Management of Serials in Libraries

Citation

Doig, R. (1999), "Management of Serials in Libraries", Library Management, Vol. 20 No. 7, pp. 401-405. https://doi.org/10.1108/lm.1999.20.7.401.2

Thomas Nisonger’s work follows Marcia Tuttle’s recent publication on the same subject. The author asks “Why another book on serials? What does this present book offer that is not available in the previously published monographs?” He responds by saying that his text is the most current and the information about electronic publications and the Internet and so on are drawn from those very same sources – listservs, electronic journals and Web sites. This is not a “how to” book for those eager to learn about library practice in handling serials. (For anyone wanting to read on the subject from such a viewpoint I can do no more than recommend the book mentioned above and which I previously reviewed – Marcia Tuttle’s Managing Serials published by JAI Press). Rather it is written from the point of view of a library and information science educator. As such it complements Marcia’s book by looking in some detail at a wide variety of collection management issues including citation analysis and journal ranking studies. It is mainly intended for library practitioners involved in serials, but is also addressed to library and information science teachers and researchers.

The table of contents lists in some detail the subjects covered in this book. The author starts by defining a serial. He describes serial types, classification schemes for serials and ends this first chapter with a brief section on electronic journals. He then charts the history of serials and associated statistics, the rise of the electronic journal from its first appearance in 1980 (Mental Workload published by the National Science Foundation), various electronic journal projects together with a table indicating just how many have emerged in 1991‐1996 as listed in the Directory of Electronic Journals, Newsletters and Academic Discussion Lists.

The next three chapters focus closely on collection management issues, picking up on topics such as serials microevaluation criteria (citation record, cost‐effectiveness, patron needs, refereed status, to name but a few), serials collection management functions, macroevaluation of serials (e.g. checklist approach, surveying user opinion, and citation studies and citation analysis as applied to serials collection management). He then devotes the next chapter to a practical guide on conducting studies of periodical use, including a summary of actual studies. This is followed by a similar discussion on journal ranking studies.

The author then leaves collection development for a look at serials processing and cataloguing – more familiar ground for those in acquisition departments who handle serials on a daily basis. This chapter also contains sections on subscription agents, vendor evaluation and copyright – this last from the USA legal standpoint.

Electronic journals are dealt with in the ninth chapter and covered in all aspects. Topics here are all too familiar – selection criteria, licensing issues, budgeting, cataloguing, user education etc.

The last chapter before the Epilogue describes serials automation, its history and application. The role of standards and a brief look at those that have been developed is also included here.

The Epilogue looks forward to the future, with the emphasis, as you might expect, on electronic journals. In his final paragraph, Thomas Nisonger concludes:

Ironically, if library collections of print materials continue to shrink ... many of the traditional serials management functions discussed in this book...may assume more significance in managing the print collection. Smaller, local print collections may actually require greater intellectual effort in deciding which titles to include. Finally, many (but not all) traditional serials functions are applicable to electronic journals.

In addition, the book contains a useful guide to abbreviations and acronyms and each chapter finishes with a comprehensive list of sources. Three excellent appendices cover sources of statistical data on serials, serials bibliographies and relevant World Wide Web sites to keep you happy for hours. Finally there is a general bibliography, author/title/title and subject indexes.

This is a weighty tome from more than one point of view. I found it physically heavy to sit with it on my knee and certainly would not want to carry it around in a bag!However it is a valuable work to have in a library and information science collection, but I would not recommend reading it from cover to cover. I see it more as a book to use for research in particular aspects of serials management – one to dip into and from which to extract information. The extensive list of all the resources supporting the text makes fruitful follow up for anyone wishing to focus more closely on specific topics of interest. To sum up in the author’s own words, “this book stresses the handling of serials in libraries [and] also addresses serials as a scholarly communication medium apart from the library context. ... It attempts to review major options for handling serials problems as well as to clarify fundamental issues.”