of developing the EDI standard, which is now referred to by that committee’s name – ASC X12 or simply X12. Although Frederick E. Schwartz wrote in 1991 that “in North America and much of the rest of the world, ANSI X12 is synonmous with EDI,” a European standard, the Electronic Data Interchange for Administration, Commerce, and Transport (EDIFACT), promoted by the United Nations Economic Commission for Europe, does exist. Although a scheduled convergence of ANSI X12 and EDIFACT in 1997 was reported in the literature, such an event has not taken place.

Because X12 is a general standard for business shipping, receiving, and invoicing, it does not explicitly address specific needs of the serial industry, such as claiming. Therefore, the SISAC is responsible for X12’s customization for serials, and, in 1990, appointed five subcommittees for this task. These committees first developed standards for claims, claims responses, and invoices before addressing purchase orders, purchase order acknowledgements, and other functions.

In the summer of 1995 the SISAC X12 Implementation Guidelines for Electronic Data Interchange were issued. These guidelines include five transaction sets (elsewhere defined as “highly structured computer messages that correspond to specific workflows”): 810, for invoices; 856, for shipping notice; 869, for order status inquiry (i.e., “claims”); 870, for order status reports (i.e. “claim responses”); and 997, for functional acknowledgement. Other sets in various stages of testing and development are 832, for price or sales catalog; 846, for inventory inquiry; 850, for purchase order; and 855, for purchase order acknowledgement.

The earliest applications of EDI to librarianship were, according to Linda Richter and Joan Roca, “proprietary,” that is, developed by specific organizations for communication with their customers. Because these early proprietary systems did not conform to a uniform national standard, a system used to communicate with one vendor would not work for other vendors.

The first serials vendor to use EDI was Faxon, which decided in the summer of 1989 to experiment with ANSI X12 instead of the ANSI/NISO Z39.55-199X Electronic Orders and Claims standard. It began a pilot project involving six publishers plus the Welch Medical Library of John Hopkins University, the University of Minnesota library, and the Miles Laboratories Library in Indianapolis. More recently, the literature describes Faxon’s experimental use of X12 to communicate with libraries from the Mankato State and North Dakota State Universities, Laurentian University (in Canada), and Dartmouth College. In July 1997 the Faxon Web page asserted that the company was sending 7,000 messages a month using X12.

Testifying to EDI’s significance, the Faxon WWW site lists nine serial titles devoted exclusively to the topic, including EDI Forum: The Journal of Electronic Data Interchange, EDI Monthly Report, and EDI World: The Source for Electronic Data Interchange Management. There is also a listserv, EDI-L, devoted to the discussion of EDI issues.

The X12 standard for EDI offers the opportunity for speedier and more-efficient communications among libraries, publishers, and serials vendors. Unlike ISSN and MARC, its full potential has yet to be realized. A related concept, Electronic Funds Transfer (EFT), is sometimes termed “the final stage of EDI” but to date has received considerably less attention in the serials community.

Serial item and contribution identifier and the SISAC bar code symbol
The SICI standard was developed by SISAC for uniquely identifying specific serial issues and articles and has been officially adopted as ANSI/NISO X39.56 (1991). Version 2 was submitted by the SICI Revision Committee to NISO on January 1, 1996. The standard allows creation of the SICI code from either a citation or the serial itself, regardless of whether the publisher has printed it on the item. A SICI code is illustrated in figure 10.1.

Fig 10.1. Illustration of a SICI Code
Item: “The Compaq Portable II.” Library Systems, v. 6, no. 6 (June 1986), p. 4 SICI Code: 0277-0288(198606)6:6L.4CP;1-
“0277-0288” = the ISSN for the serial Library Systems
“(198606)” = identifies the date as June 1986
“6:6” = identifies the issue as volume 6, issue 6
“L.4” = identifies the item’s location as beginning on page 4
“CP” = the first letters of significant words in the item’s title
“;1” = based on version 1 of SICI
“-“ = the final element is a check digit

SICI, when encoded in machine readable form, is known as the SISAC Bar Code Symbol. Because it can be read by a bar code wand, the SISAC Bar Code Symbol would allow more rapid serials check-in of issues marked with it. The SISAC bar code has received considerable support within the serials community. As of the mid-1990s many major publishers, automated library system vendors, and serial subscription agents were committed to supporting the SISAC Bar Code Symbol.

SISAC asserts that SICI has possible application to document delivery, interlibrary loan (ILL), copyright payments, and electronic reserve room use, among other functions. Arnold Hirshon and Barbara Winters conjecture that SICI might eventually allow serial issues to arrive in libraries already checked-in and that it has potential application to other automated serials functions (e.g., ordering and claiming).

Other standards
Some leading STM publishers have proposed a Publisher Item Identifier (PII) for providing unique identification of documents, such as serial articles, book chapters, or any other unit the publisher wishes to sell. It is based on a 17-character alphanumeric code assigned by the publisher. The PII has been adopted by the American Chemical Society, the American Institute of Physics, the American Physical Society, Elsevier Science, and the Institute of Electrical and Electronics Engineering (IEEE) for all articles published after January 1, 1996. Proponets of this standard assert it is compatible with ISSN and SICI, but, unlike SICI, it can be assigned to an item before it is published and allows a document to stand alone rather than be viewed as part of a serial or a book. Moreover, the PII applies to all forms of a document: print or electronic, varying electronic forms, and a serial article reprinted as a book chapter.

The Association of American Publishers has been developing a Digital Object Identifier (DOI) system for uniquely identifying “works which are brought, sold or accessed over digital networks” for such purposes as copyright management, ordering, billing, and bibliographic control. In April 1997 the International Publishers Association decided to support the DOI system. The DOI number consists of two parts: a prefix assigned to the publisher by the DOI agency and a suffix assigned by the publisher. According to the Information Identifier Committee of the International Publishers Association, “the [DOI] system is far from complete” (i.e., an international network of registration agencies must be established and the underlying technology tested). A public presentation of a DOI prototype was scheduled for demonstration at the Frankfurt Book Fair in October 1997.

The PII has not yet been adopted by national agencies, and the DOI system is still under development. Hence, their ultimate acceptance and impact upon libraries and the serials industry can not be predicted. It is also unclear to what extent the PII and DOI system will complement or conflict with each other.

Summary
Standards are important to automation because they support networking, sharing of records, and communications among the major players in the serials arena. Compliance with standards is voluntary. But a standard’s widespread adoption is necessary for its ultimate success. In this rapidly changing environment, new standards evolve and older ones become obsolete.

Automation of bibliographic access to serials
Provision of bibliographic access to serials could be viewed as a subset of serials control, yet it is important enough to warrant a separate discussion. In the broadest terms, this heading includes access to
1. serial titles;
2. serial issues, which are often termed “holdings” and
3. specific articles, which are generally accessed through “indexing.”

Some CD-ROM products, such as Ulrich’s Plus or EBSCO’s Serials Directory offer bibliographic access to serials titles. Beginning in 1992 the International Serials Data System (ISDS) database has been available in CD-ROM format as ISDN Compact.

Bibliographic control at the article level has long been provided by online access to indexes and abstracts through such services as DIALOG. Beginning in the mid-1980s an ever-increasing number of indexing and abstracting services have been issued as CD-ROMs. In the mid-1990s libraries often have three automation options for accessing indexes and abstracts: online access, CD-ROM, or local mounting of the database.

In the past OPACs have provided much better access to monographic holdings than to serials. Basic questions on serials access and the OPAC follow: Are serial titles included in the OPAC? Is holdings information included? Are indexes available through the OPAC? Is dial-in access available? Is a password required for dial-in access?

Serials access will be a major component of an ongoing project, the CIC Virtual Electronic Library. Using the Internet and OCLC WebZ software, the project will eventually allow end users at the CIC institutions to seamlessly search the OPACs of the 12 CIC libraries along with numerous databases. Bibliographical access will be provided to 550,000 serials (along with 60 million books), and end users will be able to initiate ILL and commercial document delivery requests.

Although not traditionally thought of as part of bibliographic control, access to serials collections could be considered a fourth level. Electronic journal collections accessible to the Internet have been discussed in chapter 9.

Automation of serials control procedures
In the systems analysis approach to automation, one examines the tasks that must be performed and then asks how automation can perform those tasks. The traditional serials control functions discussed in chapter 8 (e.g., ordering, claiming, check-in, fund accounting, etc.) can be performed by an automated systetm. Indeed automation of each serials function presents its own set of challenges, but a function by function analysis is not within this chapter’s scope.

Record keeping represents a major component of serials processing. Indeed, some serials textbooks devote an entire chapter to the discussion of serials records. A group of records organized together constitutes a file. Important files for serials automation include bibliographic, holdings, order, vendor, binding, claims, check-in, and fund accounting records, and (for larger libraries that order abroad) currency conversion. For a useful discussion of file integration in a serials control system, see Trisha Davis and James Huesmann.

The discussion and comparative evaluation of specific serials control systems are beyond this book’s scope. An exceedingly valuable source of comparative data on automation vendors and automated systems is the Library Technology Reports, published by the ALA. For more than a decade, Library Journal has offered an annual automation report in its April 1 issue (this does not, of course, imply that the topic is an April Fools’ Day joke). This series has provided a valuable introductory overview of the automation market. Each annual article summarizes major trends of the previous year, profiles major vendors, and provides considerable data on the number of system installations by leading vendors. A particularly useful feature is an appended list of the names, addresses, and telephone numbers of currently active vendors.

A similar annual automation survey has appeared since the mid-1980s in the Library Systems Newsletter, published by Library Technology Reports. This survey is usually divided into two segments covering 1) PC or MAC-based systems and 2) all others. Market trends and profiles of leading vendors are included. In 1989 John Corbin offered a comparative summary of the serials control functions in 24 automated systems, and in 1992 Richard W. Boss offered a similar functional summary of 26 systems. Davis and Huesmann’s Serials Control Systems for Libraries, published in 1994, compares five microcomputer-based serials control systems in terms of local files, functionality, and system requirements: the SC350, Micro-Linx, DavexPC, PC Max, and REMO.

An automated serials system offers the advantages of greater speed, accuracy, efficiency, and the ability to provide new services (e.g., public services access to serials check-in and holdings records). An early impetus to library automation was the desire to reduce staff and increase savings, although it is doubtful that automation results in either.

An automated serials system can generate data that are quite useful in collection management, especially in the areas of macroevaluation and budgeting. A report of serials expenditures by subject or department in a series of previous fiscal years can assist in reaching or evaluating such budgeting issues as the overall serial budget’s division among subject areas, the proportion of departmental materials’ expenditures devoted to serials, and the projection of budgetary requirements for the forthcoming fiscal year. As a downside, it can sometimes be difficult to extract the needed data from the system or customize it to your library’s particular needs. Data from a serials subscription agent may be limited to the library’s subscriptions with that agent. Anecdotal evidence suggests that many librarians feel that automated systems have not lived up to their full potential in providing collection management data.

In addition, an automated system can be quite expensive, and considerable staff time and effort is required to implement it. Vendors may advertise automated products that are not fully developed. An automated system has a finite life expectancy – often estimated at five to seven years. Most present serials control systems are tied to the traditional ownership paradigm and are geared to ordering, claiming, checking-in, etc. serial titles that will be housed in the library’s collection rather than handling electronic journals or document delivery of articles. There may be unforeseen and unintended consequences (e.g., automating serials check-in places greater pressure on serials staff to make current periodical issues immediately available).

Steps in the serials automation process
Because many textbooks address automation planning in libraries, a detailed description is unnecessary. Case studies of serials automation projects in specific libraries are too numerous to summarize. The basic steps would apply to the automation of any library function, but the discussion addresses issues pertaining to serials. In the current automation environment, a library usually purchases a system rather than developing one in-house. For a library implementing the serials module of its integrated system, several of the steps would be skipped or abbreviated.

Establishing a timeline
The initial step should entail outlining the tasks that must be accomplished and setting a deadline for each. Various types of planning charts, such as a Gantt chart, can be used. However, as the library proceeds through the project’s various stages, reision of the deadlines and addition of new tasks may be required.

Staffing
Staffing arrangements for serials automation should be made fairly early in the planning process, if for no other reason than it is the staff who implement the project. Use of a committee or task force represents a standard approach. (A committee is ongoing, whereas a task force disbands when its goals have been achieved. Accordingly, the latter term is technically correct in regard to most library automation projects, although in practice both terms are used.) A large project (e.g., bringing up an integrated system) might use a complex set of task forces and subcommittees covering each module aswell as such specific tasks as database content, site preparation, screen design and so forth. The serials control automation task force would typically be chaired by the serials department head or team leader or another key professional staff member. In larger libraries, representatives from other departments with an interest in serials, such as public services, cataloging, or acquisitions, should be included on this task force. Likewise, the serials area would be represented on other task forces whose responsibilities impact serials (e.g., cataloguing, design of the OPAC design, etc.).

The serials staff, both professional and nonprofessional, should be involved in planning the system implementation from an early stage. Although the staff may not have computer expertise, they should certainly understand the processes to be automated. Staff involvement will also contribute to their psychological acceptance of the automated system.
A strategy for staff training should be a necessary part of any automation project. Because the serials module of an integrated system is often the last to be implemented, it is likely that serials staff will already have experience using the other modules, thus reducing the required training. Unlike for the OPAC,user education would not be an issue for a serials control system. Hazel Woodward and Margaret E. Graham offer practical tips on staff training for serials automation, including brief sessions, a small number of participants, and hands-on experience.

Analysis of the library’s needs
This critical step involves analysis of the library’s present situation and what it wishes to achieve through automation. One should examine such fundamental factors as the available hardware, library size, financial resources for the project, and the extent of retrospective conversion of serial titles. Based on these considerations, the first decisions concern the basic approach to be used: a stand-alone system versus a module of an integrated system; upgrading the present system or migrating to a different one. The level of automation already achieved will affect serials automation decision making. For example, if a library already has an integrated system, does it wish to install that system’s serials module, substitue a stand-alone serials system, or attempt to interface the serials module from a different integrated system?

Also included in needs analysis would be a list of functions one expects the system to perform and standards to which it must conform. Boss outlines 96 functional requirements recommended for a local library serials control system, specifically listing 10 capabilities: serials holdings display, ordering, claiming, receiving, routing, vouchering, binding preparation, funds accounting, union listing, and notes fields. Boss also recommends the ability to search serial records by 18 different fields (e.g., title, variant title, call number, ISSN, uniform title, etc., and conformance with the SISAC standard). More recently, James R. Mouw outlined more than 60 criteria for selecting a serials system.

One would obviously consider the number of serial titles and projected future changes. Although library automation textbooks stress the importance of projecting future growth trends, this will probably not be a major issue in serials automation because most libraries are unlikely to be anticipating a future increase in the number of their subscriptions.

Identification of candidate systems
This step, which logically follows from the needs analysis, might be conceptualized as a two-stage process:

1. identification of the available systems that meet the library’s basic specifications; and
2. from the set of the systems identified in stage one, selection of a small number of leading candidates.

A possible stating point for gathering the information necessary for this process would be AcqWeb’s “Guide to Automated Library Systems, Library Software, Hardware and Consulting Companies,” on the WWW. Other tactics include surveying the literature, informal contacts with colleagues, and visiting the exhibition booths at ALA conferences. Sometimes the investigation may reveal that only a few systems meet the library’s requirements, so further winnowing of candidates as depicted in stage two is unnecessary.


Selecting a system
An approach to selecting an automated system that has received considerable attention is the Request for Proposal (RFP) – a legalistic document that concisely outlines the library’s specifications. Vendor RFP responses can be used to evaluate a candidate system, make a final selection, and to begin negotiations on a contract with the selected vendor. It should be noted, however, that many libraries do not use the RFP approach.

Numerous strategies are available for gathering information to assess candidatet systems. A literature review would be advisable. One can request on-site demonstrations by vendors. Informal contact with other librarians using the system can be quite helpful. Many systems have organized user groups that could be a source of information. User listservcs for several major systems – including NOTIS-L (for NOTIS), VTSLIST (for the Virginia Tech Library System) – and their subscription addresses are included in the Directory of Electronic Journals, Newsletters and Academic Discussion Lists. Not infrequently, postings appear on SERIALST requesting evaluative comments about a particular automated serials system.

Basic criteria for evaluating a system include functionality, cost, vendor reputation, vendor support, support of standards, documentation, degree of computer expertise and staff training required. Depending on a library’s situation, the ability to interface with other systems could also be a criterion.

Most textbooks advocate the development of “decision rules” for system selection. Joseph R. Matthews outlines five specific evaluation methodologies. “Subjective judgement” uses opinion rather than an objective method. The “Cost-only technique” selects the least-expensive system meeting all the library’s requirements. In the “Weighted-scoring technique,” the library assigns point values to desired system features and selects the system scoring the most points, based on its features. The “Cost-effective ratio” approach uses the weighted-scoring technique but divides each system’s total costs by the number of points received to select the most cost-effective vendor. Finally, the “Least total cost method” selects the system meeting all mandatory requirements that is least expensive to install and operate for five to seven years.

Contract or purchase agreement
After selection, the next step would be negotiating and signing a contract or purchase agreement with the vendor. Note that the vendors’ standard contracts are written to their advantage rather than the library’s. A library can sometimes negotiate more favourable terms with a vendor. If a library has used an RFP, its provisions might be incorporated with the contract. Most textbooks advise that the library have an attorney review any documents before they are signed. In implementing the serials module of an integrated system already in the library, this step would already have been applied.

Site preparation
According to David C. Genaway, the two most critical components of implementing an automated system are “people preparation” and “site preparation,” which involve “the physical aspects of installing and running a computer-based library system.” Site preparation addresses such issues as determining wher terminals and printers will be placed; locating power sources (e.g., wiring and electrical outlets); preparing the floor layout; and adding such communications channels as phone lines and port access. Several other major automation issues, including security, file backups, and ergonomics are often considered part of site preparation. Site preparation issues would normally be addressed on a librarywide basis for the entire automation system, but serials automation would entail site preparation for the serials department or work area and possibly for a current periodicals reading room.

Database preparation
Database creation can be one of the most expensive and time-consuming aspects of serials automation, especially for larger libraries. Two interconnected tasks arer involved: retrospective conversion of records and loading the records into the automated system. Retrospective conversion has been defined as “the process whereby records only humans can read are transformed so that computers can read them, too.” Converting records from one format to another is termed conversion, and retrospective refers to the conversion of preexisting records. A recent search in the Library Literature CD-ROM indicates that 35 articles have been published on serials retrospective conversion since 1984, so a lengthy discussion is unnecessary. Many of the articles published in the 1980s commented on the poor quality of the converted records. If a library is implementing an integrated system’s serials module, the retrospective conversion of bibliographic records for serials will probably already be completed.

According to Chen, “the main work” of serials automation is entering the records needed for acquisitions into the system’s database. She lists four types of records as the most critical for this function and discusses the problems associated with file creation for each: bibliographic, order, invoice and payment, and check-in. Sometimes a library’s subscription agents can electronically load order, invoice, and payment records into the system; otherwise, records must be entered manually – an obviously labor-intensive process. Of the four, loading serials check-in records can be the most difficult and was once compared to growing bananas in Greenland. Jean Walter Farrington notes that loading the serials database is often a two-step process: first the bibliograpic records, then order, invoice, and check-in data. She warns, “Be prepared for a more difficult and more time-consuming task than originally anticipated.”

Marlene Clayton and Chris Batt list six major issues in database creation: record content, adherence to standards, the source of records, the input method and staff resources allocated to the project, cost, and timing and sequencing logistics. A particularly crucial issue for serials concerns whether records are entered for inactive as well as active titles.

Finally, after the records are loaded, cleanup of problems and continued maintenance work are required. The importance of entering and maintaining accurate records can not be overemphasized. Inaccurate automated records are still inaccurate, despite the mystique computers enjoy. A database of high quality records assumes a life of its independent of any specific hardware or software, thus facilitating system migration.

Activating the system
As implied, this step entails putting the automated system into operation in place of the previous system. Corbin lists four basic strategies for activating an automated system: total, pilot, phased, and parallel. The total approach completely begins the new system while shutting down the old at a single time. In the pilot method, the serials control module would be tested in one branch or location prior to activation in the entire library system. The phased approach activates one function at a time. For example, serials check-in, ordering, routing, fund accounting, and other functions, would be brought up separately. In the parallel approach, the most conservative and expensive method, the new and old systems are operated simultaneously until one is confident the new system is functioning properly.

Acceptance tests
After activation, the final step involves verification that the automated system is operating correctly. Corbin outlines three types of acceptance tests: reliability (i.e., measuring downtime), response time, and functionality. Arguably, the functionality test is the most critical for serials. One works down a list of functions advertised by the vendor or included in the vendor’s RFP response, ascertaining that each is performing correctly.

System migration
By the late-1990s many libraries were migrating to their second or even third automation systems. Some case studies of serials system migration have been reported in the literature, for example, from MicroLinz to NOTIS at City University of New York’s (CUNY) Queens College, by Belinda Chiang; and from an in-house system to Innopac at the University of Massachusetts at Amherst, by Patricia Banach. Margaret Bell Hentz has described the conversion of serials bibliographic and holdings information from Faxon’s SC-10 system to a Techlib/Plus OPAC at Boehringer Ingelheim Pharmaceuticals, Inc., in Ridgefield, Conneticut. Other examples could be cited. Grace Agnew and Toni Lambert have recently published a guidebook addressing the technical aspects of system migration.

System migration entails unique problems, but the steps depicted above should remain essentially the same whether a library is moving from a manual to an automated system or migrating from one automated system to another. Yet as William W. Wan observes, “system migration is much more complicated than automating one or two manual procedures.”

Major migration problems include staff training for the new system and transfer of data from one system to the other. Carol Pitts Hawks (now Carol Pitts Diedrichs) has noted the problem involved in transferring payment history records as well as frequency and publication pattern data for specific serial titles. Wan, in analyzing the Texas Women’s University library’s migration from the GEAC GLIS 8000 to GEAC ADVANCE, comments that serials encountered the most problems, as enumeration and frequency information necessary for check-in was not transferred correctly.

It is advisable, if feasible, to begin the new system at the beginning of the fiscal year to simplify fund accounting. Chen advises that titles should be converted from the old system to the new in alphabetical order. 122 Often a special loader program may have to be written to transfer data from one system to another, but editing of records may be necessary.

Conclusion
Because almost every library function deals with serials, most library automation affects serials to some extent.

A number of authorities have outlined a three-stage process in library automation:

1. print access to print information sources,
2. automated access to print information sources, and
3. automated access to automated or electronic information sources.

Because these stages are not always linear, a library could simultaneously be in more than one stage. For example, a library using a print serials holding list because serials are not included in its OPAC (not an uncommon situation in the 1980s) would be classified in stage two for monographs and stage one for serials. At the time of this writing, a majority of librarians (but not all) are at stage two, and libraries providing access to electronic journals are also in stage three.

Serials automation

Main software components for an automated system are:

• Acquisitions
• Serials control
• Cataloguing
• OPAC
• Circulation

Cataloguing and OPACs go hand in hand. Either or can’t be used successfully without the other.

Changeable nature and continuous publication of serials added to complexity of designing software for automated serials control.
• Issue numbering, frequency of publication. Take into account special and unexpected issues  

Automation vendors tended to develop modules for more predictable library functions leaving serials control to later.  Often libraries postponed automation of serials until other tasks automated.  

• 1970’s/80’s cataloguing, circulation, monographic acquisition, OPAC 

• 1990’s turn for serials automation  

Advantages of serials automation

• Collections development
  o Collection analysis
  o Improved budget control
  * Provides better relevant information
  o Combine various paper files into one database
  o Improvement in efficiency of processing
  * Not handling item as many times on paper
  o Improved quality control
  * Cardex can be marred by human error
  o Public service staff and users may access serials status information directly

Serials module: core requirements 

What are we concerned that it can do? 

• Generate subscription/cancellation orders
• Offer online access to serials vendors
  o interaction
• Alert staff to subscriptions needing renewal
• Display record of issues received
• Predict date of arrival of forthcoming issues
  o Variations, build grace period before receiving a report
• Handle unexpected issues
  o Supplements for ‘special’ issues or topics
• Handle title and frequency changes
• Keep track of expected, overdue, and claimed issues
• Generate claims forms
• Produce routing lists
• Generate lists of binding requirements
• Generate statistical reports
• Funds accounting features

Suggested reading: Tuttle, Marcia. “Thirty Years of Serials Automation: A Personal View.” Serials Review. 27:3/4, 2001. P.79, 14p. On EBSCOhost Academic Search Premier.

Types of electronic journals

• Online version of paper journal
  o Content may not be complete or exactly the same
• Journal in electronic format only

What is an aggregator? 

A bibliographic service that provides online access to the fulltext of periodicals in digital format, published by different publishers, electronically from aggregator services. Currently, the top three journal aggregators in the United States are EBSCO, the Gale Group, and ProQuest.  

Pricing models

• Online available with print subscription at no extra charge
• Online available at a surcharge with subscription to print
• Online only with no print subscription
• Online only no print counterpart

Flip pricing

• Online plus print model
  o Delivered to desktop price on online version
• Online access 1st consideration as users preferred online over print format

Van Orsdel, Lee, and Kathleen Born. “Doing the Digital Flip.” Library Journal. 15 Apr. 2002, pp. 51-56. Available through EBSCOhost Academic Premier  

Licensing

• Model licenses
  o http://web.archive.org/web/20080529135049/http://www.licensingmodels.com/
• Publishers’ license agreement
  o http://ejournals.ebsco.com/ejournals/license.asp

Pay-per-view

• Access but not ownership
  o Elect not to subscribe but provide access on an article by article fee
  * Block of searches brought
  o Publishers establish an article by article fee
  o May go hand in hand with table of contents alerting service

Variety of publishers

• Commercial
• Not for profit
• SPARC (Scholarly Publishing and Academic Resources Coalition) initiative
  o a coalition of research universities and libraries supporting increased competition in scholarly publishing
  o http://www.arl.org/sparc/

Preservation and archiving 

• See bibliography of online references at http://web.archive.org/web/20040324042618/http://www.harrassowitz.de/top_resources/ejresguide/preservation.html  

The Library / Vendor / Publisher triangle

What is a vendor?

• Anyone who offers to sell products or services to a library organization
• A PARTNER

The vendor

• Maintains bibliographic information
• Maintains list of publisher changes and new titles in database
• Can send sample issues of new titles
• Some offer issue replacement service, like EBSCO’s Missing Copy Bank(R)
• EBSCO sends orders electronically to many publishers to increase speed and accuracy.

The vendor has a database of information. The database must be maintained to keep customers. The vendor has expertise.

What to consider...

• Two kinds of vendors:
  o “department store” or full-service vendors: handle all types of libraries
  o “boutique store” vendors: more specialized, limited service

How to select a vendor

• Library site visit
  o Ask who they use
  o Ask how they found their vendor
• Vendor site visit
  o Ask for other libraries who use the vendor. If the vendor is unwilling to provide this information, think again regarding selecting them
• References
• Corporate strength – not just sales representative
• Vendor development plans

How vendors make your job easier

• Provide information about prices, publication schedules, title changes, etc.
  o Should be able to deal with currency, provide information from publisher
• Handle all subscription renewals and cancellations
• Provide one contact for subscription orders

What to consider when choosing a serials vendor

• Knowledge of library procedure
• Knowledge of world-wide publishing
• Ability to handle popular titles and work with fulfillment centers
• Ability to service all media
  o Can the vendor provide electronic journals?
• Ability to provide serials assessment tools
• Ability to provide automated system interfaces – Second Generation
  o Enables computer billing

How serials vendors make money

• Publisher discount
• Service charges to libraries

What is a subscription agency?

• A vendor that serves as an intermediary between libraries or organizations and publishers
  o They are the middle man
• Some now provide current awareness and individual journal article delivery as well
  o Act as document delivery

What can a subscription service do for you?

Some providers can offer these services, others cannot.

• Libraries write one check a year instead of separate checks to publishers
• Can handle 95 percent of desired serials. Provide timeliness and efficiency with electronic ordering
• One source for print subscriptions, electronic subscriptions, electronic indexing/abstracts and full text databases, and document delivery

What are serials?
Anything and everything published more than once in its lifetime – worldwide.
They don’t necessary need to be in print form.

• Periodicals
• Serials
• Continuations
• Standing orders

Without an agency
Orders, claims and information
The library goes straight to the publishers

With an agency
Orders, claims and information
Vendors will pass an order onto the publisher

Orders are generated by the subscriber and sent to the agency. The agency sends orders and payment to the publishers, the publishers then send the issues to the subscriber.

How a service charge is assessed

• Based on the mix of titles ordered by the library and when the library pays
• Based on publisher discounts for titles ordered

The job of a serials librarian
A serials librarian will concentrate their expertise on serials.

• Ordering serials
• Cataloguing serials
• Handling changes in publication
• Handling publisher price changes
• Claiming journals

The library

• Tells agency/vendor what to order
• Must give the agency and publisher enough time to process the order
  o Remember there will be a time lag between the time ordered and the time received
• Sends journal claims to agency when necessary
• Checks renewal list and returns it to agency 120 days before subscriptions should start

The vendor will bill once or twice a year .This is the only opportunity to cancel any order.

The publisher

• Accepts orders and payments from agencies
• Communicates with agency on behalf of subscriber
• Mandates to vendors the ordering procedures
• Sets journal prices (agencies do not set subscription prices; they only set the service charge)

Publishing trivia

• Most orders are handled by fulfillment centres
• Publishers may still send renewal cards to libraries. They can be ignored if dealing with a subscription agency
• Publishers may also send grace issues to libraries, which confuses payment and expiration date. Check the label

Ordering tips

• Make the first line of the mailing address unique
• Order publications early
• Disregard renewal cards unless they say, “This is your absolute last issue.”
• Examine mailing labels at the beginning of the year and look for grace or missing issues

Others responsible for journal receipt

• Post office
• In-house mail service

 

Serials

Serials

The Publisher is my Tormentor. I shall not smile:

He maketh me to work all day at my desk.

He leadeth me astray with misnumbererd issues:

His Roman numerals confound me.

He changeth titles over and over for His own sake.

Yea when I walk through the shadow of missing or irregular issues, I can find no respote, for He has moved

He answereth not my letters, not useth the correct mailing lab,

He starteth not when I ask and quiteth before it is time,

My work never endeth.

Rising prices and duplicate issues shall follow me all the days of my life; and

I shall moan and groan in the library forever.

(Evans, Developing Library and Information Center Collections, 2000)

• Serial: a publication in any medium issued in successive parts bearing numeric or chronological designations and intended to be continued indefinitely. Serials include periodicals; newspapers; annuals (reports, yearbooks, etc.); the journals, memoirs, proceedings, transactions, etc. of societies; and numbered monographic series.

(AACR2, Glossary)

Key elements of definition

• Any medium
• Successive parts
• Numeric and/or chronological designation
• Indefinite continuation (no planned end)

Series/Serial

Series 1. A group of separate items related to one another by the fact that each item bears, in addition to its own title proper, a collective title applying to the group as a whole. The individual items may or may not be numbered.

(AACR2, Glossary)

For our purposes, a series is not a serial.

Types of serials

• Journal: periodical publication dealing with matters of current interest; often used for official or semi-official publications of special groups. Term often used for learned or peer-reviewed publications.
• Magazine: periodical that usually contains a miscellaneous collection of articles, stories, poems, and pictures and is directed at the general reading public.
• Newspaper: a serial issued at stated frequent intervals (usually daily, weekly, or semiweekly) containing news, opinions, advertisements, and other items of current, often local, interest.
• Newsletter: a serial consisting of one or a few printed sheets containing news or information of interest chiefly to a special group.
• House magazine (aka house organ, house journal): a periodical issued by a commercial, industrial or non-profit organization for distribution internally to its employees and/or externally to its customers.
• Zine: Derived from “fanzine” (a contraction of “fan magazine”), the term came into use during the 1980s to refer to a small, low-circulation magazine or newspaper, self-published out of passion for the subject rather than for personal gain, usually with the aid of desktop publishing software and a high-quality photocopy machine. (ODLIS)
• Trade journal: a periodical devoted to disseminating news and information of interest to a specific industry or trade, often published by a trade association. (ODLIS) It carries advertising and charges a subscription fee.
• Controlled circulation serial: available (usually without charge) only to those specified by the author or publisher. (ALA Glossary).
  o Are frequently available to libraries.

E-Serials

• Electronic journal: a website graphically modeled on an existing print journal (example: Library Journal), or which provides access to an online journal that has no print counterpart (Electronic Journal of Differential Equations). Synonymous with e-journal.
• Electronic magazine: A Website graphically modeled on an existing print magazine (example: The New Yorker), or which provides access to an online magazine that has no print counterpart (example: Slate). Synonymous with e-zine, e-magazine, and Webzine. (ODLIS)

Selection tools

• Ulrich’s International Periodical Directory
• Serials Directory (EBSCO)
• Standard Periodical Directory
• Gale Directory of Publications and Broadcast Media
• Willings’ Press Guide
• Magazines for Libraries (William Katz)
• Serials in Cyberspace

Selection issues

• Long-term commitment
• Continuing costs of purchasing, binding, processing, etc.
• Discouragement of “casual” initiation of new serial subscriptions
  o Due to budget pressure some libraries will only order a new serial if one of equal cost is dropped
  o On-going costs of serials may reduce budget available for purchase of monographs

Which titles?

• Analysis of Ill data and citation analysis information helps in deciding if a title needs to be added
• For new titles, the subject area, cost, and, when available reviews are elements to consider. Some libraries will only order titles that are indexed.

The problems with serials

• Title changes
• Title peculiarities
• Numerous titles within same issue, e.g. Sea, Sea Magazine, Sea Combined with Rudder
• Generic/overused titles e.g. Bulletin, Journal
• Numbering oddities e.g. Vol. 2, no. 1 called also consecutive issue no. 3
• Dating by season

Subscription agent

Advantages:

• One order, one invoice service
• Common renewal
• Vendor handles any complaints about missing or overdue issues
• Vendor tracks down addresses of publishers for your orders

Disadvantages:

• Service charges may make prices on surface more expensive than direct purchase from publisher
• Not all publishers will make their titles available through an agent

References: Collection Development Training for Arizona Public Libraries: Selection of Library Resources: Periodicals http://www.lib.az.us/cdt/slrper.aspx

Collection Development Resources on the Internet: Selection Serials http://web.archive.org/web/20070219093621/http://www.simmons.edu/resources/libraries/gslis/colldev/selser.html

The Serials Format

This chapter defines the term serial, describes different types of serials, examines some serials classification schemes, and finally, discusses definitional issues about electronic publications. The history of serials is covered in chapter 2.

Definition of a serial
What is a serial?
It is not something one eats for breakfast. Definitions, although sometimes boring, are essential – especially because over the years many key terms, such as periodical and serial have been used inconsistently. Moreover, many other terms, such as magazine, little magazine, zine, review, journal, newspaper, underground press, and newsletter need clarification.

The precise definition of terminology is not simply an academic question, although some have questioned its usefulness (Mary Ellen Soper, Larry N. Osborne, and Douglas L. Zweizig, with the assistance of Ronald R. Powell, The Librarian’s Thesaurus, ed. Mary Ellen Soper (Chicago: American Library Association, 1990), 35-36. They state: “Many terms have been used to describe various kinds of serials, such as ‘periodicals’, ‘magazines’, ‘newspapers’, ‘annuals’, ‘journals’, ‘bulletins’, ‘memoirs’, ‘proceedings,’ ‘transactions’, ‘papers,’ and so on. But a closer look at these terms’ overlapping definitions supports the contention that there are really few useful distinctions among these serial types). Bill Katz has said, “Obviously, the child next door can tell a librarian what a magazine is, or is not, and the average adult doesn’t confuse the Reader’s Digest with a new edition of Tarzan of the Apes, so why all the fuss?” (Bill Katz, Magazine Selection: How to Build a Community-Oriented Collection (New York: R. R. Bowker, 1971), 1). Nevertheless, defining terms is significant. In a practical sense, definitions might affect the organization of work flow, budgeting, the brision of staff responsibilities, how an item is cataloged, and what is included in an union list. Theoretically, a serials textbook should explain what a serial is and address the conflicting terminology.

The 1988 revision of the Anglo-American Cataloguing Rules second edition (AACR2R) defines a serial as “A publication in any medium issued in successive parts bearing numeric or chronological designations and intended to be continued indefinitely. Serials include periodicals; newspapers; annuals (reports, yearbooks, etc.); the journals, memoirs, proceedings, transactions, etc. of societies; and numbered monographic series.” (Michael Gorman and Paul W. Winkler, eds., Anglo-American Cataloguing Rules, 2d ed., 1988 revision (Ottawa: Canadian Library Association; London: Library Association Publishing; Chicago: American Library Association, 1988), 622).

This definition has nearly achieved general acceptance in North America. It has been adopted by the ALA Glossary of Library and Information Science (Heartsill Young, ed., ALA Glossary of Library and Information Science (Chicago: American Library Association, 1983), 203.), the Association for Library Collections and Technical Services (ALCTS) Guidelines for Handling Library Orders for Serials and Periodicals (Association for Library Collections and Technical Services, Guidelines for Handling Library Orders for Serials and Periodicals, rev. ed. (Chicago: American Library Association, 1992), 1), and the ALCTS Serials Acquisitions Glossary (Association for Library Collections and Technical Services, Serials Acquisitions Glossary (Chicago: Association for Library Collections and Technical Services, 1993), 27).

Three key elements form the definition of a serial: the item is issued in separate parts on an ongoing basis, the parts are numbered or contain a chronological designation, and no discernable end is in sight – that is, it is “intended by the producer to continue indefinitely.” The producer’s intention is critical because even a single piece would be considered a serial if the publisher had originally intended it to continue indefinitely (Soper, Osborne, and Zweizig, The Librarian’s Thesaurus, 35). If a definite end is in sight (e.g., an encyclopedia issued in separate volumes, each covering one letter of the alphabet), it is not a serial. The very word serial implies continuation, such as an old-time “serial movie” or, as a more ghoulish example, a serial killer. Arguably, ongoing televisions shows, such as the nightly news or soap operas, are serials (Brian O’Connor, “Moving Image-Based Serial Publications,” Serials Review 12 (summer and fall 1986): 20). As G. E. Gorman states, “It is the ‘intended to continue indefinitely’ aspect which contributes to the uniqueness of serial literature and which is the source of most problems associated with serials librarianship.” (G.E. Gorman, “The Education of Serials Librarians in Australia: A Proposed Course in Serials Librarianship,” Serials Librarian 17, nos. 1/2 (1989): 53)

What is the relationship between periodical and serial? The precise meaning of these terms varies depending on time period, country, author, library, or purpose for which the terms are used. Depending on the context, at least four relationships exist between the terms periodical and serial:

1. They are synonyms.
2. Periodicals are a subset of serials.
3. Serials are a subset of periodicals.
4. Periodicals and serials are mutually exclusive phenomena.

In popular usage, among nonspecialists, the terms serial and periodical are sometimes used as synonyms because the difference between the two is not fully understood. Specialists almost always differentiate between serials and periodicals but not consistently.

Most current North American usage tends to conform to the second relationship outlined above – that periodicals are a subset of serials. Although the AACR2R’s glossary does not define periodical per se, its above-cited definition of serial specifically lists periodical as a category of serial. Likewise, the ALA Glossary of Library and Information Science defines periodical as a type of serial:

A serial appearing or intended to appear indefinitely at regular or stated intervals, generally more frequently than annually, each issue of which is numbered or dated consecutively and normally contains separate articles, stories, or other writings. Newspapers disseminating general news, and the proceedings, papers, or other publications of corporate bodies primarily related to their meetings, are not included in this term.

(Young, ALA Glossary, 166.)

Magazines and journals (the distinctions between the two are analyzed in the next section) are almost invariably considered periodicals, but much inconsistency exists about whether newspapers are periodicals or a different type of serial. The ALA Glossary of Library and Information Science, quoted in the above paragraph and in the Serials Acquisition Glossary (Association for Library Collections and Technical Services, Serials Acquisition Glossary, 23), explicitly excludes newspapers from the definition of a periodical. Yet many authorities, including Marcia Tuttle (Marcia Tuttle, Managing Serials (Greenwich, Conn.: JAI Press, 1996), 5), classify newspapers as a major category of periodical.

The third logical relationship, serials as a subset of periodicals, has been used in the past in the United Kingdom. Tuttle wrote in 1996, “In the United Kingdom, until recently, serial was a specific term, comparable to what Americans know as periodical. British librarians used periodical as the broader term.” 13 Now British usage is essentially in agreement with North American terminology, as indicated by the definitions in the 1995 edition of the British publication Harrod’s Librarians’ Glossary. 14

Some users conform to the fourth relationship, applying the term periodical to periodical serials and reserving the term serial for nonperiodical serials. (The distinction between periodical and nonperiodical serials is explained below.) For example, an article describing binding expenditures at the Georgia Institute of Technology library reported them separately for periodicals and serials as if they were two totally separate categories. 15

The terminology used in this book conforms to the definition outlines in AACR2R, with periodicals considered a subset of serials. However, throughout the text the terms are sometimes used interchangeably for stylistic variation when the concept under discussion is equally applicable to both serials and periodicals.

Many experts, including N. Bernard Basch and Judy McQueen, differentiate between periodical serials and nonperiodical serials. According to Basch and McQueen, the former are issued on a regular basis at an annual or greater frequency and include periodicals, newspapers, and legal and business services. The latter, which “are issued less regularly and more infrequently,” include proceedings, biennials, sets, and monographic and multivolume series. In contrast, many authorities consider annuals to be serials but not periodicals. Basch and McQueen assert that annuals “straddle” the two categories. They explain that annuals regularly issued in the same months (e.g., April 1995, April 1996, etc) “behave like periodical serials,” whereas ones issued in different months (e.g., March 1995, June 1996) correspond to nonperiodical serials. 16

Andrew D. Osborn identified three types of what Tuttle terms “near serials”: 17 “continuations,” “provisional serials,” and “pseudoserials”. In Osborn’s scheme, a continuation is a nonserial set for which a library places a continuing order, for example, a multivolume monographic title. A provisional serial refers to a monographic set with ongoing supplements, such as the yearbook for an encyclopedia. “A pseudoserial is a frequently reissued and revised publication which quite properly may be, and on first publication generally is, considered to be a monograph”18 – in other words, a work issued in repeated editions, such as Burke’s Peerage.

The relationship between a serial and a series is somewhat complex and requires examination. AACR2R defines a series as follows:

1. A group of separate items related to one another by the fact that each item bears, in addition to its own title proper, a collective title applying to the group as a whole. The inbridual items may or may not be numbered. 2. Each of two or more volumes of essays, lectures, articles, or other writings, similar in character and issued in sequence (e.g., Lowell’s Among my books, second series). 3. A separately numbered sequence of volumes within a series or serial (e.g. Notes and queries, 1st series, 2d series, etc.). 19

Definition one covers a monographic series. If numbered, a monographic series meets the criteria for being considered a serial; but if unnumbered, it does not. As indicated in the AACR2R’s third definition, a serial can be suborganized into separate series.

Serials are often thought of as a distinct format. Yet periodicity – being regularly recurrent – rather than format is crucial to the definition. The AACR2R explicitly states that a serial is “a publication in any medium.” 20 Accordingly, a serial can assume a paper, microfiche or film, online, or CD-ROM format.

Types of serials
The major types of serials are discussed in this section. Some of the distinctions between specialized types may not be especially significant for processing purposes but might be useful in collection development and for a full understanding of the brerse range of serials.

One must distinguish between a definition and a characteristic. Men generally weigh more than women, but weight is clearly not the defining difference between a man and a woman. A review of the pertinent literature indicates that many types of serials are described by their major characteristics rather than precisely defined.

The ALA Glossary of Library and Information Science defines a journal as “a periodical, especially one containing scholarly articles and/or disseminating current information on research and development in a particular subject field.” 21 The American Political Science Review, the American Historical Review, Signs: Journal of Women in Culture and Society, and Journal of Applied Physics are typical examples of journals.

A magazine is defined by the ALA Glossary of Library and Information Science as a “periodical for general reading, containing articles on various subjects by different authors.” 22 Time, Sports Illustrated, People, or Playboy are examples of magazines. Ironically, not all magazines meet the technical definition of a serial. A phenomenon, termed a “temporary magazine,” is geared towards a specific event. One can cite Sports Illustrated Olympic marketed only in Atlanta at the 1996 Olympics or the Ryder Cup Journal sold at the biannual Ryder Cup international golf competition. When the event is finished, the magazine ceases, thus failing to meet the “intended to be continued indefinitely” criterion. Temporary magazines produce lucrative advertising revenue and are often “thick and glossy, coffee-table worthy,” 23 but are seldom collected by libraries.

What is the difference between a magazine and a journal? Chuck Dintrone outlined nine criteria for distinguishing between the two: authors, notes, style, editors, audience, advertisements, look, the contents, and index coverage. A magazine’s authors are journalists or laypersons who write in a journalistic style for the general public on current events or general-interest topics. A journal’s authors are experts who write in a scholarly style for a specialized audience on research topics. A magazine tends to have a glossy look and few, if any, footnotes; but it is likely to include advertisements and pictures (often in colour) and to be covered by general indexes such as the Readers’ Guide to Periodical Literature. In contrast, a journal tends to have a sedate look, footnotes and bibliographies, an editorial board, and outside reviewers as well as to be covered in specialized subject indexes; but it is less likely to have advertising or pictures. 24 Although not mentioned by Dintrone, magazines tend to have larger circulations than journals.

The preceding discussion focused on characteristics. At the risk of over simplification, the defining difference is that a journal disseminates information to scholars, whereas a magazine entertains or informs the general public or a specialized interest group. Whether a particular tile is a magazine or a journal is not always clear-cut and, in fact, might not make any difference for many library-processing functions. The Katzes’s Magazines for Libraries contains many titles that are without a doubt journals (e.g. Libraries and Culture: A Journal of Library History).25

According to the ALA Glossary of Library and Information Science, a newspaper is “a serial issued at stated, frequent intervals (usually daily, weekly, or semiweekly), containing news, opinions, advertisements, and other items of current, often local, interest.26 Practically every community has a local newspaper. Several U.S. newspapers with circulations extending far beyond their local communities have achieved status as “national newspapers,” for example, the New York Times, the Washington Post, or the Los Angeles Times. Other national newspapers, such as the Wall Street Journal, USA Today, or the Christian Science Monitor, do not serve a specific geographic locality. Ethnic newspapers, such as the China Daily News or Novo Russkoe Slovo, represent another distinct type. Lubomyr R. Wynar and Anna T. Wynar define the American ethnic press “as consisting of newspapers and periodicals published either in English, non-English, or bilingually, published by ethnic organizations or inbriduals in the United States, and specifically aimed at an ethnic readership.” 27 In mid-1996 several hundred ethnic newspapers in at least 40 languages were published in the United States. 28 Although many people would consider Computerworld and the Daily Racing Form to be newspapers because of their appearance, they do not, according to Joseph A. Purrico, meet the technical definition. Puccio writes “to the library world, any publication that has a subject orientation and is reporting something other than general news is not a newspaper.” 29

The term tabloid, which is often used in association with newspapers, can have two meanings. One refers to the physical format; the other is a derisive term applied to the sensation-seeking (some might even say “sleazy”) news items frequently seen at grocery store checkout lines that proclaim Elvis sightings and alien abductions.

A newsletter is defined by the ALA Glossary of Library and Information Science as “a serial consisting of one or a few printed sheets containing news or information of interest chiefly to a special group.” 30 The Oxbridge Directory of Newsletters, which in 1994 listed more than 20,000 newsletters published in the United States and Canada, states that newsletters raise revenue primarily through subscription sales rather than advertising “but there are many exceptions.” 31

A house magazine is defined in Free Magazines for Libraries as “a publication available without charge to its readers, carrying no paid advertising, and produced ... with the intention of promoting the sponsor’s interest.” It can be distinguished from a trade publication, which deals with an entire industry, carries advertising, and charges a subscription fee. A house magazine may be “internal” (for employees only), “external” (for outsiders), or “combination” (for both employees and outsiders). Such publications are issued by both commercial entities – especially in the areas of manufacturing, banking, insurance, and utilities – and by the nonprofit sector – including government agencies, trade associations, universities, libraries, and foundations. Self-promotion of the sponsoring agency is often a prime motivation for publication. Examples of a house magazine would be the Dartmouth College Library Bulletin and the Statistical Review of the Arkansas Employment Security Department. This category often overlaps with newsletters. 32

Little magazines form another genre. A little magazine may be viewed as the periodical equivalent of a small press monographic publication. They are “little” from two perspectives: circulation and the number of pages in an issue. “Their format is usually characterized by eccentricities in size, illustrations, and printing – all the way from mimeographed to conventional.” 33

A chapter in Katz’s text on magazine selection lists six “principle characteristics” of little magazines:

1. Circulation seldom exceeds 500 to 2,000.
2. Financial support is primarily from subscription and donation with minimum advertising.
3. Most seldom survive more than a year or two due to poor financial support.
4. They are often difficult for librarians to deal with from a business perspective.
5. They may have unusual sizes and formats as well as inconsitent numbering.
6. They “are ‘little’ only in terms of circulation, not physical size ... [which is] a far cry from the standard sizes” (somewhat repetitive of the previous point). Katz carefully distinguishes little magazines from literary reviews, the underground press, and established sociopolitical magazines such as the National Review or the New Republic. 34 Formalist: A Journal of Metrical Poetry, Mississippi Mud, and Exquisite Corpse: A Journal of Books and Ideas serve as examples of contemporary little magazines.

Literary reviews (sometimes simply called reviews) can be difficult to distinguish from little magazines. According to Katzes, literary reviews contain “critical analysis and evaluation ... [and] fiction, poetry, drama, interviews, and graphics, and they may extend their boundaries beyond pure literature to the arts, social commentary, politics, history, and other areas.” 35 Some of the best-known literary reviews include the Antioch Review, the Paris Review, the Partisan Review, and the Southern Review.

What is the difference between a little magazine and a review, as both contain literature as well as sociopolitical commentary? According to Clara D. Brown and Lynn S. Smith, reviews are such “close relatives” of little magazines that they may be called “hybrid littles.” Brown and Smith note that reviews are usually published by colleges or universities and contain the word review in the title. 36

Another closely related genre is the “underground press.” Writing in the context of the 1960s, Katz asserted, “There is no completely satisfactory definition of the underground press,” but then he stated that they tended to be

• antiestablishment,
• opposed to the Vietnam War,
• in favor of “legalization of marijuana, but not necessary all drugs,”
• “politically to the left,”
• culturally avant-garde,
• representative of the “under-thirty” generation, and
• staffed by volunteers or poorly paid workers. 37

The East Village Other, the Berkeley Barb, and the Great Speckled Bird were among the most famous underground press periodicals of the 1960s.

Another category sometimes confused with little magazines or the underground press are the “fanzines” – an obvious combination of the terms fan and magazine. Fredric Wertham defines fanzines as “uncommercial, nonprofessional, small-circulation magazines which their editors produce, publish, and distribute. They deal primarily with what they call fantasy literature and art.” 38 Wertham defines some terms used in the fanzine world of the 1970s. A “poorly done” fanzine was a “crudzine” contrasted to a more professional looking “ultrazine.” A “Gerzine” was a German fanzine, and underground comics were know as “undies.” 39

Zines developed from fanzines or fan magazines. Precise definitions of a zine are elusive. Even Mike Gunderloy and Cari Goldberg Janice, authors of a guide to zines, admit, “It’s hard to say what defines a zine.” 40 However, zines are characterized by self-publication on a nonprofit basis and typically focus on a specific subject. 41 They have been compared to the “low-tech print equivalent” 42 of a World Wide Web (WWW) home page where the creator has almost total autonomy. In 1995 the average zine was reported to have a run of 200 copies and a production cost of $500. 43 According to Chris Dodge, zines are “Notorious for their ephemeral nature ... sloppy production values and dubious credibility.” 44 Dodge further states, “Often produced by disaffected sorts, zines’ contemporary audience is the same: marginalized people of all kinds.” 45 Zines about their publishers’ lives have been appropriately termed “personal zines.” An example would be the Pathetic Life: Diary of a Fat Slob, by Doug Holland. 46 Other categories of zines, as listed in Gunderloy and Janice’s guide, include “fringe culture,” comics, sports, hobbies, music, reviews, politics, literary, people, “love, sex & relationships,” travel, spirituality, and “movies & television.” 47

Traditionally, most libraries have not collected zines to any appreciable extent. However, the New York State Library, the State Historical Society of Wisconsin, Michigan State University, and Washington State University reportedly have strong zine collections. 48 In any case, zines represent a significant cultural phenomenon that needs to be addressed in a survey of serial genres.

The term newsstand magazine has been used for magazines sold at newsstands, smoke shops, drug stores, groceries, or supermarkets. 49 Different categories of “newsstand magazines” have been identified as “sports,” 50 “detective,” 51 “bridal,” 52 “humor,” 53 and “confession” 54 magazines plus “superhero comic books.” 55 Other types could also be named.

A trade journal, as discussed earlier, is devoted to a particular business or industry, carries advertising, and charges a subscription fee. An example would be Blood-Horse, which covers the thoroughbred horse racing industry. Bank Card Industry Report and Drug Store Market Guide are also trade journals.

Serials that support the reference function are called reference serials. Many of the most important sources in a reference department, such as abstracts, indexes, yearbooks, and almanacs, would be included in this category. In 1984 the journal Reference Services Review stated two criteria for defining reference serials:

1. they must be useful as reference sources, and
2. they must be issued as serials or be titles superseded periodically by new editions. 56

One sometimes hears the term controlled circulation applied to a journal or serial. The ALA Glossary states these serials are “available (usually without charge) only to those specified by the authors or publisher.” 57 They are usually intended for “designated market sectors at predetermined circulation levels.” 58 Ulrich’s International Periodical Directory lists more than six thousand controlled-circulation serials. 59 Examples would be college or university alumni magazines (e.g., Columbia College Today), professional publications (e.g., the Florida Independent Accountant), state publications (such as North Dakota’s Highway Safety Plan), or serials for hobbyists (such as the Green Thumb Gardening Newsletter). Controlled-circulation serials, contrary to what the term implies, are frequently available to libraries. 60

Standing orders are sometimes confused with serials, yet the two are distinct concepts. A standing order is not a type of serial, but as logically implied, a type of order. (Most serials are acquired by an order type known as “subscription.”) Most, but not all, standing orders are for certain types of serials. For examples, annuals (e.g. the World Almanac or the UNESCO Yearbook), are serial types that are commonly acquired through standing order. In library budgeting, serials and standing orders are sometimes grouped together because both represent continuing financial obligations on the library’s part. The distinction between serials and standing orders can critically affect budgeting and technical services organization. For more detailed discussions of budgeting, see chapter 3.

Serials classification scheme
A serials or periodicals classification scheme systematically defines the categories of publications that compose the serials universe or a particular type of periodical. Theorectially, one should be able to place every title within a single category, although some schemes have overlapping, nonmutually exclusive categories. Over the years, many schemes have been proposed for serials in general or for various serial types. Because classification schemes can illustrate the functions serials perform and help impose order on the sometimes chaotic world of serial publications, this section reviews some representative examples.

As far back as 1937, J. Harris Gable classified periodicals into three broad categories: “Those intended to foster the interest of knowledge,” such as professional journals; “those indended to foster the interests of a trade, profession, or society;” and “money-making ventures,” for a popular audience, which Gable subbrided into ten groups: literary, fiction and short story, features, news and comment, family or women’s magazines, reviews, juvenile, humorous, cheap story, and sex. 61

Even fairly narrow periodical categories, such as ethnic publications, have been classified. In addition to general ethnic newspapers and periodicals, Wynar and Wynar identified 12 specific types: political and ideological, fraternal, religious, scholarly and academic, educational, professional and trade, cultural, youth-oriented, women-oriented, sports and recreational, veterans’, and bibliographical periodicals. 62

Apparently, a variety of schemes, often quite different, have been proposed, thus testifying to the variety and elusiveness of the serials format. The schemes typically merge such factors as audience, publisher, purpose, frequency, and subject. Most serial classification schemes do not address electronic publications, which are discussed in the next section.

Electronic journals and other electronic publications
In recent years, electronic journals have grown explosively, as have a variety of other electronic phenomena – including listservs – that have some of the characteristics of a serial. Accordingly, several important definitions should be addressed. What is an electronic serial? Are all titles termed “electronic journals” genuine serials? Is a listserv a serial?

No generally accepted standard definition exists for electronic serial publications. The terminology itself and the definitions have varied over time. Before the terms electronic journal and e-journal came into vogue, a variety of terms, including the “virtual journal,” “the paperless journal,” and the “online journal,” were used. 70

In 1992, D. Scott Brandt offered a definition applicable to early generation electronic journals: “In its broadest definition, an e-journal is some grouping of information which is sent out in electronic form with some periodicity.” 71 Some definitions limit the concept to networked journals. For example, Gail McMillan defines electronic journals as “any serials produced, published, and distributed nationally and internationally via electronic networks such as Bitnet and the Internet.” 72 Lawrence R. Keating II, Christa Easton Reinke, and Judi A. Goodman use “a scholarly journal delivered electronically over networks” as the definition. 73

According to other definitions, an electronic counterpart of a print journal is not considered a genuine electronic journal. For instance, Marian Dworaczek and Victor G. Wiebe “consider a true e-journal to be a serial whose creation and distribution to the public is entirely in electronic format.” 74 Tom Moothart reserves the term electronic journal for “those titles only available electronically” and uses the phrase “online journal” for “titles that have a print counterpart.” 75 Other analysts use the term networked to distinguish journals available on the Internet from those that are on CD-ROMs. 76 Hazel Woodward and Cliff McKnight differentiate three types of electronic journals: online (which are available through a host such as DIALOG), CD-ROM, and networked (i.e., on the Internet). 77 One might conclude that the terminological inconsistency reflects the fact that electronic journals themselves are in a state of flux, yet terminology for print serials and periodicals that have been in existence for centuries is still sometimes used inconsistently.

This book uses a broad definition of electronic journal to cover any serial or serial-like publication available in an electronic format. Accordingly, networked, nonnetworked, electronic only, and dual print and electronic titles are considered electronic journals. Conforming to Woodward and McKnight’s terminology, this book uses online for journals available through such services as DIALOG and networked for journals on the Internet.

Note that many titles that call themselves and are generally referred to as “electronic journals” do not meet all the requirements of the AACR2R serial definition. Marilyn Geller states that many so-called electronic journals such as the Journal of Electronic Publishing or Olive Tree are really cumulative electronic archives to which articles are continously added. However, they lack chronological or numeric order and the grouping of articles into issues. 78 In a similar vein, Ed Jones terms electronic indexing and abstracting services, such as Library Literature, “dynamic databases, in a perpetual state of cumulation (and not serial cumulation).” 79 In the online version, the new entries that are continously added lead to new cumulations of the entire database without producing separate parts. Likewise, each quarterly Library Literature CD-ROM disk contains a total cumulation of the database back to 1984. In contrast, the print versions of indexes and abstracts are genuine serials because each issue represents a separate part. Print cumulations usually compile several previous issues but seldom the entire backrun of the service.

A related question concerns the classification of listservs. According to Sharon H. Domier’s thoughtful analysis, electronic conferences and listservs share with serials the intention to continue indefinitely and a list of subscribers. A serial and an electronic conference are similar in that a serial has a publisher and an electronic conference has a host computer; a serial has an editor and an electronic conference has a list owner; and a serial is characterized by numerical or chronological numbering, while an electronic conference contains messages with a time and date. But Domier concludes that many electronic conferences “would seem to fail the ‘serials’ test because they do not have consecutive numbering schemes.” She notes, however, that an electronic conference digest, which compiles and sends messages on a daily basis to designated users, could be considered a serial because of its consistent chronological organization. 80

Crystal Graham and Rebecca Ringler have, perhaps facetiously, used bibliographic hermaphrodite to describe publications that display both monographic and serial features. They state that a bibliographic hermaphrodite possesses three characteristics: completeness in one part, the potential for updating, and the potential for indefinite continuation. Included in this category are listservs and electronic bulletin boards; WWW, gopher, and ftp (File Transfer Protocol) sites; online indexing and abstracting services; and Online Public Access Catalogs (OPACs). These publications are monographic by virtue of being complete in one part but serial in that they can continue indefinitely through limitless updating. 81

The question of whether the AACR2R serials definition should be expanded was debated in Serials Review’s spring 1996 issue. 82 Geller argues that the profession should “start stretching the definition of a serial” to accommodate continuing electronic publications that are essentially serial even if they do not meet all the requirements of the AACR2R definition (e.g., numbered parts that package articles). 83 Arguing that expanding the AACR2R definition would confuse the treatment of print serials, Graham and Ringle advocate a third category in addition to serials and monographs, based on Adele Hallam’s Cataloguing Rules for the Description of Looseleaf Publications, for items displaying both serial and monographic characteristics. 84

Authoritative but probably not final answers to several of these issues are provided in the CONSER Cataloguing Manual, Module 31, which addresses the cataloguing of electronic serials. This document explicitly asserts that OPACs, gophers, listservs, WWW home pages, online services such as DIALOG, and listserv digests should not be considered serials. It also states that the “current serial⁄monograph distinctions may need reconsideration” because “the transition from print to online format may result in a serial becoming a monograph. For example, a directory issued semiannually in print can be updated continously online without the existence of distinct issues or editions.” 85

In conclusion, a technical discussion of whether various electronic entities are authentic serials might appear somewhat academic. However, resolving these definitional issues can have practical implications for library operations, determining how and by whom electronic phenomena are catalogued and processed.

Evans, G. Edward, with the assistance of Zarnosky, Margaret R. Developing Library and Information Collections, 4th ed. Englewood, Colorado: Libraries Unlimited, 2000, pp. 1-12.