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Re: To bind or not to bind? (Mitch Turitz) Mitch Turitz 14 May 1999 22:49 UTC

Iris:
  San Francisco State University is currently only binding selected titles
because we no longer have the room to bind and shelve all the periodicals
that we subscribe to.  We are subscribing to JSTOR, Ideal, ACS, and a few
other full text collections.  For those titles we have electronic access
to, we plan on putting the volumes into remote storage which will
essentially not be accessible.  The problem is that those titles alone will
not make enough room to accomodate what we already have.  We need to put
additional titles into storage which will NOT be available electronically,
but which could be made available through inter-library loan, CARL UnCover,
etc.

  We don't have circulation statistics for our titles because our
periodicals are not in the circulation system.  However, we can tell that
if there is a layer of dust on the entire run of a periodical, that it does
not appear to being used.

  One of the problems of the "paper in the library" vs. "electronic access
to the desktop" is that not all of our students have access to a computer.
Of those that use the computers in the library, not all of our workstations
have printers (only certain locations which charge for printing, do).

  Additionally, as we make more titles available only electronically, the
demand for computer access (both within and outside of the library)
increases.  We regularly have more people wanting to use our computers than
we have computers available (we have about 100 available for the public).
Unfortunatley, we can't police the use of each computer either.  Whereas we
intend that the computers in the library are for research and access to
electronic resources, there are students playing games, using "chat rooms"
checking e-mail, and just surfing the web.  Our reference librarians don't
want to have to police the use of computers any more than they are supposed
to stop our patrons from brining food into the library.

  Basically we are working under the order that we have to get as many
bound volumes out of the library as soon as we have 1.) informed the
teaching faculty about the titles to be removed; and, 2.) worked out the
procedures and details for everything from the notes in the bib records to
how the volumes will be packed and shipped.

  I hope that helps some.

-- Mitch
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 |   |                                               |   |
 |   |     Mitch Turitz, Serials Librarian           |   |
 |   |     San Francisco State University Library    |   |
 |   |     Internet: turitz@sfsu.edu                 |   |
 |   |     http://userwww.sfsu.edu/~turitz           |   |
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"Warning:  Dates in calendar are closer than they appear."

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Date: Thu, 13 May 1999 12:32:27 -0400
From: "Anderson, Iris" <IANDERSON@IMF.ORG>
Subject: To bind or not to bind?

I am interested in hearing from other libraries about the pros and cons of
continuing to bind journals that you are currently receiving electronically
through services such as JSTOR or other electronic means.

1. How do you determine the value of paper vs. electronic archives for
individual titles? Do you look at circulation statistics or rely more on
perceived or historical value of "core" journals? What is your professional
opinion of the "paper in the library" vs. "electronic access to the desktop"
debate? OR how do you envision best serving your clientele in the future,
while also considering physical space constraints,shrinking budgets, and
pressure to downsize your in-house periodicals holdings?

2.  Do you think binding journals will become a thing of the past? If you
have stopped binding or never done it, have there been any awful
consequences?

3. Can you recommend any "best" articles on this topic?

Please respond to me directly and I will be happy to summarize for the
list. Thank you very much in advance!

Iris Anderson
Team Leader
Document Delivery
Joint Library
International Monetary Fund-World Bank
Washington, DC
ianderson@imf.org
202-623-6403