Re: Need expert advice from "Cardex" users or with small stand alone check in modules John Lucas 08 Nov 2004 16:49 UTC
Beth: Thank you for your information. I am sorry for the delay in responding. Friday, I had just enough time to send out my e-mail then go home and beat off the 'bug' i captured. I will research it out. Thanks again. John Lucas Serials Librarian University of Mississippi Medical Center 2500 North State St Jackson, MS 39216-4505 (PH) (601) 984-1277 (FAX) ( 601) 984-1262 JLUCAS@ROWLAND.UMSMED.EDU >>> Elizabeth.Bogdanski@IL.PROQUEST.COM 11/05/04 11:02AM >>> Last year I worked as a solo librarian for a small museum library with limited funds. I chose the Surpass automation system because it was very user friendly and affordable. They have a serials module that you might want to research unless you already have and did not find it adequate. Another option which may work is creating a system on MS Access. There are many libraries managing serials successfully with Access. I hope these suggestions help! You are working on such an great project, good luck! Beth Bogdanski, MLIS Library Holdings Consultant ProQuest-UMI Division 800-521-0600x3819 elizabeth.bogdanski@il.proquest.com http://www.umi.com -----Original Message----- From: SERIALST: Serials in Libraries Discussion Forum [mailto:SERIALST@LIST.UVM.EDU] On Behalf Of John Lucas Sent: Friday, November 05, 2004 11:30 AM To: SERIALST@LIST.UVM.EDU Subject: [SERIALST] Need expert advice from "Cardex" users or with small stand alone check in modules Hello Fellow Serialists: Next year, our library will be hosting 3 librarians from Iraq, with the purpose helping them get an idea of what is available to them with the amount of connectivity they hope to have in the near future. As they are starting from scratch, one of my immediate problems is to get them started on a minimal, manual check in system for what journals they do have and will be getting to start them off. An ILS appears to be a few years away. I am referring to the 'visible card' or Cardex system as most know it. I have worked in larger medical school libraries throughout my career and have really no experience with this formalized system. Even this would give them a sense of forward progress. In my P.F. (pre-fire) career, we used a very primitive index card system, but I have had to dump those experiences due to insufficient RAM and my current memory is none to reliable. Now I know it is not 'rocket science' but I have some questions on how some basic titles might be handled and how others might do it differently. (ie.) Do you use check marks or write in the issue numbers? What are the 'colored signals' used for, Claims and if so how? What parts of the card do you use, and what you ignore? And things like that. There still must be libraries, using this, or the library suppliers would not have these products. I am looking for some libraries who are willing to share their experience, and maybe their check in procedure pages. (Gaylord, Demco and the others do not have instruction sheets, so I guess that everyone should know how to use it to its fullest) Also I thought at one time there were some small, stand alone serials modules out there. I have been unable to find them to date. The small "periodical manager" programs the library suppliers have seem to be nothing more than an accession list. Even these might be currently beyond their capability at the present but would be another interim step towards an ILS system. Any knowledge would be greatly appreciated. John Lucas Serials Librarian University of Mississippi Medical Center 2500 North State St Jackson, MS 39216-4505 (PH) (601) 984-1277 (FAX) ( 601) 984-1262 JLUCAS@ROWLAND.UMSMED.EDU