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....
Showing posts with label publishers. Show all posts
Showing posts with label publishers. Show all posts
11.19.2009
6.23.2009
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*
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.
1.14.2009
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?!
12.18.2008
New and Interesting twist to Enumeration
This has got to be a new occurence....even for the serials world.
"T....is published monthly in January, February, March, April, May, September, October and November/December by the Association for Career and Technical Education Inc...."
Ok. I count up to 8. Why do I have v. 83 no. 9 January 2009 in my hand? The only thing I can figure is that each year issues are pushed onto the next year till they hit 9. That is going to make it fun in 2009 --- February will be v. 84 no. 1, January 2010 will be no. 8 and February 2010 will be no. 9....making v. 85 no. 1 start in March 2010.
Maybe it's an oversight and the publishers are in the middle of changing enumeration and months to match and 2009 will be an anomaly and 2010 will be perfectly normal and logical in its numbering....!?
"T....is published monthly in January, February, March, April, May, September, October and November/December by the Association for Career and Technical Education Inc...."
Ok. I count up to 8. Why do I have v. 83 no. 9 January 2009 in my hand? The only thing I can figure is that each year issues are pushed onto the next year till they hit 9. That is going to make it fun in 2009 --- February will be v. 84 no. 1, January 2010 will be no. 8 and February 2010 will be no. 9....making v. 85 no. 1 start in March 2010.
Maybe it's an oversight and the publishers are in the middle of changing enumeration and months to match and 2009 will be an anomaly and 2010 will be perfectly normal and logical in its numbering....!?
12.11.2008
Hope Springs Eternal
It is that time of year in the library industry where old records, subscriptions and such wrap up and new ones crop up....
Another one of those things that is good in *theory* but not in practice.... at least it doesn't work *quite* that way in the world of serials.
Our library is now receiving January, February and March 2009 issues for some of our magazines....conversely, we just received one with the cover chronology of 2006.
Last week I received one with a cover chronology of 1999... What this means is that we've now paid for all of the extra years of those journals that have yet to be published and *hope* that they are published at some point.
Usually after 5 or 6 years our vendor puts a note on the relevant title "order when current" and merely holds on to the funds instead of sending them to the publisher. However, that has a problem all of its own. If the vendor does not realize that Journal XYZ has resumed publication (as they are wont to do) or has combined a bunch of years into one volume with an editor's note "We apologize to our readers about being behind on publishing. In order to get us back on track, there will be 4 combined volumes published this year...v. 34 1/4 1999, v. 35 1/4 2000...." And yes, this does happen -- more than one would expect!
In addition, there are the journals with odd subscription years that inevitably get caught out during a renewal...One journal has its renewal period that starts in November for the next year. So when we pay our renewal for January-December, we sometimes miss issues for January and February because the publisher didn't receive our funds in time for their deadline (even though we have had an ongoing subscription to this title for 50 years+).
Some journals that we would like to cancel, we get stuck with for an additional year because of their cancellation policies "can only be cancelled during the beginning of a calendar year...can only be cancelled within 3 months of subscription....can only be cancelled prior to the academic year....etc."
With apologies to Robert Burns...:
Should auld journals be forgot,And never brought to mind ?Should auld journals be forgot,And days o' lang syne?
Another one of those things that is good in *theory* but not in practice.... at least it doesn't work *quite* that way in the world of serials.
Our library is now receiving January, February and March 2009 issues for some of our magazines....conversely, we just received one with the cover chronology of 2006.
Last week I received one with a cover chronology of 1999... What this means is that we've now paid for all of the extra years of those journals that have yet to be published and *hope* that they are published at some point.
Usually after 5 or 6 years our vendor puts a note on the relevant title "order when current" and merely holds on to the funds instead of sending them to the publisher. However, that has a problem all of its own. If the vendor does not realize that Journal XYZ has resumed publication (as they are wont to do) or has combined a bunch of years into one volume with an editor's note "We apologize to our readers about being behind on publishing. In order to get us back on track, there will be 4 combined volumes published this year...v. 34 1/4 1999, v. 35 1/4 2000...." And yes, this does happen -- more than one would expect!
In addition, there are the journals with odd subscription years that inevitably get caught out during a renewal...One journal has its renewal period that starts in November for the next year. So when we pay our renewal for January-December, we sometimes miss issues for January and February because the publisher didn't receive our funds in time for their deadline (even though we have had an ongoing subscription to this title for 50 years+).
Some journals that we would like to cancel, we get stuck with for an additional year because of their cancellation policies "can only be cancelled during the beginning of a calendar year...can only be cancelled within 3 months of subscription....can only be cancelled prior to the academic year....etc."
With apologies to Robert Burns...:
Should auld journals be forgot,And never brought to mind ?Should auld journals be forgot,And days o' lang syne?
10.24.2008
Magazine makeovers and new editors
Anytime I get a letter from a publication that says something about a new editor or a new direction, I cringe. I cringe because I know what will be next -- a makeover, a name change, a format change, a new publisher, a size change and occassionally spin off titles with new issns.
It seems to be the season for makeovers. A couple of our journals have converted to online-only this year. A couple of our journals have changed sizes in the MIDDLE of the volume, which is a problem for binding purposes. An entire collection of our journals was purchased from one publisher to another and is changing where they are going to be available online. And then there is the publisher that has issued an oversized magazine since it was created and just this week decided to change sizes, its layout and went from staples to perfect binding...
I just wonder, at times like this, if the publishers have ever heard the phrase "if it ain't broken, don't fix it?"
It seems to be the season for makeovers. A couple of our journals have converted to online-only this year. A couple of our journals have changed sizes in the MIDDLE of the volume, which is a problem for binding purposes. An entire collection of our journals was purchased from one publisher to another and is changing where they are going to be available online. And then there is the publisher that has issued an oversized magazine since it was created and just this week decided to change sizes, its layout and went from staples to perfect binding...
I just wonder, at times like this, if the publishers have ever heard the phrase "if it ain't broken, don't fix it?"
7.23.2008
"Special Issues" and "Supplements"
Special Issues and Supplements can serve the same purpose: being devoted to one topic or expounding on a topic from a "regular" issue and that is what they should be used for.
Special Issues should not be so designated if it is a regular occurence (every 2nd issue of a volume for example) and there is no difference from a "regular" issue -- not even in numbering.
Supplements should not be issued at bizarre intervals from the main volume -- 2 or more years after the volume is published for example...!
Special Issues should not be so designated if it is a regular occurence (every 2nd issue of a volume for example) and there is no difference from a "regular" issue -- not even in numbering.
Supplements should not be issued at bizarre intervals from the main volume -- 2 or more years after the volume is published for example...!
Publication statements
The absurdities of publishing can be seen if one is to just look at publication statements from publishers...they can include useful information, but sometimes they just leave one more baffled... See some examples below:
In a mathematics magazine:
"...is published monthly except June and July, with a combined December/January issue..."
This one is actually a great example of what publishers should do:
"...is published in September, November, January, March and May..."
From a theological journal:
"...is published monthly except for combined issues in June/July and August/September..."
And then there is the disclaimer statement:
"...is published when enough material is available to warrant an issue..."
Tune in next time for fun with "submission guidelines."
In a mathematics magazine:
"...is published monthly except June and July, with a combined December/January issue..."
This one is actually a great example of what publishers should do:
"...is published in September, November, January, March and May..."
From a theological journal:
"...is published monthly except for combined issues in June/July and August/September..."
And then there is the disclaimer statement:
"...is published when enough material is available to warrant an issue..."
Tune in next time for fun with "submission guidelines."
7.10.2008
Serials in other formats
Serials are a bit of a challenge when presented in formats other than print. Space issues demand that other formats exist. But there are issues that arise.
- Databases don't always include graphics or tables. Also, due to the Tasini case, some freelance work is not included in proprietary databases (though that may change due to the recent ruling in the Georgia case on e-reserves). Additionally, product ads, classified ads and stock tickers are often not included. These exclusions make it a challenge for patrons that are looking for those items and access is not available.
- Microforms are actually a great format, but some in the library community keep trying to sound the death knell of these formats because of digitization. I've been in serials for 8 years and we just bought yet another microform reading machine and so I am skeptical about the impending obsolescence of this material type. The machine we bought will allow editing and saving as .pdf files and that has come in handy.
- Electronic access to publisher sites through urls are problematic and depend on a whole host of issues in order to make sure that access is kept available and consistent.
I know that "print" serials will disappear, but access to the other formats of serials will also become obsolete and we will still need ways to utilize those "older" formats and access the same information contained there. Not to sound like a troglodyte, but it is so much easier to "access" information if you can go to the shelf, pull down the volume and open it to the correct page.
7.09.2008
Editors, Publishers and Numbering
There must be a place in the universe somewhere that editors gather and conspire on making arbitrary changes to serials that will frustrate library workers. It would amuse me to be able to work for a publisher for 6 months or so to see if decisions really are carefully thought out or completely arbitrary in some cases.
One case that comes to mind is the weekly magazine that changed publishers and decided to start over with volume 1 at that point. The magazine got so many complaints about this decision (from libraries) that after volume 3 it went back to the old numbering as if volumes 1 through 3 never existed and there had been continuous numbering all along (it was on volume 176 when it changed publishers and went to volume 180 right after year 3). I can imagine what a mess this made for catalogers since it certainly made trying to get the MARC records to display correctly in the ILS a challenge.
Another journal, this time in the science field, that caused great concern was one that just dropped all numbering and chronology altogether. After 3 or 4 months the publisher did put the chronology back onto the cover, but it made it hard to check in an item that had no enumeration and no chronology! The journal editor did write a piece in one of the issues about why the change was made -- to make the journal appear current no matter when someone picked it up.
One case that comes to mind is the weekly magazine that changed publishers and decided to start over with volume 1 at that point. The magazine got so many complaints about this decision (from libraries) that after volume 3 it went back to the old numbering as if volumes 1 through 3 never existed and there had been continuous numbering all along (it was on volume 176 when it changed publishers and went to volume 180 right after year 3). I can imagine what a mess this made for catalogers since it certainly made trying to get the MARC records to display correctly in the ILS a challenge.
Another journal, this time in the science field, that caused great concern was one that just dropped all numbering and chronology altogether. After 3 or 4 months the publisher did put the chronology back onto the cover, but it made it hard to check in an item that had no enumeration and no chronology! The journal editor did write a piece in one of the issues about why the change was made -- to make the journal appear current no matter when someone picked it up.
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