Re: Barcoding periodicals Aline Soules 31 May 2007 14:43 UTC
I can't speak to RFID, but at our library, we ran into challenges when we were no longer able to afford to bind materials. Prior to that, we had only barcoded the bound volumes and not the loose ones. We had not taken in-house use stats, other than manually. We always affixed call no. labels because our periodicals section is classified. Our solution was to barcode the plastic "boxes" in which the loose issues were housed. That way, each time a loose issue is shelved, the shelver wands the box. It has proved a viable solution. In the catalog, we have a single item record that serves this generic purpose. I realize that you will be moving and this approach may not solve your particular problem, but we were faced with a need to deal with our issue and a serious shortage of staff to handle the workload going forward. We also had to consider the ongoing cost of all those additional barcodes, since all the loose issues would need to be barcoded until we cancelled print in favor of e-formats. In retrospect, it's proved to be a reasonable decision as more and more periodicals go online and we get fewer and fewer print issues. Also, use of retrospective journals has declined. It's hard to rationalize spending all that time and effort barcoding when the usage is likely to go down and there are more pressing and more current matters to address. Aline Aline Soules Cal State East Bay 510-885-4596 aline.soules@csueastbay.edu -----Original Message----- From: SERIALST: Serials in Libraries Discussion Forum on behalf of Crissinger, John Sent: Wed 5/30/2007 1:47 PM To: SERIALST@LIST.UVM.EDU Subject: Re: [SERIALST] Barcoding periodicals I am interested in this, too. We will be moving to a new building next year and it will drastically affect our checkout process and security. We have mentioned bar coding issues but not too seriously yet. Please share any information, especially if it involves RFID. Thanks! John D Crissinger Newark Campus Library OSUN/COTC Newark, OH 43055 Crissinger.5@osu.edu -----Original Message----- From: SERIALST: Serials in Libraries Discussion Forum [mailto:SERIALST@LIST.UVM.EDU] On Behalf Of Connie Foster Sent: Wednesday, May 30, 2007 10:21 AM To: SERIALST@LIST.UVM.EDU Subject: [SERIALST] Barcoding periodicals With some trepidation I ask about advantages or disadvantages of embarking on a project to barcode and give item ids and possibly spine labels to our periodical collection, which currently is simply shelved in alpha order with no tracking capabilities. My sense is that statistics would be useful but I'm not sure the impact of such a project is worth that one asset? Appreciate experiences or advice for those who have considered or moved in that direction. Unless others are interested, you can reply directly to me. Many thanks. Connie Foster -- ************************************************************************ ****************** Connie Foster, Professor and Head, Dept. of Library Technical Services Western Kentucky University Libraries Editor, Serials Review 1906 College Heights Blvd. #11067 Bowling Green KY 42101-1067 connie.foster@wku.edu tel:270-745-6151 fax:270-745-3958 "Creating Information Possibilities" TopSCHOLAR(tm) http://digitalcommons.wku.edu Electronic submission for authors at http://ees.elsevier.com/serrev http://sciencedirect.com/science/journal/00987913