Tis the season
to be folly
fa la la la la, la la la la
....
Well, a popular magazine that prints "News" each "week" has decided that it will accept orders for institutional subscriptions through vendors -- beginning again in January. The question is, though, is it too late?
I don't think it would be worth the hassle to order or reorder one title at this date. If most orders aren't in to subscription agents by November 1, serialsters face all sorts of fun problems come January 1st and the new arrival or non-arrival of issues...! And those are for continuing subscriptions. I know it is a wonder to a publishing house, that even though our instition has subscribed to a journal for 25 years that it is going to subscribe for *gasp* year 26...and that explains why I have to claim the first two issues...in January of each year!
***
And a year end note to the genuises in charge of two math journals: Journal of Recreational Mathematics and to Fibonacci Quarterly: enough with the creative numbering and chronology already! 45 pages does not equal two issues, nor does putting each year you're behind on a journal's frontspiece make up for the 2 years you didn't publish anything!
***
Tis the season
to be folly
fa la la la la, la la la la...
Can't wait to read some of the editor's comments in the "new year's" editions of journals in January...Not that they would even take on the unpredictability of resolutions, mind you...
12.15.2009
11.19.2009
The weather outside is frightful
Oh the cancellations are frightful,
And the process is not delightful,
But since we've no money to show,
Let It Snow! Let It Snow! Let It Snow!
It doesn't show signs of stopping,
And I've brought some corn for popping,
The lights are turned way down low,
Let It Snow! Let It Snow! Let It Snow!
with apologies to Sammy Cahn and Jule Styne....
And the process is not delightful,
But since we've no money to show,
Let It Snow! Let It Snow! Let It Snow!
It doesn't show signs of stopping,
And I've brought some corn for popping,
The lights are turned way down low,
Let It Snow! Let It Snow! Let It Snow!
with apologies to Sammy Cahn and Jule Styne....
11.11.2009
Enumeration....and publication statement
Ok. There is a journal I've had problems with for the past couple of years. It often combines issues in the middle of a volume (a problem for me because I bind the title and the issues are usually combined across the months that I bind -- messing up my pattern!). Now, though, is has this to say in its publication statement:"_____ Libraries is published 10 times yearly by the ALA"! and then -- it does not say what months it omits. No problem, right? So, why do I have issue 11 in hand? and it looks like their might be an issue number 12 this year too (next month). Any ideas why a LIBRARY magazine can't redo its publication statement to match the issues it publishes? I thought serials *issues* were supposed to be caused by disconnected bureaucratic publishers, not organizations in our own field. Is it January yet? January is the month I expect things to crop up. This has been a banner year for odd things in serials, though, I might have to do a "year in strange serials" review...!
10.21.2009
Playing catch-up
One of the journals we receive is behind by 3 years in publishing. This is not a novelty. However, they have a solution! They are going to publish the next three volumes as combined single issues! So I will be receiving v. 31 nos. 1/4 2007 and et cetera. My problem is that each "volume" is merely a 100 pages and that is the same size as a regular "issue number." So, that means that we're getting a 1/4 of the product for the whole price... The ironic chord in all of this,however, is that the journal is one about "ethics"!
10.16.2009
Suspended animation?
Science Fiction now has become fact. This is made obvious by the print journal titles that we subscribe to that have appeared to be in deep "suspended animation." I don't know *why* they have been put into this state or at *what point in time* they plan to be readmitted to the land of the living, er, publishing.
At what point is it reasonable for a publisher to give up on a title and be honest with the subscribers that "yes, it *has* actually ceased publication" and stop taking fees each year? I have a list of publications that the vendor lists as "will order when current."
Some of these have been on this list since I started nigh on 10 years ago. Most of these publications are at least 6 years or more behind on their cover chronology. Several have been taken over by new publishers, which promptly raise the price while promising the moon and then...deliver nothing. One of the publications that is on my list of "suspended" titles kept promising to blossom into an online only publication. Three years in, said publication just notified the vendor that they were ceasing publication altogether.
I am not sure that these publishers realize what a mess these "suspended" titles can create or how much time they can consume. Each time I run a claiming report, these pop up. I promptly go to the vendor site and claim them, again, and wait for a response. Then I go into our ILS and do clean up or change them to an inactive control. Oftentimes, we are only aware a title has totally and completely ceased when we wind up with a large credit invoice from our vendor. Fortunately, our vendor lists what title the credit was for and this helps the process along. Then I have to clean up the MARC record...you can see how this snowballs.
Personally, I think there should be some sort of unwritten serials rule -- that if a title is "suspended" more than 2 years, the publication should cease altogether... and never be "reawakened" from "deep suspended animation"!
At what point is it reasonable for a publisher to give up on a title and be honest with the subscribers that "yes, it *has* actually ceased publication" and stop taking fees each year? I have a list of publications that the vendor lists as "will order when current."
Some of these have been on this list since I started nigh on 10 years ago. Most of these publications are at least 6 years or more behind on their cover chronology. Several have been taken over by new publishers, which promptly raise the price while promising the moon and then...deliver nothing. One of the publications that is on my list of "suspended" titles kept promising to blossom into an online only publication. Three years in, said publication just notified the vendor that they were ceasing publication altogether.
I am not sure that these publishers realize what a mess these "suspended" titles can create or how much time they can consume. Each time I run a claiming report, these pop up. I promptly go to the vendor site and claim them, again, and wait for a response. Then I go into our ILS and do clean up or change them to an inactive control. Oftentimes, we are only aware a title has totally and completely ceased when we wind up with a large credit invoice from our vendor. Fortunately, our vendor lists what title the credit was for and this helps the process along. Then I have to clean up the MARC record...you can see how this snowballs.
Personally, I think there should be some sort of unwritten serials rule -- that if a title is "suspended" more than 2 years, the publication should cease altogether... and never be "reawakened" from "deep suspended animation"!
9.15.2009
A new twist to merged titles
I love serials. Really. They provide a constant supply of surprises. Not only did I learn that a bunch of the (once) consistent and predictable journals are now choosing to go to X number of odd regulars, but there was yet another title merger. There used to be 2 editions of an education journal, but they merged into one. They then dropped the subtitles they used to have that showed which section each belonged to. However, they kept the issn one of the old titles. One would think, that being educators, would motivate them to keep things as accurate and logical as possible.
Then there is the ever present Fibonacci Quarterly that now spans volumes, months, years and numbers all in one mighty leap! I just checked in v. 46/47 Mar/Apr 2008/2009 no. 2....and may I remind the editors of that journal that the ILS systems cannot put those sorts of combinations together? It makes a mess and throws the entire issue into a note instead of a MARC holdings format that is collapsible.
Then there is the ever present Fibonacci Quarterly that now spans volumes, months, years and numbers all in one mighty leap! I just checked in v. 46/47 Mar/Apr 2008/2009 no. 2....and may I remind the editors of that journal that the ILS systems cannot put those sorts of combinations together? It makes a mess and throws the entire issue into a note instead of a MARC holdings format that is collapsible.
8.10.2009
Surprise Issues!
Publishers are entertaining entities. While a lot of them are folding up their tents or going online only...there are several publishers who continue to send surprise issues! Often these issues are called "special" or "supplement" or "bibliography" and such...and then there is the one I just received today. It is not only a "special" issue -- it is also a change of publishing frequency! I haven't looked yet to see if this "extra" issue also adds onto the price for next year or if it a mere "bonus" by the publisher. *Sigh*
7.27.2009
twitter and Youtube meet the publishing world...!
I just joined twitter. I think it would be most amusing for publishers to figure out how to serialize a journal into tweets....and then link to YouTube:
"Found new species in Central America."
"Might be prehistoric."
"Might be a mutation due to global warming."
"Scientists unsure, but captured photos."
"Please see YouTube video for details."
"Click here for "live" tweets....!"
Just kidding. I do not want to encourage the publishers to create any MORE formats!
Can you imaging trying to read a National Geographic or Reader's Digest article in 140 character blurbs?!? And trying to archive or keep track of such a thing? How would library staff even try to keep track of such a thing....?
"Found new species in Central America."
"Might be prehistoric."
"Might be a mutation due to global warming."
"Scientists unsure, but captured photos."
"Please see YouTube video for details."
"Click here for "live" tweets....!"
Just kidding. I do not want to encourage the publishers to create any MORE formats!
Can you imaging trying to read a National Geographic or Reader's Digest article in 140 character blurbs?!? And trying to archive or keep track of such a thing? How would library staff even try to keep track of such a thing....?
Just an update
I can't believe it's been a month since my last blog post! I am not buried under a stack of serials. Although, with the amount we received in the mail today, it was a good possibility.
It has been a fun month in serials. :)
I have not only received journals that were published before they should exist (one sent me an Oct/Dec 2009 issue!), I received some "new" journals that are a mere seven or eight years behind their cover chronology (philosophy journals, mostly). I am still not quite sure why a 45 page academic journal takes 7 or 8 years to publish. The only thing I can figure out is that these are not very "active" topics and it takes that long to gather enough submissions to publish...?That then begs the question, though, about whether or not they should continue publishing with a 7 to 8 year lag?
My students got to process some government publications this month and the government apparently does not care about cover chronology matching actual publishing dates either. It looks like I am a "type A" person in a "type B" industry. Sigh.
It has been a fun month in serials. :)
I have not only received journals that were published before they should exist (one sent me an Oct/Dec 2009 issue!), I received some "new" journals that are a mere seven or eight years behind their cover chronology (philosophy journals, mostly). I am still not quite sure why a 45 page academic journal takes 7 or 8 years to publish. The only thing I can figure out is that these are not very "active" topics and it takes that long to gather enough submissions to publish...?That then begs the question, though, about whether or not they should continue publishing with a 7 to 8 year lag?
My students got to process some government publications this month and the government apparently does not care about cover chronology matching actual publishing dates either. It looks like I am a "type A" person in a "type B" industry. Sigh.
6.23.2009
Serials sisters/brothers in arms...
Last week I took a cataloging sound recordings class. I never knew that there would be another group in the library world like serialists...who are thrown into just as many odd situations and subjected to the quirks of publishers as we are.
Apparently, most of the cataloging for sound recordings is done from the piece in hand and not just copy cataloged. The information that is mandatory for each piece is sometimes not available since the cataloger is supposed to rely on the item itself (i.e. the cassette, CD, etc) and then go to the container and lastly resort to any printed material that accompanies it. We did examples of several different types of sound recordings and you would think that the industry would display the "standard" items like title, series and such on each piece or container. But, like serials, we had a merry chase determing these things on some of the items in question.
As if that was not enough to drive any sane person to distraction, the sound cataloger has to decide if it is a collection of works, if the sound recording is dominated by a principal peformer or the work of one person or a corporate body. There is a decision tree for this, but 2 catalogers looking at the same piece might, justifiably, arrive at different conclusions.
It would seem that the largest print might be the title, right? Wrong. Apparently the largest or most prominent typeface may just be a performer or narrator and not actually the title itself.
Then we come to dates. Now, here is where things parallel serials quite well. In serials there is publication date and cover chronology. Publishers do not feel compelled to make sure these match. In sound recordings they have something similar -- there might be an original recording date and a release date. And to throw one more twist in, if the item is a spoken version of a book or play, there is also the date of the publication for the print item. And it is often left up to the mercy of the cataloger to figure out which is what. Again, there is the emphasis on using the piece in hand as your primary source of information. If there are dates with no notes next to them it can be tricky to figure out which date goes to the recording, the book/play and the release date.
As for mediums, the sound cataloger has more types to be potentially tortured by than serialists do. There is something called a playaway, which is a self-contained sound recording. They also have to deal with items on the internet, as well as 8 tracks, cassettes, something called dual discs, mini cds, dvd audios, cd-roms, midi files, mp3 files and shaped discs. Unlike serials, though, they might have to catalog each piece separately, even if it is in a series. The poor cataloger working with each of these items also has to describe the physical item as well, sometimes in a note when measurements do not make things clearer.
Oh, and did I mention that if it is a musical sound recording there are different rules for if the piece is an artist's interpretation of the work, like popular music, rock and jazz or if the performer is merely executing the work, like classical music? Or that if it is a book with a readalong sound component...it is up to the cataloger which is primary -- the book or the audio....And on it goes...!
I think there should be a retreat for befuddled serialists or sound catalogers. Those who strive valiantly in the cause of making items accessible to patrons, but who are inevitably driven to distraction or even insanity due to the publishers and distributors who endeavor to make themselves and their works as clear as mud as often as possible...!
Apparently, most of the cataloging for sound recordings is done from the piece in hand and not just copy cataloged. The information that is mandatory for each piece is sometimes not available since the cataloger is supposed to rely on the item itself (i.e. the cassette, CD, etc) and then go to the container and lastly resort to any printed material that accompanies it. We did examples of several different types of sound recordings and you would think that the industry would display the "standard" items like title, series and such on each piece or container. But, like serials, we had a merry chase determing these things on some of the items in question.
As if that was not enough to drive any sane person to distraction, the sound cataloger has to decide if it is a collection of works, if the sound recording is dominated by a principal peformer or the work of one person or a corporate body. There is a decision tree for this, but 2 catalogers looking at the same piece might, justifiably, arrive at different conclusions.
It would seem that the largest print might be the title, right? Wrong. Apparently the largest or most prominent typeface may just be a performer or narrator and not actually the title itself.
Then we come to dates. Now, here is where things parallel serials quite well. In serials there is publication date and cover chronology. Publishers do not feel compelled to make sure these match. In sound recordings they have something similar -- there might be an original recording date and a release date. And to throw one more twist in, if the item is a spoken version of a book or play, there is also the date of the publication for the print item. And it is often left up to the mercy of the cataloger to figure out which is what. Again, there is the emphasis on using the piece in hand as your primary source of information. If there are dates with no notes next to them it can be tricky to figure out which date goes to the recording, the book/play and the release date.
As for mediums, the sound cataloger has more types to be potentially tortured by than serialists do. There is something called a playaway, which is a self-contained sound recording. They also have to deal with items on the internet, as well as 8 tracks, cassettes, something called dual discs, mini cds, dvd audios, cd-roms, midi files, mp3 files and shaped discs. Unlike serials, though, they might have to catalog each piece separately, even if it is in a series. The poor cataloger working with each of these items also has to describe the physical item as well, sometimes in a note when measurements do not make things clearer.
Oh, and did I mention that if it is a musical sound recording there are different rules for if the piece is an artist's interpretation of the work, like popular music, rock and jazz or if the performer is merely executing the work, like classical music? Or that if it is a book with a readalong sound component...it is up to the cataloger which is primary -- the book or the audio....And on it goes...!
I think there should be a retreat for befuddled serialists or sound catalogers. Those who strive valiantly in the cause of making items accessible to patrons, but who are inevitably driven to distraction or even insanity due to the publishers and distributors who endeavor to make themselves and their works as clear as mud as often as possible...!
Newsflash...
If you work in serials, please sit down. You will not believe what I am about to relate!
I have worked in the quirky realm of serials with all of its oddities for just over nine years now. I have never come across a journal that changed its title AND a) warned its subscribers in advance b) warned them again when the first issue of the new title was sent and c) provided the new ISSN as well as d) information about the publication frequency and e) advised the subscribers about the changed appearance (size) too.
Normally, I try not to name journals by title, since I do not want to incur the wrath of the publishers...but since this is a miracle and the publisher shows not only forethought, but consideration of its subscribers...I will name the journal. The old title was Australian Meteorological Magazine and the new title is Australian Meteorological and Oceanographic Journal.
There is yet another strange twist to this. Apparently this journal is published by a *gasp* government department! Not only did the journal pre-plan its title change, but it was done in an efficient and timely manner by a government department....!
Sorry, just fell off my chair in disbelief as the realization of that last bit hit me.... The terms "efficient, timely, organized and journal" do not usually fall in the same sentence. Even much less likely is the linking of the phrase "published by a government department" to occur in the same sentence as well.
I do think that if a foreign government department can do this (warn subscribers of a title/size change AND publication frequency) in a mere insert that the other journal publishers should aspire to do so as well...! But alas, we all must have dreams...!
I have worked in the quirky realm of serials with all of its oddities for just over nine years now. I have never come across a journal that changed its title AND a) warned its subscribers in advance b) warned them again when the first issue of the new title was sent and c) provided the new ISSN as well as d) information about the publication frequency and e) advised the subscribers about the changed appearance (size) too.
Normally, I try not to name journals by title, since I do not want to incur the wrath of the publishers...but since this is a miracle and the publisher shows not only forethought, but consideration of its subscribers...I will name the journal. The old title was Australian Meteorological Magazine and the new title is Australian Meteorological and Oceanographic Journal.
There is yet another strange twist to this. Apparently this journal is published by a *gasp* government department! Not only did the journal pre-plan its title change, but it was done in an efficient and timely manner by a government department....!
Sorry, just fell off my chair in disbelief as the realization of that last bit hit me.... The terms "efficient, timely, organized and journal" do not usually fall in the same sentence. Even much less likely is the linking of the phrase "published by a government department" to occur in the same sentence as well.
I do think that if a foreign government department can do this (warn subscribers of a title/size change AND publication frequency) in a mere insert that the other journal publishers should aspire to do so as well...! But alas, we all must have dreams...!
6.04.2009
Cover chronology
There are days I think publishers enjoy torturing library staff with some of their odd decisions. I just received a journal that has the cover chronology v. 12 no. 2 Fall 2005. In the inside, of course, it admits to being published in 2009. At what point should publishers give up and send out a note to libraries and subscribers -- "sorry, we didn't publish between 2005 and 2009. We are now going to restart out cover chronology with v. 13 Spring 2009" and let the catalogers put a note in the record....and move forward....
That said, though, I am still waiting on a journal that suspended publishing back in 2003. It resumed publishing recently and changed publishers. It plans to keep its old cover chronology as well. *Sigh*
That said, though, I am still waiting on a journal that suspended publishing back in 2003. It resumed publishing recently and changed publishers. It plans to keep its old cover chronology as well. *Sigh*
Most Creative Use of Numeration Award goes to...!
I understand that some journals are not doing well financially and that submissions have not kept up with publication schedules. However, I do not think creating bizarre enumeration is the answer.
I have in hand a math journal that was behind in publishing. Instead of just waiting and publishing one issue and creating the cover chronology of v. 46/47 2008-09, which would have been the most sensible thing to do, they came up with a creative (read nightmarish) solution of their own.
Each new issue now says v. 46/47 Jan/Feb 2009 no. 1, v. 46/47 May/Jun 2009 no. 2 and such. I am grateful that I bind this journal and as soon as number 4 is in my hands, off it will go...and I will also change the MARC record to collapse these two volumes into one. Only math geniuses could be this creative in creating enumeration.
I have in hand a math journal that was behind in publishing. Instead of just waiting and publishing one issue and creating the cover chronology of v. 46/47 2008-09, which would have been the most sensible thing to do, they came up with a creative (read nightmarish) solution of their own.
Each new issue now says v. 46/47 Jan/Feb 2009 no. 1, v. 46/47 May/Jun 2009 no. 2 and such. I am grateful that I bind this journal and as soon as number 4 is in my hands, off it will go...and I will also change the MARC record to collapse these two volumes into one. Only math geniuses could be this creative in creating enumeration.
Recycling old journals
Due to space issues, we are recycling old journals that we have available through JSTOR and MUSE. It has been an interesting process. I felt badly, though, about all of those old journals being chopped up...and the beautiful buckram bindings going to waste. In a stroke of great luck, while reading a professional journal, I happened on a story about someone that makes old books into purses. So, as I have been weeding the stacks and recycling the journals, I have been keeping some back to make journal purses for presents. If you would like the instructions, just type "book purse" into a search engine and all sorts of great sites pop up...once I make my own this summer, I will post a photo.
5.05.2009
Popular magazine titles and chronology
There is something to be said for consistency and predictability.
I like the fact that Time, Newsweek, Sports Illustrated and such come out once a week. I appreciate the fact that the chonology is always on the cover.
However, someone needs to tell publishers that putting the date in the same place on the cover would be of great help to us that toil in libraries or educational institutions.
I was up in stacks pulling old issues of SI yesterday and having to hunt for the date on each cover -- noticing that it was not in the same place two weeks in a row. I only want to know WHY? Is it really so much work to change the date on the galley proof? It must not be all that difficult, because several other "news" magazines manage to place the correct date in the same place every two weeks...
I like the fact that Time, Newsweek, Sports Illustrated and such come out once a week. I appreciate the fact that the chonology is always on the cover.
However, someone needs to tell publishers that putting the date in the same place on the cover would be of great help to us that toil in libraries or educational institutions.
I was up in stacks pulling old issues of SI yesterday and having to hunt for the date on each cover -- noticing that it was not in the same place two weeks in a row. I only want to know WHY? Is it really so much work to change the date on the galley proof? It must not be all that difficult, because several other "news" magazines manage to place the correct date in the same place every two weeks...
2.19.2009
A new twist to bringing a title up to date
I just received a journal that says "v. 46/47 issue 1" and then there is a 2 page editor's note about how he hopes all of the subscribers support this decision...
The issue is less than 100 pages long and the journal is usually a quarterly, but they would like us to accept one issue instead of 5?
Very creative thinking. Especially since this is a higher math journal that deals with complex equations. I guess in their world 1+1 does not equal 2. They must have some unknown variable in there that changes the addition....magically.
So, I think it should be reclassified as a "magic" journal instead of a "math" journal. :)
2.05.2009
Top 5 annoyances for serials for 2009
On the fifth day of Christmas, my true love gave to me... Oops. Wrong season. Roses are Red, Violets are Blue, publishers are not sweet...
5) Changing formats and making the new one useless to libraries. (2 examples come to mind -- one has gone to pdf editions that will be emailed to the subscribers and the other is one that has gone to biweekly digital "updates" that require a single username and password)
4) Changing publication schedules from a regular one to an irregular one (This one is a newspaper that went from daily to "occassional" with no set pattern!)
3) One publisher selling all of its journals and content to another publisher and making the old content near to impossible to get to during the "transfer."
2) Size changes for no apparent reason and improvement in quality
But the number 1 annoyance for 2009 serials is... (drum roll...)
1) Publishers or editors that do not understand the REASON for Roman Numerals was for a "shorthand" and a "standardized" way of counting. Hence, XXXXVI does not exist. 3 X's in a row is the maximum. Weird versions of a number are also annoying -- hence "XLX" is mere nonsense. Yes, it does equal out to "50" if you do the math, but there is a REASON that "L" was put into the system!
I'm thinking Psalms are too complex a literary form for this publishing group. Maybe I can come up with a Limerick for March.
5) Changing formats and making the new one useless to libraries. (2 examples come to mind -- one has gone to pdf editions that will be emailed to the subscribers and the other is one that has gone to biweekly digital "updates" that require a single username and password)
4) Changing publication schedules from a regular one to an irregular one (This one is a newspaper that went from daily to "occassional" with no set pattern!)
3) One publisher selling all of its journals and content to another publisher and making the old content near to impossible to get to during the "transfer."
2) Size changes for no apparent reason and improvement in quality
But the number 1 annoyance for 2009 serials is... (drum roll...)
1) Publishers or editors that do not understand the REASON for Roman Numerals was for a "shorthand" and a "standardized" way of counting. Hence, XXXXVI does not exist. 3 X's in a row is the maximum. Weird versions of a number are also annoying -- hence "XLX" is mere nonsense. Yes, it does equal out to "50" if you do the math, but there is a REASON that "L" was put into the system!
I'm thinking Psalms are too complex a literary form for this publishing group. Maybe I can come up with a Limerick for March.
1.21.2009
Psalm of Journals
Woe be it unto the publisher who makes changes without informing the library community. Wrath should be poured out upon those that change sizes in the middle of the volume. Chaff is what shall be called those that change names and format, but keep the same numbering. Fire and brimstone should reign down on those that change publishers in the middle of the academic year and content becomes electronically impossible. The whirlwind will be reaped by all of these fallen publishers. Yea, though the library worker shall walk through the shadowed valley among these legions -- at the reckoning the fallen shall be called out and condemned to an eternity of using papyrus to produce their journals which will catch fire upon completion and lock them in a never-publishing cycle of torment. Gnashing of teeth and rending of garments will be done by the publishers and though they will call out -- no library worker will save them from the everlasting fire and their names shall be stricken out first when budgets are cut and they shall publish no more forever.
Amen.
Amen.
1.14.2009
Roman Numerals
I can understand the confusion about some of the Roman Numeral rules. Especially the one about the "X" and not using more than 3. However, I received 2! related publications in the post today that makes me think that Roman Numerals should be taught in math classes in primary and secondary schools once again. What, exactly, is the point of putting "XLX"? The volume number should be 50 and that's what this one winds up being -- but how obtuse can you get?!
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