Greetings Barbara and all! I read with interest Roger's reply to
Barbara. We face a similar challenge as we move into a new facility with
much less space allocated to periodicals. We have done your first couple
steps, eliminated most of the titles reliably available electronically
with exceptions of certain core titles and faculty requests, and
condensed the book collection to temporarily accommodate periodicals
(which space will be less needed as more and more of them become
available electronically. However, on step 3 we reversed your dead-live
approach. We cataloged the dead titles (meaning dead and not just
cancelled) and shelved them in the regular stacks along with the books
so that they fell within the call number range with their book cousins.
We keep the live titles separate in alpha order. This has done two
things for us, brought title changes together since call numbers of a
title change are usually very close, and allowed some titles that
students weren't too aware of to be "discovered" when they went looking
for books on a similar topic. Dead titles occupy a given space thus we
don't worry about adjusting for future growth. One last advantage is the
live titles continue to require less space as titles die and are
cataloged into the collection (yes, we have to shift at that point but
that is no worse than shelving a new set of some sort) as well as
replaced electronically or just withdrawn. So far we haven't regretted
it and our periodicals needs has shrunk to fit the space allocated. But,
I am heeding Roger's warning and keeping a closer eye on the space now
than I was.
...John

John D Crissinger
Head Librarian
Library
OSUN/COTC
Newark, OH 43055

-----Original Message-----
From: SERIALST: Serials in Libraries Discussion Forum
[mailto:SERIALST@LIST.UVM.EDU] On Behalf Of DAVIS, ROGER
Sent: Thursday, May 15, 2008 12:31 PM
To: SERIALST@LIST.UVM.EDU
Subject: Re: [SERIALST] Losing periodical space

Barbara,

You have received many good ideas and much support. I can't add to that
aspect but I can tell you, from personal experience, what NOT to do.

We were forced to downsize our collection a couple of years ago. Four
classrooms were constructed that infringed on the serials collection. We
didn't have much time to decide what to do and several good plans were
discussed. Unfortunately, the Director went with his plan.

First, all of the titles that were represented in JSTOR or EJC were
eliminated from the collection. These were offered to other institutions
and what wasn't taken went into a huge dumpster. Thousands of volumes
were disposed of in this way. So far so good.

Second, the book collection was condensed on another floor which made
shelving available for the serials. Everything is fine.

Third, dead titles were identified. Titles that were still in our
collection but had ceased publication or were otherwise suspended for
some reason were designated to go on the shelves that were left after
the construction of the classrooms. These were packed into the shelving
because they weren't going to grow anymore. Starts to go sour.

Active titles were moved to the floor with the books and shifted to
accommodate ten years growth.

Problems: First of all the dead titles were determined by a search on
our online system using filters. Because of odd quirks in the system
some titles were missed and other titles were included that shouldn't
have been.

The location code for the dead titles had to be changed, but again this
was not consistent. The system of densely packed dead titles on one
floor and current titles on another floor worked marvelously for about
two weeks. After that we quickly found that living with this system
would be a nightmare. Actually the librarians knew this from the start.
In the coming weeks we cancelled more titles which meant that dead
titles were on two floors now. We couldn't just say dead titles were in
the basement, current titles upstairs. So now we have dead titles with
two location codes and when patrons ask where to find a title we can
only say it's either upstairs or downstairs. You would have to
understand the location codes to find any particular title. It gets even
more interesting when we re-subscribe to a title. Now we have back
issues with the dead titles but the more current live title with the
currents on another floor.

I can tell you now, do not divide up your collection in such a way.
Think of how your patrons use or browse your collection and decide what
would be the most convenient way for them to access the collection. It
would have been better for us to divide the collection alphabetically
between the floors, leaving all the titles integrated, than to use
alive/dead criteria.

==================
Roger Davis
Serials Librarian
Kent State University - Stark Campus
==================