Thank you to all who responded to our query about open vs. closed stacks
for periodicals.  We received eight very helpful responses, which are
summarized below:

1. Do you have open or closed stacks?
        7 responded "open"
        1 responded that they do not have periodical stacks, but the
          serials are integrated with the books in the regular stacks

2. How many periodical assistants (student or otherwise) do you have to
   do shelving and maintenance?
        Most libraries rely on student assistants for this, with some
        additional time put in by regular staff during busy periods.

        Some comments from responses:
           Student help of 65 hours/week maintains 3,000 titles
           Students for periodicals shelve current issues, regular
              shelvers for the library take care of the bound volumes
           In Fall/Winter sessions, 35 hours/week of student help
              maintains 22,000 issues/month.  During Spring/Summer
              sessions, 25 hours/week of student help is needed.

3. How do you handle current issues (are they shelved separately, or kept
   with their titles?
        7 responded that current issues are shelved separately
        1 responded that most are kept with their titles

4. If you have open stacks, have you noticed more missing issues with
   open stacks?
        Most respondents had never had closed stacks, so the comments
        referred only to their experiences with open stacks.  One
        library reported that it was no more of a problem with open stacks
        than with closed.

        Another library said that theft was no major problem, and all
        of their issues are protected by security strips.

        3 libraries felt that theft and damaged issues were a problem.
        In one library, the issues were not actually stolen, but rather
        left in different locations throughout the library, resulting in
        "temporarily" missing issues.

        Two libraries gave statistics:
        2-3 replacements needed per month for unbound issues, or a loss
            of 24 to 36 issues per year from a collection of 6,000 titles.
            They almost never lose bound titles.
        Another library reported claiming 2-4 issues per week as missing.

5. If you have open stacks, do you wish that you had closed stacks again?

        As noted above, most respondents had never had closed stacks,
        but only one library said "sometimes" in response to this question.

        Some comments:
        One library said that it took more resources to have a staffed
           current titles area.
        Another wished for a staffed service desk for their current
           titles (allow patrons to come in and browse, but restrict
           the material to in-room use)
        Another said that the "serendipity that results from open
           access is worth it."
        Another pointed out that patrons like open stacks, and it
           takes less staffing to accomplish.

Once again, thanks to all.  Our library has not yet made any decisions
on change, but are mulling over the research.

  **********
  Ann M. Tenglund
  Coordinator of Library Computer Services
  Friedsam Memorial Library and Resource Center
  St. Bonaventure University
  St. Bonaventure, NY  14778
  INTERNET: ateng@sbu.edu      VOICE: (716) 375-2378   FAX: (716) 375-2389
  **********