Tis the season

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...

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....

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...!

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"!

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"!

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.

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*