I am doing what the message below indicates (I use a for active in the
scode) but I am watching this discussion because I now need to produce
separate lists of how many were cancelled, ordered, died or merged and who
paid what for them....All lists separate by type, and by date.  Just a
running total won't be enough, so plan bigger.

Marilee H. Rouillard, Supervisor Periodicals Department, Mason Library
Keene State College, Keene, NH 03435-3201

mrouilla@keene.edu  (603)358-2756

>(2)----------------------------
Date:         Tue, 3 Nov 1998 10:40:15 -0600
From:         "L. Hunter Kevil" <mulkevil@SHOWME.MISSOURI.EDU>
Subject:      Re: Subscriptions added/cancelled

>My two cents on this problem:
>
>In software there is a big difference between maintaining running counts and
>performing a new count whenever a total is needed. Generally the latter is
>the better option, because running totals can easily get off and cannot be
>corrected. Our mistakes simply cumulate. The better choice might be simply
>to calculate the figures you need each time you need them. Perhaps using an
>Innovative SCODE to indicate whether a check-in record is for an active,
>currently received serial would be enough. When a title becomes no longer
>current, either by reason of cancellation, cessation, or cancellation, you
>simply change that one code. Then whenever you need to know the number of
>currently received serials you would use that field to compute the total.
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