I think binding for print serials is highly desirable. I may be in the minority here, I realize, and I completely understand why many other libraries have chosen not to do this for budgetary or other reasons. Like Mykie, our print collection is severely reduced
from 5-10 years ago but still substantial at between 300-400 titles, and I doubt it’ll shrink a huge amount further, at least for a while.
The main reason I support ongoing binding of print serials is longterm preservation.
We deaccession backfiles where print holdings duplicate what we have in JSTOR. In some cases we have also purchased online backfile access from publishers, and when we switch from print to online, whenever possible we try to obtain post cancellation
rights and also pay attention to how online journals are preserved. But purchasing online backfiles is not always feasible.
Another person made a good point about loose issues being easier to “walk” and that is certainly something we’ve experienced, too.
For now, we are fortunate in that we can afford to continue to bind our serials and that is what we continue to do.
Steve
Steve Oberg
Assistant
Professor and Group Leader for Resource Description and Digital Initiatives
Buswell Library, Wheaton
College (IL)
+1
(630) 752-5852
