---------- Forwarded message ----------
Date: Fri, 19 Jan 1996 12:49:20 MST
From: Donnice Cochenour <DCochenour@VINES.COLOSTATE.EDU>
Subject: Summary - Serials checkin clerks' assignments

Here's a summary of the 23 responses I received to my query regarding the
workload/staffing for serials checkin clerks.  Thanks to all who responded.

No one said that their checkin clerks performed ONLY checkin.   All staff
had other various/multiple duties assigned.   Only one library said 90% of
their checkin was performed by students.  Several had checkin duties split
between full-time staff and some part-time student help.   Where student
hours are included, they have been converted to FTE.

Summary for checkin staff per active titles are as follows.   Many
responded with the number of pieces staff handle on a daily basis instead
of gross numbers of active titles received.  Where  possible I have asked
the respondent to provide the gross count of active titles handled at their
work site.  Some responses included only journals checkin, while others
included continuations,  monographic series, etc.  Obviously, the number of
pieces one staff can handle is impacted by  the number of other duties also
assigned to that person, so comparisons between/among institutions should
be used with caution.  However, when all 23 responses are averaged, one
checker is responsible on the average for 2452 titles.   When only those
libraries with two or more checkin staff are considered, one checker is
responsible on the average for 2676 titles.   The highest number of
titles/staff is 5111.

# Checkin Staff     #Active titles      Titles/staff
     1                                           350           350
     1                                           900           900
     1                                        1500          1500
     1                                        2000          2000
     1                                        2000          2000
     1                                        2300          2300
     1                                        3500          3500
     1                                        5000          5000
     1.5                                    2600          1733
     1.5                                    3500          2333
     2                                       1800           900
     2                                       3657          1829
     2                                       5000          2500
     2                                       9151          4576
     3                                      7500          2500
     3                                    15354          5118
     4                                      4500          1125
     4                                      6957          1739
     4.5                                   7300          1622
     4.5                                 23000          5111
     5.5                                 20000          3636
     6                                    19500          3600
     9                                      8000            889

Other assigned duties included the following.

19   claims processing
16   routine record maintenance
15   processing title changes (only two said this included searching OCLC)
9    bindery tasks
7    tattletaping
7    shelving
7    opening and sorting mail
6    patron assistance (public information desk)
4    ordering back issues
4    train other staff (students)
3    processing unsolicited materials
2    union listing
2    create item records for bound volumes
1    create PO's
1    process gifts
1    process renewal lists

Thanks again to all those who took time to respond to this query.
Donnice

******************************
Donnice Cochenour
Serials Librarian
Colorado State University Libraries
Ft.Collins, CO 80523
dcochenour@vines.colostate.edu
(970) 491-1821
(970) 491-1195 (fax)
******************************