Re: Bar-coding periodicals Lori Rotterman 31 May 2007 19:42 UTC
The majority of our periodicals do not circulate. These have bib records in our catalog and are checked in when they are received so that you can see from the record which issues we have. Some of these are later bound, some are held until the microfilm is received (at which time they are discarded), and some are held for a specific length of time and then discarded (3 months, 6 months, 1 year, etc). There are no barcodes or labels attached to these, and they are shelved in alpha order. We do not track usage of these except during our semi-annual usage surveys where we ask patrons to not re-shelve any items themselves and we take counts of the items when they are re-shelved by staff. We do attach barcodes and labels to issues of magazines which do circulate. These are shelved separately from the rest of the collection, also in alpha order, and have a simple CIRCULATING MAGAZINE label attached to the front cover. The barcode is not connected to the catalog bib record; it is simply a generic record of the title and issue date, and allows the item to be checked out and placed on a patron's record. After various amounts of time, depending on the usage of the magazine in question, these issues are eventually withdrawn from the system and discarded. Lori Rotterman Serials Clerk Dayton Metro Library 215 East Third Street Dayton, OH 45402 937-496-8682 fax 937-496-4305 lrotterman@daytonmetrolibrary.org -----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