TITLE for Tunels and Tunneling? (Stephen J. Katz)
Stephen Clark 27 Feb 1998 19:30 UTC
---------- Forwarded message ----------
Date: Fri, 27 Feb 1998 10:33:08 -0700
From: KATZ STEPHEN J <skatz@SLATE.MINES.EDU>
Subject: TITLE?
Editor's note: This is a message from Stephen Katz addressed to the
publisher of TUNNELS AND TUNNELING. I am putting it out on the list since
it deals with that perennial issue of title changes.
I am presently a bit puzzled about the title of your journal.
As I am the librarian who deals with both the acquisition and cataloging
of serials, I could use a little help. In March of 1997 Tunnels and
tunnelling became Tunnels and tunnelling international. OK, fine. I was
the one who recataloged this title for the international online cataloging
database OCLC.
Now with the Feb. 1998 issue (v.30:no.2), Tunnels and tunnelling
international is nowhere to be found on the cover of your fine journal.
All that remains on the cover is T&T international. For catalogers, this
means you have changed the title to T&T international. Is this
intentional, or just a different cover design for this issue? Will Tunnels
and tunnelling international appear on the cover of future issues? You
still have Tunnels and tunnelling international on the spine and as a
running title on SOME pages of the Feb. 1998 issue. If the title Tunnels
and tunnelling returns next month on the cover after a month's absence
everything will more or less remain the same.
I hope I can explain how such intentional or unintentional changes not
only make life more difficult for serials librarians but also make your
journal harder to find and access by library patrons. Each title change
involves creating a new record on the aforementioned OCLC cataloging
database. After individual modification, this is the record that will
appear in a library's public access catalog. Your February cover will
force librarians who might not be sure of your intentions to
hold the issue from the shelves until they are sure exactly what the title
might be. And when the title does change, it might involve a physical move
of the new issues to a different location for shelving for those libraries
(ours included) who shelve journals by title. And when the title change is
made in the middle of the year it creates difficulties for those who must
collect and bind the journals. What title to put on the bound volume for
1998, Tunnels and tunnelling international or T&T international?
So, I will hold on to the Feb. 1998 issue of your journal and not send it
to the Uncover Office in Denver where article titles and authors are
entered in their database to be accessed by potential customers who might
want to order copies of articles and I will not have it shelved with our
other periodicals where students and faculty might be able to peruse it,
until I can be certain of its title.
Please do not think too harshly of this little note. I send this with the
risk of being forever labeled a malcontent and a whiner by Miller
Freeman.I don't do this every time a serial changes or possibly changes
title. If I did, I would never be able to exit my e-mail. I only happen
to be slightly obsessive by nature. Its just that this time I thought it
might be worthwhile to shed some light on the results of frequent title
changes.
Oh, and one more thing. If you have indeed changed the title to T&T
international, it would be incumbent upon you to notify the nearest ISDS
(International Serials Data Systems) center to apply for a new ISSN. The
last thing you would want would be to have an outdated ISSN assigned to
your journal. Right?
Thank you for your kind consideration.
Stephen J. Katz
Serials Librarian
Colorado School of Mines
Arthur Lakes Library
1400 Illinois St.
Golden, Colorado 80401-0029
(303) 279-3748
(303) 279-3199 (FAX)
skatz@mines.edu