I think it'd be useful at this point to clarify what we (ie, Serials
Solutions) mean when we talk about "neutral" records. I apologize in
advance for the length of this response.

As Steve points out (and knows far better than me), when we say
"neutral" we don't mean that in any CONSER-defined terms. However, I do
want to correct the point about us 'neutralizing' the records. The
CONSER records we provide remain full and complete and untouched by
veterinarians. Here's why we use the term, and what it means.

When we started building our MARC records service, we saw that
librarians would want to choose the type of CONSER record they received
from us. Many titles had a different record for each format. So we
assigned a "mediatype" to each record -- some are clearly online,
because they say so in the 245|h or in a qualifier to the 130 or 222.
Others clearly indicate that they are describing a print version of the
title, while others describe a microfilm or CD-ROM version.

For example, "Journal of micromechanics and microengineering" has an
online record (lccn sn 96036579; OCLC 35040244) and a CD-ROM record
(lccn 00253424; OCLC 32733320). It doesn't have a record that says
"(Print)" in the 130, but it does have a record that doesn't
*explicitly* indicate the format (lccn 91642807; OCLC 23664365). You
know that that record describes a print version, but some records are
more explicit about it -- generally through the previously-mentioned
qualifier -- and we felt a need to differentiate between the records
that are explicitly print, and those that aren't. (This title also has
an NLM record, which is also an option for clients, as are Serials
Solutions-generated records, and a few others.)

So we defined that undefined record as "neutral" -- it doesn't
explicitly say that the resource is print, and it doesn't explicitly say
that the resource is online. It just says that the resource *is*. Within
our knowledgebase, we describe the vast majority of the records in the
CONSER database as "neutral." But we don't modify (or "neutralize")
other records to create this "neutral" record. It may not be a perfect
solution, but it works well for providing a range of record options for
our clients.

A key point is that we almost never see both a "neutral" and a "print"
record for the same resource. We use "neutral" and "print" to
differentiate between two ways of describing a print resource. While I'm
not certain, my guess would be that the presence of both a "neutral" and
a "print" record for one title is the result of an error at some point
-- if someone wanted to create a "print" record, they should have
modified the "neutral" record, rather than creating a new "print" record
when a "neutral" one already existed.

Here's another example. The journal "American journal of philology" has
the following records in multiple mediatypes to describe the same
journal:
 --	"Print CONSER": lccn 05031891; OCLC 1480174; ISSN 0002-9475
 --	"Online CONSER": lccn sn 95006664; OCLC 33891035; ISSN 1086-3168
 --	"Microform CONSER": lccn sf 89092851; OCLC 4284677; ISSN
0002-9475
 --	"Neutral NLM": nlm 100966556

Our work-level identifier for serials allows us to gather all of these
records under one identifier, and then select the most appropriate
record type for our clients. Specifically, we offer our clients the
ability to choose the order of preference for these record types. This
means that if a client wants online, then neutral, then print, then
microfilm records, and only a neutral record is available, we'll send
that neutral record -- until an online record becomes available, at
which point we'll replace the neutral record with the online record,
automatically.

So, as Steve says, our use of the term "neutral" is not a CONSER term.
It's how we differentiate among the multiple types of CONSER records
available to describe a given serial, and how we provide our clients
with multiple options to choose among those CONSER records. I hope this
provides sufficient clarification; if not, I welcome the opportunity to
describe it in even further excruciating detail.

Peter Mc

Peter McCracken, MLS
Co-founder & Director of Research, Serials Solutions
peter@serialssolutions.com
(607) 262-0941 - cell

Company Address:                                     Mailing Address:
501 N. 34th Street, Suite 400                      P.O. Box 466
Seattle, WA  98103                                    Trumansburg, NY
14886

-----Original Message-----
From: SERIALST: Serials in Libraries Discussion Forum
[mailto:SERIALST@list.uvm.edu] On Behalf Of Steven C Shadle
Sent: Friday, May 02, 2008 1:12 PM
To: SERIALST@LIST.UVM.EDU
Subject: Re: [SERIALST] Question about neutral records

I think you'll have to contact Serials Solutions about the specifics of
the "CONSER Neutral" record.  The provider-neutral record and the
single-record approach have been standard conser-program practices for
several years now, so I don't know how the 'neutral' record is different
from what conser normally creates.  I think what SerSol is doing is
taking whatever format record they have available and 'neutralizing' it.
You won't find anything about it on the conser web site as this really
isn't (at least in these terms) a conser activity.

Steve Shadle/Serials Access Librarian  *****  shadle@u.washington.edu
University of Washington Libraries      ***     Phone: (206) 685-3983
Seattle, WA 98195-2900                   *        Fax: (206) 543-0854

On Thu, 1 May 2008, Bellinger, Christina wrote:

> Dear Colleagues,
>
> I am in the process of revising our Serials Solutions record profile.
In
> the profile document there is a reference to a  "Conser neutral"
record
> that is not the same as the vendor neutral records that are used for
> electronic journals.  The text in the Serials Solutions customization
> form says "These records do not explicitly state that they are for a
> specific record format, though they generally describe the print
> format."   I have looked at the Conser documentation and have not
found
> the any for these records.  Can anyone direct me to the correct
> documents?
>
> Thanks in advance for your help.
>
> Christina
>
>
>
> Christina Bellinger
>
> Head, Technical Services
>
> University of New Hampshire LIbrary
>
> 18 Library Way
>
> Durham, NH 03824
>
> 603 862-0073 (phone)
>
> 603 862-0180 (fax)
>
> christina.bellinger@unh.edu
>
>
>