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Government publications to the library community
Tools of the Serials Trade
Government Publications to the Library Community Jerry Frumkin Bernan Associates was founded in 1952 in response to the decision by Superintendent of Documents of the U.S. Government Printing Office to discontinue its standing order service. Automation was unavailable at that time, and the GPO determined it could no longer economically provide its standing order service under a manual system. Offering an alternative to the library c o m m u n i t y by starting a similar service, Bernan has now grown to provide a government publications standing order service to over 4,500 libraries in the U.S. and Canada. Bernan Associates' service is analogous to that offered by GPO to 1,300 or more federally appointed depository libraries. Over 1,000 U.S. government titles are offered by Bernan on an automatic delivery basis. Initial standing order selections are made by prospective users from Bernan's various select catalogs - general, medical, or law, and its complete catalog of over 1,000 titles. Once a library opens an account with Bernan, its standing order requirements are entered into Bernan's data system and a confirmation is returned listing the recently released editions. This allows each new library to verify its current holdings and determine which items should be ordered to complete its files. It is then Bernan's responsibility to see that newly released publications flow promptly to libraries requiring them. Thus, libraries are assured of receiving needed publications automatically - as quickly as they come o f f the government presses - with no further effort on their parts. Equally important, publications are priced by Bernan at the agency-established list price, with no postage or handling charges added. Only in the case Frumkin is Director for Bernan Associates in Lanham, MD.
52
SERIALS REVIEW
WINTER 1983
of very low-priced publications is there a small additional postage and handling charge. Bernan's staff concentrates its resources in monitoring new releases from the government in a number o f ways. They continually check the various awareness tools of the Superintendent of Documents and various agency announcements and publication listings. Finally, calls are made periodically to the various agencies responsible for publishing to assure that required publications have not been missed. The diversity of the U.S. government's authority and responsibilities implies a similar diversity in the scope of the publications Bernan handles. However, if there is one area in which Bernan has attempted to specialize, it is the many products of the Bureau of the Census. Bernan makes available to library clients standing orders for all major censuses: the Decennial Censuses, Economic Censuses, Agriculture, Government, and so on. Bernan monitors the o u t p u t of these series, whether preliminary, advance, final paper reports, or hard-bound volumes; provides updated announcement services; and supplies on an individual or complete series basis those reports required b y its clients. In the past, Bernan, in association with Kraus-Thomson of Millwood, NY, bound sets of the Economic Censuses, when it appeared that the GPO and the Bureau o f the Census would n o t do so. More recently, Bernan has undertaken to fill voids in the Decennial Census where it sees a significant need. Bernan's staff is currently microfiching six major 1980 Census of Population and Housing series - not available in microfiche from the Bureau o f the Census or the GPO. Also in preparation is a new CONGRESSIONAL D I S T R I C T D A T A BOOK, a result o f the 1980 Decennial Census. The Bureau of the Census, due to budget constraints, will not be
publishing this volume. Bernan, after discussions with the Bureau, will issue this publication jointly with Kraus-Thomson in the fall of 1983. In recent years, due to government cutbacks in publishing, Bernan has had to check constantly many of its over 1,000 U.S. government standing order series to ascertain what publications have ceased; what publication schedules have been delayed; or, what publications are being distributed by agencies other than the Superintendent of Documents or the National Technical Information Service. Bernan feels that it is its responsibility to make every effort to assure continuity of service for standing order titles, no matter how the publications are made available. If a publication is available for sale by the Superintendent of Documents or NTIS, Bernan routinely obtains stock from either. However, if not available for sale, stock is obtained from the agency. A recent addition to Bernan's library service has been its "slip program." Monthly mailings to the library community served, in addition to information regarding newly established standing order series, include 70 to 80 individual announcement slips, each containing information on a newly-issued government one-time/ad hoc publication not covered under the standing order service and including an abstract, pricing, and ordering information. Bernan now announces about 1,000 new publications yearly, and will expand this as more important publications are brought into its system. More recently, Bernan's service has expanded to include publications of other governments and international organizations. Traditionally, it handled only
documents available from the U.S. government: the Superintendent of Documents, NTIS, and the Bureau of the Census. Four years ago, however, publications of the United Nations and of the government of Canada were added. In the past year, publications of the Organisation for Economic Cooperation and Development (OECD), International Labour Organisation (ILO), International Monetary Fund (IMF), and World Bank have been added. As of January, 1983, with Kraus-Thomson of Millwood, NY, Bernan was appointed the official North American distributor for Britain's Her Majesty's Stationery Office (HMSO). Finally, it has recently added the European Communities (EC) publications. Bernan Associates is pleased with this opportunity to meet further the needs of the many libraries served. Its future plans are to make available two standing order groupings: first, a catalog for U.S. government publications, and, second, a catalog of those international organizations whose publications it handles. This will include publications of Great Britain and Canada, as well as the United Nations, ILO, OECD, World Bank, IMF, and EC. It hopes to develop further and expand its service in this area. In addition to these standing order groups, it will continue to add to its awareness service newly released titles available from all the organizations served - this will be available on a one-time basis. Bernan trusts that these combined services will greatly enhance its ability to provide library clients with an expanded awareness and fulfillment service for a significant grouping of national and international agencies.
S E R I A L S REVIEW
WINTER 1983
53
Government Publications to the Library Community Jerry Frumkin Bernan Associates was founded in 1952 in response to the decision by Superintendent of Documents of the U.S. Government Printing Office to discontinue its standing order service. Automation was unavailable at that time, and the GPO determined it could no longer economically provide its standing order service under a manual system. Offering an alternative to the library c o m m u n i t y by starting a similar service, Bernan has now grown to provide a government publications standing order service to over 4,500 libraries in the U.S. and Canada. Bernan Associates' service is analogous to that offered by GPO to 1,300 or more federally appointed depository libraries. Over 1,000 U.S. government titles are offered by Bernan on an automatic delivery basis. Initial standing order selections are made by prospective users from Bernan's various select catalogs - general, medical, or law, and its complete catalog of over 1,000 titles. Once a library opens an account with Bernan, its standing order requirements are entered into Bernan's data system and a confirmation is returned listing the recently released editions. This allows each new library to verify its current holdings and determine which items should be ordered to complete its files. It is then Bernan's responsibility to see that newly released publications flow promptly to libraries requiring them. Thus, libraries are assured of receiving needed publications automatically - as quickly as they come o f f the government presses - with no further effort on their parts. Equally important, publications are priced by Bernan at the agency-established list price, with no postage or handling charges added. Only in the case Frumkin is Director for Bernan Associates in Lanham, MD.
52
SERIALS REVIEW
WINTER 1983
of very low-priced publications is there a small additional postage and handling charge. Bernan's staff concentrates its resources in monitoring new releases from the government in a number o f ways. They continually check the various awareness tools of the Superintendent of Documents and various agency announcements and publication listings. Finally, calls are made periodically to the various agencies responsible for publishing to assure that required publications have not been missed. The diversity of the U.S. government's authority and responsibilities implies a similar diversity in the scope of the publications Bernan handles. However, if there is one area in which Bernan has attempted to specialize, it is the many products of the Bureau of the Census. Bernan makes available to library clients standing orders for all major censuses: the Decennial Censuses, Economic Censuses, Agriculture, Government, and so on. Bernan monitors the o u t p u t of these series, whether preliminary, advance, final paper reports, or hard-bound volumes; provides updated announcement services; and supplies on an individual or complete series basis those reports required b y its clients. In the past, Bernan, in association with Kraus-Thomson of Millwood, NY, bound sets of the Economic Censuses, when it appeared that the GPO and the Bureau o f the Census would n o t do so. More recently, Bernan has undertaken to fill voids in the Decennial Census where it sees a significant need. Bernan's staff is currently microfiching six major 1980 Census of Population and Housing series - not available in microfiche from the Bureau o f the Census or the GPO. Also in preparation is a new CONGRESSIONAL D I S T R I C T D A T A BOOK, a result o f the 1980 Decennial Census. The Bureau of the Census, due to budget constraints, will not be
publishing this volume. Bernan, after discussions with the Bureau, will issue this publication jointly with Kraus-Thomson in the fall of 1983. In recent years, due to government cutbacks in publishing, Bernan has had to check constantly many of its over 1,000 U.S. government standing order series to ascertain what publications have ceased; what publication schedules have been delayed; or, what publications are being distributed by agencies other than the Superintendent of Documents or the National Technical Information Service. Bernan feels that it is its responsibility to make every effort to assure continuity of service for standing order titles, no matter how the publications are made available. If a publication is available for sale by the Superintendent of Documents or NTIS, Bernan routinely obtains stock from either. However, if not available for sale, stock is obtained from the agency. A recent addition to Bernan's library service has been its "slip program." Monthly mailings to the library community served, in addition to information regarding newly established standing order series, include 70 to 80 individual announcement slips, each containing information on a newly-issued government one-time/ad hoc publication not covered under the standing order service and including an abstract, pricing, and ordering information. Bernan now announces about 1,000 new publications yearly, and will expand this as more important publications are brought into its system. More recently, Bernan's service has expanded to include publications of other governments and international organizations. Traditionally, it handled only
documents available from the U.S. government: the Superintendent of Documents, NTIS, and the Bureau of the Census. Four years ago, however, publications of the United Nations and of the government of Canada were added. In the past year, publications of the Organisation for Economic Cooperation and Development (OECD), International Labour Organisation (ILO), International Monetary Fund (IMF), and World Bank have been added. As of January, 1983, with Kraus-Thomson of Millwood, NY, Bernan was appointed the official North American distributor for Britain's Her Majesty's Stationery Office (HMSO). Finally, it has recently added the European Communities (EC) publications. Bernan Associates is pleased with this opportunity to meet further the needs of the many libraries served. Its future plans are to make available two standing order groupings: first, a catalog for U.S. government publications, and, second, a catalog of those international organizations whose publications it handles. This will include publications of Great Britain and Canada, as well as the United Nations, ILO, OECD, World Bank, IMF, and EC. It hopes to develop further and expand its service in this area. In addition to these standing order groups, it will continue to add to its awareness service newly released titles available from all the organizations served - this will be available on a one-time basis. Bernan trusts that these combined services will greatly enhance its ability to provide library clients with an expanded awareness and fulfillment service for a significant grouping of national and international agencies.
S E R I A L S REVIEW
WINTER 1983
53