Help in claiming periodicals (3 messages) Birdie MacLennan 23 Aug 1994 21:16 UTC
3 messages, 88 lines: ------------------------ Date: Tue, 23 Aug 1994 10:02:55 PDT From: Linda Seekamp <lseekamp@STMARYS-CA.EDU> Subject: Re: help in claiming periodicals This is in reply to the person in Alaska wondering if their periodical person is as efficient as possible, especially with regard to claiming missing issues. A few years ago, managing the periodicals function became part of my job. One thing I would advise you - despite the lack of time - is to have your periodicals assistant teach you her job. This was the most valuable thing I did (particularly since I've experienced a bit of turnover and actually had to hire, train and do the job for awhile on top of reference, instruction, collection development etc responsibilities). You will be amazed at the incredible amount of time and the level of attention to detail needed. Make sure she tells you why she does each step (for example - some publishers require our jobber to supply photocopies of duplicate labels if we are claiming that we are receiving two copies). We've also found that consulting with our jobber (maybe the next level up from the account rep) about the most efficient way to claim, for example, has helped us eliminate unnecessary steps. Here at Saint Mary's we subscribe to less than half the number of periodicals you do (1100) and have a larger staff - 35 hour/week Periodicals Assistant, 10 hour/week clerk, and 50 hours/week student assistance. They do have some additional responsibilities: filing reference and legal updates, processing new books and we home bind our periodicals. Again, I think you should attempt to do the job yourself for awhile and not only will your assistant have more respect for your knowledge, but then you can put your two heads together to figure out ways to be more efficient. Linda Seekamp lseekamp@stmarys-ca.edu Saint Mary's College Library phone (510) 631-4229 PO Box 4290 or 631-4234 Moraga, CA 94575-4290 fax (510) 376-6097 ----------------------------- Date: Tue, 23 Aug 1994 09:28:55 -0700 From: Mitch Turitz <TURITZ@MERCURY.SFSU.EDU> Subject: Re: help in claiming periodicals Debbie: two observations: 1.) You are comparing a medium sized university library to a small public library, which will have very different subscriptions; and 2.) The public library only has 600 titles vs. 3000 in your collection - a difference of a factor of 5. I suggest that you ask the clerk to train you in what she does for one week (no less) so that you can get a real feel for the complexity of the job. Every library is different in their procedures, but there are usually good reasons for why those procedures are in place (don't settle for the old lint, "because we've always done it that way"). Serials are MUCH more complicated than monographs, so don't fall into the trap of trying to compare statistics of monographic output to serials! _^_ _^_ ( ___ )-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-( ___ ) | | | | | | Mitch Turitz, Serials Librarian | | | | San Francisco State University Library | | | | Internet: turitz@sfsu.edu | | | | | | ( ___ )-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-==-=-=-=-=-==-( ___ ) V V Rule #1: Don't let the small stuff upset you. Rule #2: It's ALL small stuff. ----------------------------- Date: Tue, 23 Aug 1994 13:38:51 EST From: Glenda Armstrong <GARMSTRO@INDYCMS.BITNET> Subject: Re: help in claiming periodicals I have worked with serials for many years. It does sound as though "something" is wrong. For one thing, it should not take 3 days to go through the Faxon claims. We use Microlinx, have approx. 4300 titles and it takes our clerk most of one day to go through the claims when there are a lot. Duplicate mailing labels are nice but are too time consuming. The few times that they are needed make them too expensive to collect. (i.e. It may be more efficient and cheaper to just purchase those titles that require mailing labels and not spend time collecting, filing, and keeping track of.) Serials are difficult to understand at times. Maybe your person is focusing on one aspect and not seeing the big picture. Good luck.