4 messages:

1)_____

Date: Thu, 27 May 1999 13:36:43 -0500
From: "Piercy, Angela F" <afp048t@MAIL.SMSU.EDU>
Subject: Re: Binding incomplete (Jana Comerford)

We have a set procedure here that we follow with any volume that has a
missing issue.  After we have searched for it 3 times in the library, we try
to order it from USBE (United States Book Exchange).  If we cannot get it
from that source, we check to see if it is a core title in our collection
(the head of Collection Development determines this).  If it is, we try to
order it through Jaeger next, a more expensive source than USBE.  If it
isn't a core title, we generally bind incomplete at this point.  The actual
time that lapses between the discovery that an issue's missing and the time
we would bind the incomplete volume varies.  Our success rate with these
sources also varies.

        Angie Piercy
Library Associate - Acquisitions
Southwest Missouri State University
AngiePiercy@mail.smsu.edu

Date: Thu, 27 May 1999 10:59:25 -0500
From: Jana Comerford <jcomerford@MAIL.WTAMU.EDU>
Subject: Binding incomplete

Hi, I need some advice. Approximately how long do y'all
wait before binding incomplete? Thanks in advance. Jana, WTAMU
jcomerford@mail.wtamu.edu

2)_____

Date: Thu, 27 May 1999 14:00:09 -0500
From: "Ferm, Carrie" <alicf@AUGUSTANA.EDU>
Subject: Re: Binding incomplete (Jana Comerford)

Hi Jana,

We never bind incomplete.  We box the incomplete volume until or if I can
replace the missing issues(s).

Carrie Ferm
Augustana College Library
Periodical Section
Rock Island, Il  61201

Phone:  (309)794-7316   Fax: (309) 794-7230
e-mail: alicf@loki.augustana.edu

3)_____

Date: Thu, 27 May 1999 12:08:12 -0600
From: Diane Erdelyi <derdelyi@sun.lbpl.org>
Subject: Re: Binding incomplete (Jana Comerford)

--------------------------------------------------------
Name: Diane Erdelyi
E-mail: Diane Erdelyi <derdelyi@lbpl.org>
Date: 05/27/99
Time: 12:08:12
--------------------------------------------------------
It depends. If I think I might get gift copies I wait months. If I think that
I will never get gifts of that title and if the publisher said it/they
were unavailable or not for sale in backfile,
I bind in next bindery order. Some titles we have in storage,
I decide not to bind incomplete and keep in a box next to bound volumes.
All main floor titles are bound complete or incomplete.

4)______

Date: Thu, 27 May 1999 15:37:57 -0400
From: Sherry Petry <spetry@CE1.AF.PUBLIC.LIB.GA.US>
Subject: Re: Binding incomplete (Jana Comerford)

That's a loaded question.  I am loathe to bind incomplete and only do it
when I think all hope of obtaining issues is gone.  An example of a title
I bind incomplete is Women's Wear Daily, but only after several months.
We have too many things that get lost here and then show up later.  Some
of our branches retain certain titles for only a year or two, so I will
wait that long if I need to in order to get a branch copy to complete a
volume.  And yes, in the meantime if the unbound issues are out on the
shelf, some others may disappear.  Sometimes if the issues are
particularly likely to walk away, I will pull them out of service, if I
think I can obtain a missing issue fairly quickly.  An example of that for
us is Billboard.

I would be interested in whether the rest of you think it would be much
more professional to bind incompletely right away, then rebind again when
missing issues are located, thus incurring double labor and binding costs.
I feel like I am constantly between a rock and a hard place on this
question.

Sherry Petry                            spetry@af.public.lib.ga.us
Periodicals Department                  404-730-1917
Atlanta-Fulton Public Library
1 Margaret Mitchell Sq.
Atlanta, GA  30303

        ^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^
                Opinions expressed are my own and do
                not represent the Atlanta-Fulton
                Public Library