---------- Forwarded message ----------
Date: Tue, 4 Sep 2001 17:12:28 -0500
From: Noreen <nrf@LACROSSE.LIB.WI.US>
Subject: Re: Disappearing microform titles... (Buddy Pennington)

While we only subscribed to the microfiche for three of the titles on the
list (Popular Science, Sky & Telescope and World Press Review), we too are
going to have to make some decisions about whether and how to keep the
print volumes.  I did e-mail World Press Review, explaining that we
subscribed to both the paper and the microfiche because we felt strongly
that the title should be available to our patrons for the long term and
keeping the paper forever was not a practical alternative.  I got a
singularly unhelpful reply suggesting that we subscribe to the magazine.
They obviously didn't even take the time to read my message through.

I have yet to discuss it with the rest of the staff here, but I suspect we
will probably decide to keep the paper copies somewhat longer than our
usual retentions (fifteen or twenty years instead of ten, perhaps), but
will not choose to bind them or store them beyond that point.  We made the
decision more than ten years ago to put resources into microfiche instead
of binding because it seemed the more practical alternative for the long
term.  I think the publishers are being extremely short-sighted.

> ---------- Forwarded message ----------
> Date: Tue, 4 Sep 2001 14:58:10 -0500
> From: "MD_Buddy (Buddy Pennington)" <MD_Buddy@KCLIBRARY.ORG>
> Subject: Disappearing microform titles...
>
> Hi all,
>
> In looking at our annual renewal list from ProQuest-Bell and Howell-UMI
> (take your pick) we have discovered that several fairly popular titles are
> no longer available on microfilm.  The list of titles that affects our
> library are:
>
> Audubon
> Business Ethics Quarterly
> MotorBoating
> World Press Review
> Country Music
> Discover
> Field and Stream
> Journal of Career Planning and Employment
> Kiplinger's Personal Finance
> Outdoor Life,
> Popular Science
> Publications of the Modern Language Association of America
> Skiing Magazine
> Sky and Telescope
>
> When I contacted our rep at ProQuest, we were told that the publishers had
> decided not to continue to pay for microform.  We obviously can live without
> the film for some of these titles, but it seems to me that the publishers
> are making a big mistake discontinuing such titles as Popular Science,
> Discover, World Press Review, etc.
>
> Is there anything we can do about this?  Also, what ideas do you have about
> retaining this stuff?  We do not have room to bind the materials.  We can
> send the issues out to a vendor to film them, but many of these titles have
> missing issues by the end of the volume (another important reason for the
> film). And these other vendors charge more than ProQuest does.
>
> Buddy Pennington
> Document Delivery Librarian
> Kansas City Public Library
> md_buddy@kclibrary.org
> 816-701-3552

--
Noreen Fish                e-mail: nrf@lacrosse.lib.wi.us
La Crosse Public Library      phone:  (608) 789-7144
800 Main Street               fax:  (608) 789-7161
La Crosse, WI  54601