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The future of serials: Proceedings of the North American Serials Interest Group, Inc.
Library Acquisitions: Practice & Theory, Vol. 16, pp. 331-339, 1992 Printed in the USA. All rights reserved.
03~64ow92 $5.00 + .oo Copyright 0 1992 Pergamon Press Ltd.
THE REVIEW SECTION
The Future of Serials: Proceedings of the North American &rikds Interest Group, Inc. Edited by Patricia Oh1 Rice and Jane A. Robillard. New York: Haworth Press, 1991. 260 pp. :;Z&95. ISBN l-56024-081-4. Published also as The Serials Librarian, volume 19, no. 3/4,
This volume contains the proceedings of the fifth annual North American Serials Interest Group (NASIG) conference, which was held at Brock University in Saint Catharines, Ontario, Canada, June 2-5, 1990. NASIG conferences enjoy an enviable reputation as one of the best values for serials meetings currently held, and these papers reflect the care NASIG takes in planning its program. While the emphasis in this volume is on the Canadian perspective of the serials information chain (due to the location of the meeting), there is something of interest for everyone. Lucretia McClure’s keynote address reviews and reiterates the many problems with the scholarly publishing system. She emphatically urges us to strive for quality in our collections, not quantity. While these themes may be prevalent in today’s literature, McClure has articulated these ideas in a clear and well-organized fashion. Her paper is worth sharing with faculty and administration. The next several papers reflect the program’s emphasis on the Canadian perspective. Gayle Garlock from the University of Toronto describes the difficulty Canadians face in purchasing library materials since over 90% of their purchases are published outside Canada. He relates some uniquely Canadian attempts to deal with the pricing crisis. Brenda Hurst describes the activities of the Canadian Institute for Scientific and Technical Information (CISTI), an important Canadian national resource for scientific and technical materials. Becky Rogers and Patricia Greig report on their attempt to develop a Canadian periodical price index based on the U.S. model used by the Association for Library Collections and Technical Services (ALCTS) Library Materials Price Index Committee. Another paper by two librarians in Newfoundland describes their efforts to evaluate the cost effectiveness of journals by determining their cost per use. Prices of scientific, technical, and agricultural journals for the period 1%7 through 1987 examined in a price study conducted at Utah State University, are discussed by Marks and Nielsen. The peer review process is explored from several viewpoints, including a survey on the mechanics of the process. The subject of peer review has not received much attention in library literature to date, so this collection of papers is an important addition to our literature. Frederick (Fritz) Schwartz and Patricia Sabosik bring us into the electronic age with their respective papers on Electronic Data Interchange (EDI) and the electronic subscription. While the main body of the Schwartz paper covers the ANSI Xl2 pilot project at the Faxon Co., his introduction on ED1 in general is excellent. An element of controversy is introduced by Sheila Intner’s call for “A New Paradigm for Access to Serials.” She advocates that libraries provide greater access at the article level in their catalogs, thus allowing for cancellation of printed indexing services to fund the extra cataloging efforts. 331
332
The Review Section
The final paper by Jan Anderson presents the somewhat naive and Pollyanna view that a new electronic system of information delivery will solve the publishing and pricing crisis. Unfortunately, new technology alone will not be able to solve this complex problem. Reports of 18 workshops are also included, with topics ranging from CONSER and SISAC to looseleafs and title changes to the USMARC Format for Holdings and Location and serials conversion. Only an inkling of the importance of the workshops is evident in the published proceedings, their real value lies in the discussion and interaction among the participants. In general, the papers and reports are well written, although some obviously were more thoroughly researched than others. There are several excellent bibliographies associated with some papers, and an index to the volume is included. This volume is a worthwhile addition to any library studies collection, or a serials librarian’s working library. In spite of Haworth’s deplorable policy of issuing these proceedings in both monographic format and as a journal issue, I would recommend separate purchase of the monograph. NASIG plays too important a role in the serials universe to ignore any of its published proceedings. Susan Davis Head, Periodicals Central Technical Services State University of New York at Buffalo Buffalo, NY 14260
Video Policies and Procedures for Librarh. By James C. Scholtz. Santa Barbara, CA: ABCCLIO, 1991. xvii, 265 pp. $40.95. ISBN O-87436-582-1. Scholtz, a prolific writer on the administrative aspects of video librarianship, traces this book to his previous work, Developing and Maintaining Video Collections in Libraries. Since its publication in 1987, he has been a frequent presenter at national and local conferences and has pressed his ear to the ground for the rumble of troublesome issues in managing video collections. According to Scholtz, his audiences, and the membership of ALA’s Video Interest Group, the loudest rackets were selection, censorship, security, and copyright. The present book responds with chapters on the philosophy and preparation of video policy statements on collection development, selection, circulation and use, copyright compliance, and intellectual freedom. The theme and rationale for delivering a hefty text on such complex and subjective questions can be combined into the single belief that “video cannot be viewed as a special, often ephermeral medium; it must be channeled into the mainstream of library service and collections.” For policymakers, this means thoroughly revising written documents to recognize the dual nature of video; that is, to take into account the technical differences video presents as a nonbook item, while at the same moment treating its contents with the same conventions as text. This paradox lays the groundwork for a lengthy chapter on collection development and selection policies that constitutes almost half of the book’s length. In order to integrate video into a library’s service philosophy, one must begin at ground zero and examine selection, acquisition, and evaluation policies. Scholtz covers this ground in some detail, mixing passages that summarize a lot of basic material on collection development and that hit the high spots of the literature, with excerpts of model and working policy statements. These documents are offered to illustrate different approaches taken by a variety of librar-
03~64ow92 $5.00 + .oo Copyright 0 1992 Pergamon Press Ltd.
THE REVIEW SECTION
The Future of Serials: Proceedings of the North American &rikds Interest Group, Inc. Edited by Patricia Oh1 Rice and Jane A. Robillard. New York: Haworth Press, 1991. 260 pp. :;Z&95. ISBN l-56024-081-4. Published also as The Serials Librarian, volume 19, no. 3/4,
This volume contains the proceedings of the fifth annual North American Serials Interest Group (NASIG) conference, which was held at Brock University in Saint Catharines, Ontario, Canada, June 2-5, 1990. NASIG conferences enjoy an enviable reputation as one of the best values for serials meetings currently held, and these papers reflect the care NASIG takes in planning its program. While the emphasis in this volume is on the Canadian perspective of the serials information chain (due to the location of the meeting), there is something of interest for everyone. Lucretia McClure’s keynote address reviews and reiterates the many problems with the scholarly publishing system. She emphatically urges us to strive for quality in our collections, not quantity. While these themes may be prevalent in today’s literature, McClure has articulated these ideas in a clear and well-organized fashion. Her paper is worth sharing with faculty and administration. The next several papers reflect the program’s emphasis on the Canadian perspective. Gayle Garlock from the University of Toronto describes the difficulty Canadians face in purchasing library materials since over 90% of their purchases are published outside Canada. He relates some uniquely Canadian attempts to deal with the pricing crisis. Brenda Hurst describes the activities of the Canadian Institute for Scientific and Technical Information (CISTI), an important Canadian national resource for scientific and technical materials. Becky Rogers and Patricia Greig report on their attempt to develop a Canadian periodical price index based on the U.S. model used by the Association for Library Collections and Technical Services (ALCTS) Library Materials Price Index Committee. Another paper by two librarians in Newfoundland describes their efforts to evaluate the cost effectiveness of journals by determining their cost per use. Prices of scientific, technical, and agricultural journals for the period 1%7 through 1987 examined in a price study conducted at Utah State University, are discussed by Marks and Nielsen. The peer review process is explored from several viewpoints, including a survey on the mechanics of the process. The subject of peer review has not received much attention in library literature to date, so this collection of papers is an important addition to our literature. Frederick (Fritz) Schwartz and Patricia Sabosik bring us into the electronic age with their respective papers on Electronic Data Interchange (EDI) and the electronic subscription. While the main body of the Schwartz paper covers the ANSI Xl2 pilot project at the Faxon Co., his introduction on ED1 in general is excellent. An element of controversy is introduced by Sheila Intner’s call for “A New Paradigm for Access to Serials.” She advocates that libraries provide greater access at the article level in their catalogs, thus allowing for cancellation of printed indexing services to fund the extra cataloging efforts. 331
332
The Review Section
The final paper by Jan Anderson presents the somewhat naive and Pollyanna view that a new electronic system of information delivery will solve the publishing and pricing crisis. Unfortunately, new technology alone will not be able to solve this complex problem. Reports of 18 workshops are also included, with topics ranging from CONSER and SISAC to looseleafs and title changes to the USMARC Format for Holdings and Location and serials conversion. Only an inkling of the importance of the workshops is evident in the published proceedings, their real value lies in the discussion and interaction among the participants. In general, the papers and reports are well written, although some obviously were more thoroughly researched than others. There are several excellent bibliographies associated with some papers, and an index to the volume is included. This volume is a worthwhile addition to any library studies collection, or a serials librarian’s working library. In spite of Haworth’s deplorable policy of issuing these proceedings in both monographic format and as a journal issue, I would recommend separate purchase of the monograph. NASIG plays too important a role in the serials universe to ignore any of its published proceedings. Susan Davis Head, Periodicals Central Technical Services State University of New York at Buffalo Buffalo, NY 14260
Video Policies and Procedures for Librarh. By James C. Scholtz. Santa Barbara, CA: ABCCLIO, 1991. xvii, 265 pp. $40.95. ISBN O-87436-582-1. Scholtz, a prolific writer on the administrative aspects of video librarianship, traces this book to his previous work, Developing and Maintaining Video Collections in Libraries. Since its publication in 1987, he has been a frequent presenter at national and local conferences and has pressed his ear to the ground for the rumble of troublesome issues in managing video collections. According to Scholtz, his audiences, and the membership of ALA’s Video Interest Group, the loudest rackets were selection, censorship, security, and copyright. The present book responds with chapters on the philosophy and preparation of video policy statements on collection development, selection, circulation and use, copyright compliance, and intellectual freedom. The theme and rationale for delivering a hefty text on such complex and subjective questions can be combined into the single belief that “video cannot be viewed as a special, often ephermeral medium; it must be channeled into the mainstream of library service and collections.” For policymakers, this means thoroughly revising written documents to recognize the dual nature of video; that is, to take into account the technical differences video presents as a nonbook item, while at the same moment treating its contents with the same conventions as text. This paradox lays the groundwork for a lengthy chapter on collection development and selection policies that constitutes almost half of the book’s length. In order to integrate video into a library’s service philosophy, one must begin at ground zero and examine selection, acquisition, and evaluation policies. Scholtz covers this ground in some detail, mixing passages that summarize a lot of basic material on collection development and that hit the high spots of the literature, with excerpts of model and working policy statements. These documents are offered to illustrate different approaches taken by a variety of librar-