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Serials replacement orders: A closer look
Serials Replacement Orders: A Closer Look
Geraldine F. Pionessa Introduction
P i o n e s s a is a library assistant and a graduate library student at the University of Arizona Library, Serials Department, Tucson, Arizona.
Acknowledgments: The author wishes to thank J. Travis Leach, Karen Dalziel Tallman, and the rest of the U A L Serials Department for their encouragement and support while writing this paper.
In most libraries streamlined procedures exist for placing subscriptions and standing orders for periodicals and serials. Every aspect of these orders, including searching and verification, inputting, printing purchase orders, receiving, and claiming, follows a well-established routine, whether on a manual or automated system. But there is another category of orders whose procedures may not be as well established. These are serials replacement orders (hereafter referred to as "replacement orders" and more fully defined in the next section). Special procedures must be followed to handle the idiosyncracies of replacement orders since they are more like monographic firm orders than subscriptions or standing orders. Yet replacement issues must be checked in and processed like any other serials, and in many cases they must be prepaid like subscriptions. Adjustments to the standard serials acquisition process for subscriptions and standing orders must be made if a library is to be successful in acquiring replacements. As Osborn states, "Acquisition...routines should be streamlined to permit essential ordering of this kind to be carried on in a routine fashion. ,,1 However, although a library already may have well-established replacement routines, automation of serials control, or the necessity of changing from one automated system to another, may render these procedures obsolete and necessitate the formulation of new policies and procedures to fit the new circumstances.
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U n f o r t u n a t e l y , looking to the literature for guidance or inspiration is almost useless since little has b e e n written about serials replacements. In some of the serials m a n a g e m e n t "bibles," they are treated in a p a r a g r a p h or two, but there is little discussion o f a practical or e v e n theoretical nature concerning these orders. This is also the case in current journals on librarianship. Perhaps this lack of written material parallels an historical lack of interest on the part of librarians concerning this topic. H o w e v e r , the recent emphasis placed on serials budget analysis in light o f current inflationary trends d e m a n d s scrutiny of each unit of serials expenditures, including r e p l a c e m e n t costs. ARL (Association of Research Libraries) libraries m a y spend substantial amounts f o r r e p l a c e m e n t issues each year; sharing i n f o r m a t i o n on this topic m a y result in i m p r o v e d procedures, reduced costs, and greater success rates. This p a p e r will address some of the practical issues and p r o c e d u r e s involved in ordering replacements, then discuss p r o b l e m s associated with the process, o f f e r solutions based upon o n - t h e - j o b experience, and finally look m o r e closely at the i m pact of such a l a b o r - i n t e n s i v e process on library m a n a g e m e n t decisions. The U n i v e r s i t y of A r i z o n a L i b r a r y used a manual system of c h e c k - i n cards until i m p l e m e n t i n g the I N N O V A C Q a u t o m a t e d acquisition and serials control system in M a r c h 1986. Not until J a n u a r y 1987 were replacements o r d e r e d online. Since v a r ious a u t o m a t e d systems d i f f e r widely in order, claim, receipt, and p a y m e n t procedures, an a t t e m p t will be m a d e to discuss the underlying principles of the r e p l a c e m e n t process rather than procedures specific to any one system. What Is a R e p l a c e m e n t ? A c c o r d i n g to The ALA Glossary of Library and Information Science, a r e p l a c e m e n t is "the substitution of another c o p y of an item for one no longer in a library. ''~ In serials jargon, the t e r m "replacement" refers to an order and p a y m e n t for periodical or serial issues that were received and then subsequently lost or mutilated, and that are needed to complete a binding unit. This d e f inition m a y be e x p a n d e d to include those issues that have been p r e p a i d but n e v e r received although claimed or requested several times f r o m the p u b lisher, since the same p r o c e d u r e s are followed to "replace" these issues. O t h e r terms often used are "missing issue" and "back issue." However, this p a p e r will not discuss ordering of entire back runs of older materials, w h i c h often are ordered and processed differently. Most A R L libraries, based on established collection d e v e l o p m e n t pri-
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orities and guidelines, m a k e a concerted e f f o r t to bind complete volumes, and this is where the r e p l a c e m e n t process is born. E x p e c t e d issues that have not been received are claimed. If a set n u m b e r of consecutive claims have b e e n sent to the publisher and the issues still not received, or if for some reason the initial claim was made a f t e r the publisher's stipulated claim period has expired, then a r e p l a c e m e n t order m a y be the only w a y to acquire the material. P u b lishers do not always m a k e k n o w n these shorter claim periods until an initial claim is sent and then rejected, and claiming procedures are not always f o o l p r o o f , w h e t h e r a u t o m a t e d or manual. I f a p u b lisher simply ignores a claim or refuses to honor a late claim, and the issue is still needed for binding, a r e p l a c e m e n t order m a y be placed. It is amazing how sending an o f f e r to p a y f o r an issue via a purchase order m a y result in the appearance of an item that could not be had w h e n claimed as part of a prepaid subscription. A n a u t o m a t e d system such as INNOVACQ may make certain aspects of serials acquisition and control more e f f i c i e n t and e f f e c t i v e , but other aspects do not easily lend themselves to automation. The r e p l a c e m e n t process is one that will be difficult to a u t o m a t e in the way claims can be automated, given the present d e v e l o p m e n t o f such systems. An a u t o m a t e d claiming system can be p r o g r a m m e d to i d e n t i f y and signal that an issue was never received and thus requires claiming, but no automated system can be p r o g r a m m e d to i d e n t i f y or signal that an issue previously checked in is now missing, without manual intervention. F o r this reason, d e t e r m i n i n g that an issue is missing and needs replacing usually depends upon the periodical r o o m or b r a n c h s t a f f who discover gaps as they prepare materials f o r binding. These requests are sent to the a p p r o p r i a t e s t a f f person, most likely in the serials or acquisitions d e p a r t m e n t , who will v e r i f y t h e m against the c h e c k - i n records, although extensive verification and searching are not necessary. Call n u m b e r and title are required on each form. It is helpful to m a k e sure that these points o f access are correct. Volume and issue n u m b e r , as well as cover date, must be accurate and clearly c o m m u n i c a t e d to the r e p l a c e m e n t source to ensure getting the item that is needed. To Replace or N o t to Replace Once the r e p l a c e m e n t request has been received by the a p p r o p r i a t e s t a f f m e m b e r , a decision must be m a d e w h e t h e r or not to replace the missing issue. M a n y factors must be considered in this d e c i s i o n - m a k i n g process:
1. The retention policy on each title is very important because certain titles are retained for a limited time only, such as one year, or until microfilm is received. Some categories o f materials would not be replaced in paper f o r m at all, including ephemeral newsletters, newspapers, and weekly news magazines that are used so m u c h that the paper copies are soon in shreds; nor may such materials be bound at all. In fact, the paper copies are discarded w h e n the microfilm is received. R e placing these items, therefore, is not cost e f f e c tive. Displaying retention information in the c h e c k in record, however, is very helpful for such titles. 2. Whether or not a serial issue is superseded by a later cumulation affects the decision to replace, since, if a title cumulates at the end of the year, waiting until the cumulation arrives is wiser than replacing an individual issue. Many publishers do not keep the earlier issues in stock and will not fill the order until the cumulation is published, thus resulting in a duplicate if the library already has a standing order or subscription to the cumulation. 3. The c o u n t r y of origin o f a title is important in the replacement decision since titles f r o m certain countries may be out of print immediately after they are issued. This is true of most Soviet titles, titles f r o m the People's Republic o f China, and titles published in T h i r d World countries of Latin A m e r i c a and Africa. Such titles may be more difficult to obtain through back issue dealers, so a general policy may be established of "bind as is" or "bind with lacks" (depending upon local custom other terminology may be used) for these titles, and patrons may be directed to request the articles they need through interlibrary loan. Some foreign vendors will search considerably to fulfill client back issue requests, but library r e c o r d k e e p ing procedures, whether manual or automated, often cannot handle orders that are open for an indefinite time. 4. The title's importance or usefulness to the collection affects the replacement decision and can be d e t e r m i n e d by library collection development policy. Staff can make appropriate efforts to obtain a replacement depending upon the collection intensity level for that particular title. Essential titles may be those that are heavily used for research or those that directly support a degree program. If replacements for such titles are not available directly f r o m the publisher or f r o m a back issue dealer, photocopies of entire issues may be requested through interlibrary loan and later b o u n d with other items in the binding unit. If a library has not been able to obtain an out-
o f - p r i n t issue f r o m back issue dealers, copyright regulations may permit obtaining a replacement photocopy through interlibrary loan. The application of the copyright law, P L - 9 4 553, which became e f f e c t i v e 1 January 1978, to interlibrary loan practices cannot be treated adequately in a paper such as this, but it should be mentioned that sections of the law relate to reproductions that may be requested through ILL. Section 107 of the law concerns the right of "fair use," which allows some copying without permission from, or p a y m e n t to, the copyright owner. Section 108 outlines certain types of library copying that, although they may not be fair use, are authorized. According to an explanation o f f e r e d in a special issue o f ALA Washington Newsletter on the copyright law: "Sec. 108(c) authorizes the making of a single copy of an entire work for the purpose of replacing a copy that is damaged, deteriorating, lost or stolen, if the library has, after a reasonable effort, determined that an unused replacement cannot be obtained at a fair price. ''3 Section 108(e) continues this discussion with regard to an o u t - o f print work. Of course, m a n y of the terms used in the law are open to interpretation by library staff, publishers, and attorneys, and a definitive answer to the question of requesting replacement photocopies through ILL is not possible here. Staff responsible for serials replacements generally follow "common practice," but must remain aware that the law may be interpreted d i f f e r e n t l y depending upon the institution, and the law and its interpretation may change at any time. If a serious but unsuccessful effort has been made to obtain the issue from the publisher or through back issue dealers, and the requesting library indicates compliance with the copyright law, ILL may be able to obtain a photocopy of an entire issue for binding purposes. However, other problems besides the copyright law are involved in obtaining replacement photocopies through interlibrary loan: for obscure titles few other libraries may have holdings f r o m which to borrow; libraries that do own the titles may be reluctant to p h o t o c o p y an entire issue for another library due to the t i m e - c o n s u m i n g nature of this task as well as the increased charges for postage and handling; substantial photocopy charges may be involved for the borrower; and care must be taken in the actual photocopying to make sure that both sides o f the copy are aligned and have margins wide enough for binding. University Microfilms International (UMI) provides a photocopy service for missing journals, but this service may be too expensive for m a n y libraries. Overall, the process of replacing missing serials with photocopies is expensive and labor intensive.
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Sources of Replacements Once a decision has been made to replace an issue, the n e x t step is to d e t e r m i n e with w h o m to place the order: directly f r o m the publisher, through a v e n d o r or subscription agent, or f r o m another source. M a n y factors must be considered: w h e t h e r it is a domestic or foreign publication, how old the issues are, how m a n y issues are needed, w h e t h e r it is a scientific or non-scientific title, w h e t h e r the wanted issues are out of print, past v e n d o r p e r f o r m a n c e , and potential cost of the replacement. For domestic material that is still in print, the source that consistently provides the highest f u l f i l l m e n t success rate is the publisher. For f o r eign publications, in p r i n t or not, the best source is a vendor in the c o u n t r y o f origin. K a t z and Gellatly believe that domestic p u b lishers are a good source of r e p l a c e m e n t issues: "Agents are so f o n d of pointing out the dereliction of publishers in not k e e p i n g b a c k issues that m a n y librarians tend to ascribe this fault to all publishers, and not just to the mass circulation publisher, the only real o f f e n d e r . Other smaller and specialized publishers generally keep at least a limited supply of b a c k issues....Outside the mass circulation area, a safe assumption to m a k e is that the publisher has a run o f the journal for at least five years back. ''4 Although the w o r k f r o m which this quotation is taken was published m o r e than a decade ago, current r e p l a c e m e n t statistics f r o m the U n i v e r s i t y of Arizona L i b r a r y Serials D e p a r t m e n t for fiscal years 1987-88 and 1988-89 (see table) lend support to the idea that the publisher is still a valuable source for r e p l a c e m e n t issues, notwithstanding the effects of the T h o r Power Tool Ruling of 1980. Jaeger maintains that "prior to this ruling, acquisitions librarians had the option to fulfill their b a c k - v o l u m e requests either directly f r o m the publisher or through the services of a b a c k volume vendor. N o w [1987] libraries that use p u b lishers to fill b a c k - v o l u m e orders can rarely c o m plete m o r e than a small p e r c e n t a g e of their r e quests .,,5 Nevertheless, 74 p e r c e n t of the r e p l a c e m e n t orders placed directly with the publisher by the U n i v e r s i t y of A r i z o n a in 1987-88 and 75 percent in 1988-89 were fulfilled, clearly not a small p e r centage o f the total requests. C o m p a r i n g this f u l fillment rate with that o f other research a n d / o r academic libraries would be e x t r e m e l y interesting, but such figures are not readily available. Only f u r t h e r exchange of i n f o r m a t i o n and careful c o m pilation of statistics will p r o v e w h e t h e r the T h o r Power Tool Ruling has indeed a f f e c t e d the replacem e n t process.
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TABLE ._T!I_E_U~Y~R~S_U_'Y QF ARI_~NA LIBRARY SERIALS DE~.A~MJEN~ Serials Replacement Orders Fiscal Years (July I-June 30) 1987-88 and 1988-89
Orders Placed
Orders Filled
Success Rate (%)
87-88
88-89
87-88
88-89
87-88
88-89
71
I00
56
79
79%
79%
585
823
434
615
74%
75%
29%
21%
66%
66%
Foreign
Vendors Publishers
DSBE 163 175 48 36 .......................................................................... TOTAl,** 819 1098 538 730
*lqgg-89 orders filled are computed as of 2/26/90. Some of these orders are still open nnd continue to be filled. **Total replacement orders as reported here do not include orders for materials in microformat since this paper focuses on obtaininB paper replacements.
Once a decision has been made to replace an issue, a w e l l - t r a i n e d student assistant m a y v e r i f y the c u r r e n t publisher address o f the title and then record it on the b a c k of the r e p l a c e m e n t request f o r m f o r later inclusion in the manual or online record. Since the U n i v e r s i t y of Arizona L i b r a r y Serials D e p a r t m e n t subscribes to T h e F a x o n C o m p a n y D a t a L i n x , this database has p r o v e d to be an excellent source of u p - t o - d a t e publisher i n f o r m a t i o n and addresses. Other sources are Ulrich's International Periodicals Directory (Bowker) and standard b i b liographic tools. A word of warning, however: some verification sources list fulfillment agencies as publishers, but it is impossible to get r e p l a c e m e n t issues f r o m them. As Turtle says of the f u l f i l l m e n t center, "...there is no stock of back issues. The fulfillment center n e v e r possesses the actual issues, but ships the mailing labels to the p r i n t e r or printers in other parts of the country...By the time the library gets around to placing its claim, the spare issues m a y have been sold to a s e c o n d - h a n d magazine dealer. "6 Ulrich's is a v e r y good source for actual publisher addresses of titles supplied b y fulfillment agencies. O f course, the p r i m a r y source of publisher i n f o r m a t i o n is a recent issue o f the publication, but access to issues is generally not v e r y convenient, especially in libraries where the current periodical rooms are not located close to the technical services processing areas. It is i m p o r t a n t to have a file, w h e t h e r online or not, of current publisher addresses that m a y be u p d a t e d as necessary. INNOVACQ makes no provision for such a file unless a separate v e n d o r code is k e y e d for each publisher, but putting the address in a note field in the bibliographic record makes it accessible while keying the order and easy to update. Although domestic subscription agents do not seem e q u i p p e d to handle r e p l a c e m e n t orders, which
are actually f i r m orders, m a n y f o r e i g n vendors are v e r y successful in obtaining replacements f o r missing issues. R e p l a c e m e n t statistics r e p o r t e d in the table a b o v e lend support to this statement: of the total orders placed with f o r e i g n vendors at T h e U n i v e r s i t y of Arizona L i b r a r y Serials D e p a r t m e n t , 79 percent were filled in 1987-88 and in 1988-89. I m p o r t a n t factors here are f o r e i g n exchange rates and p a y m e n t in foreign currency. Foreign vendors are m o r e likely than publishers to request p a y m e n t in U.S. dollars rather than foreign c u r rency, thus m a k i n g p a y m e n t easier, and also cheaper, since m a n y banks charge a substantial a m o u n t per f o r e i g n draft. In terms o f s t a f f time f o r processing, and an average cost f o r an institution o f f r o m $20 to $40 to cut an individual check, cutting one larger check to a single v e n d o r is m o r e cost e f f e c t i v e than issuing m a n y checks to individual publishers. Foreign vendors m a y also be the only source of obscure titles f r o m Eastern E u r o p e , or other inaccessible areas o f the world. Valuable i n f o r m a t i o n , especially on types of m a terials supplied and services o f f e r e d b y individual subscription agents, can be f o u n d in the most r e cent edition o f International Subscription Agents." An Annotated Directory. 7 C o m m u n i c a t i o n with most foreign vendors is consistently productive, and the fact that a lib r a r y has m o n o g r a p h , subscription, a n d / o r serial continuation standing order accounts with t h e m seems to guarantee excellent service. Several of these vendors will even search to obtain items f r o m sources such as back issue dealers or b o o k stores, and m a y consider an order open until filled or until all sources are exhausted. R e c e n t l y the Serials D e p a r t m e n t o f the U n i versity of A r i z o n a L i b r a r y received a back issue of a Polish title that had been ordered in June 1985 f r o m K u b o n and Sagner. Four years is a long time to keep an order open, so it m a y be a good idea to i n f o r m the v e n d o r via a note on the p u r chase order that the order is open for a stipulated period of six months or a year, and that if the order has not arrived b y then it m a y be considered cancelled.
and n u m b e r of copies, since errors in these areas m a y result in n o n - r e c e i p t o f the r e p l a c e m e n t issues. Records m u s t be kept of what has been ord e r e d so that w h e n the issue arrives an aware receiving s t a f f will not discard it as a duplicate. M a n y manual systems rely on clips, tabs, color coding, attached slips of paper, or other means to annotate c h e c k - i n cards that r e p l a c e m e n t issues have been ordered. As Osborn states, "replacem e n t copies which have b e e n ordered, especially to allow a v o l u m e to be bound, do not run the risk of being discarded as u n w a n t e d items because the records are specially m a r k e d to show the replacements have b e e n requested. ''8 A library m a y opt to have a specific staff m e m b e r ' s name in the s h i p - t o - a d d r e s s to ensure that replacements do not go astray or are discarded as duplicates b y u n w a r y s t a f f who handle large quantities of daily mail. H o w e v e r , central receiving s t a f f in large A R L libraries m a y not take time to read each address carefully and will open mail and discard envelopes or mailing labels before the issues arrive in serials receiving. A n o t h e r p r o b l e m , frequent s t a f f turnover, results in journals still addressed to s t a f f who are no longer e m p l o y e d b y the library; a s o m e w h a t h u m o r o u s solution to this p r o b l e m would be to use a s h i p - t o - a d d r e s s with a fictitious staff m e m b e r such as "R. E. Placement," but again this is no guarantee that r e p l a c e m e n t issues will arrive without mishap. In an a u t o m a t e d system such as I N N O V A C Q , notations of r e p l a c e m e n t issues ordered should be added to the online c h e c k - i n record. Because rep l a c e m e n t orders involve invoices that m a y or may not arrive with the pieces, it m a y be m o r e effective to have the same s t a f f m e m b e r who places the orders assume responsibility for checking in the pieces as they arrive, thus assuring that receipt is noted on the order record and that invoices are paid. Otherwise, orders could be claimed that have already been received and noted on the c h e c k in record. M o d i f y i n g procedures in this way to avoid mistakes helps m a i n t a i n a high level of credibility and integrity within the l i b r a r y - p u b l i s h e r / v e n dor relationship.
Ordering a Replacement
Acquisition of O u t - o f - P r i n t Materials
Once the source has been d e t e r m i n e d , a p u r chase order m u s t be created. Libraries operating with a m a n u a l system of serials control will most likely type m u l t i - p a r t purchase order forms. O n line systems, such as I N N O V A C Q , usually provide for the a u t o m a t i c printing of purchase orders once the order has been input into the system. It is essential to c h e c k and recheck i n f o r m a t i o n such as address, v o l u m e and issue n u m b e r s , cover dates,
I f an issue is out of print according to a vendor or the publisher, it m a y be ordered f r o m one of m a n y b a c k issue dealers (different creatures f r o m vendors or subscription agents), which are located t h r o u g h o u t the country. In m a n y instances, trial and error or personal r e c o m m e n d a t i o n s f r o m colleagues who have had success with a particular f i r m are the p r i m a r y ways o f choosing which back issue dealer to patronize. Some libraries find that
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they are able to acquire needed titles f r o m these sources, either b y sending out a "want list" with a limited search period of six months, a f t e r which the order is cancelled, or b y sending f i r m orders that are searched only once before being returned if unfilled. O f course, b a c k issue dealers are p r o f i t - o r i e n t e d and libraries m a y be f o r c e d to pay higher prices than the publishers would charge, but often this is the only w a y to acquire missing issues. Until 12 S e p t e m b e r 1989, w h e n Universal Serials and Book E x c h a n g e (USBE) filed a petition for b a n k r u p t c y , 9 it was an inexpensive, although not wholly successful, source of o u t - o f - p r i n t b a c k issues. M a n y libraries have to rethink their o u t o f - p r i n t sources n o w that USBE has been eliminated f r o m the market.
Claiming Serials Replacement Orders Since publishers and vendors do not always respond in a timely m a n n e r to r e p l a c e m e n t orders, sometimes it is necessary to claim issues on order that have not b e e n received within a time limit established b y the library. More generous time limits should be established for foreign orders. These claims are not the same as the claims for missing issues that are initiated by receiving staff, since r e p l a c e m e n t claims are f o r orders rather than for individual issues already paid for through s u b scription or standing order. Perhaps due to the n u m b e r and variety of library claim f o r m s that exist and lack of standardization, m a n y publishers are c o n f u s e d by these claims. T h i n k i n g they are claims for issues n e v e r received, or, worse yet, assuming that they are new purchase orders, publishers send duplicates of replacements. Publisher confusion about r e p l a c e m e n t claims increases the a m o u n t of c o r respondence involved and delays receipt of the issues. I N N O V A C Q will generate claims for replacem e n t issues "automatically," but the p r o c e d u r e involves m o v i n g b a c k and f o r t h a m o n g several d i f ferent functions. Then, in some libraries, the claim f o r m s are so similar in a p p e a r a n c e to the purchase orders that confusion reigns w h e n they reach the publishers. Some of this confusion m a y be eliminated by attaching to the claim a p r e - p r i n t e d notice that explains that it is a claim f o r a r e p l a c e m e n t order that had been placed several months earlier. R e p l a c e m e n t orders should be claimed twice before concluding that the issues are not available and cancelling the order. T h e r e is a certain a m o u n t of success in claiming r e p l a c e m e n t orders, but the persastent t o l l o w - u p m a t is s o m e n m e s n e e a e a t~efore issues are sent can be annoying.
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I f needed issues are d e t e r m i n e d to be unavailable, steps must be taken to cancel the outstanding orders and annotate the c h e c k - i n records, whether manual or online, that the items are out of print. A note m a y be written on the c h e c k - i n card or placed in the c h e c k - i n record so that anyone using the serials files will be aware that this particular item is not available. Whatever the system used to alert s t a f f that binding units are complete, they must be notified that the missing issues will not be replaced and to "bind as is" or "bind with lacks." These efforts at organized r e c o r d k e e p i n g will pay o f f since duplicate requests for o u t - o f - p r i n t items will be eliminated and a relatively p e r m a n e n t record will be on file. If, as sometimes happens, the missing issue turns up despite i n f o r m a t i o n that it is not available, it can be b o u n d separately and shelved with the other b o u n d volumes. Technically speaking, orders should be cancelled f o r m a l l y with the publisher a n d / o r v e n d o r when it is d e t e r m i n e d that the issues are no longer needed. If, h o w e v e r , there has been no p u b l i s h e r / v e n d o r response after two r e p l a c e m e n t order claims, which usually takes about six months, cancellation notices would p r o b a b l y only serve to f u r t h e r confuse a publisher and are not worth s t a f f time. It then m a y be necessary to annotate only local records that no response was obtained f r o m the p u b l i s h e r / v e n dor.
Microforms as Replacements for Serials I f a library has made the decision to bind a periodical title and retain older b o u n d volumes, r e p l a c e m e n t efforts usually are directed towards obtaining missing issues in p a p e r form. Nevertheless, if all efforts at r e p l a c e m e n t fail, a f u r t h e r decision may have to be made w h e t h e r to continue binding future volumes and ignore gaps where items could not be obtained, or to replace all or part of the back run with a m i c r o f o r m , such as m i c r o f i l m or microfiche. This decision is not easy to make, considering the possibility of having a split title in terms of f o r m a t , but it m a y m e a n the difference between access to back volumes and no access. O t h e r considerations are potential patron disinclination to use a m i c r o f o r m , the availability of the title in m i c r o f o r m a t , the timeliness with which the m i c r o f o r m appears a f t e r a volume is complete, its cost, and the cost and m a i n t e n a n c e of the equipment needed to use it. I f only one or two issues are not available, it m a y be most e f f e c t i v e to bind the volumes without them, m a k i n g sure to note the missing pieces on the volume, on the shelf list, and in the holdings statement. Nevertheless, if it is a title with issues that are consistently Stolen or m u n l a t e a , it m a y oe m o r e cost etlectlve to w i t h d r a w the a l r e a d y - b o u n d volumes, replace
t h e m with a m i c r o f o r m , order a subscription to the m i c r o f o r m , and discontinue binding the title. Pourciau maintains that such a decision m a y not be quite as s t r a i g h t f o r w a r d as it appears: "Consideration o f binding costs versus those of purchasing m i c r o f i l m must recognize that the d e cision to bind loose issues, aside f r o m the costs of missing issues required to complete a bibliographic v o l u m e entails only one subscription cost. The purchase o f m i c r o f i l m at the end of a v o l u m e year, h o w e v e r , means that the library has paid f o r a subscription to p a p e r copy, and then pays again for the same material in micro f o r m a t . "1° Ordering a m i c r o f o r m as a substitute f o r binding p a p e r volumes, however, m a y result in some savings since the purchase of the m i c r o f o r m m a y o f f s e t the usual binding costs. A n o t h e r possibility is to purchase only the m i c r o f o r m and c a n cel the print subscription. This m a y be done f o r titles with m a j o r research value and m i n o r current awareness value, again d e p e n d e n t upon collection d e v e l o p m e n t policy. Individual libraries m u s t m a k e such decisions based upon user needs and local policy.
Replacement Problems Although ordering r e p l a c e m e n t issues seems fairly s t r a i g h t f o r w a r d once a p p r o p r i a t e procedures have been developed, the process is f r a u g h t with problems. It seems that M u r p h y ' s L a w rules here: if something can go wrong, it will. A m a j o r p r o b lem is that the n u m b e r of r e p l a c e m e n t requests seems to increase e v e r y year, possibly as a result of increased use or misuse of u n b o u n d periodicals by e v e r - g r o w i n g n u m b e r s of students. Since the 1982-83 fiscal year, the total n u m b e r o f replacem e n t orders placed b y the U n i v e r s i t y of Arizona L i b r a r y Serials D e p a r t m e n t has more than doubled, and this does not take into account the n u m b e r of r e p l a c e m e n t requests received that did not r e sult in an order. Reasons f o r this large increase in r e p l a c e m e n t requests are d i f f i c u l t to determine, but m a n y f a c tors m a y be involved: an increase in the n u m b e r of students enrolled at the university and a c o n c o m i t a n t increase in the n u m b e r of students using the periodical collections, t h u s . r e s u l t i n g in an increase in mutilation and stealing of journals; an increase in willful vandalism, including razoring out m a n y articles in each of a b o u t ten b o u n d volumes o f Kyklos, a foreign social science journal; a m o r e c o n c e r t e d e f f o r t on the part o f s t a f f to bind c o m p l e t e volumes; and the kind o f control that comes with the use of an a u t o m a t e d serials system.
This increase means that s t a f f dealing with replacements m a y not be able to keep up in a timely way with the n e v e r - e n d i n g stream of requests that arrive f r o m the periodical rooms and branches. This delay in ordering m a y mean that the other pieces f r o m the binding unit will remain unbound for longer periods o f time, and, if maintained in a public service area, more susceptible to mutilation or theft. H o w e v e r , a backlog is not always disadvantageous since sometimes a time lag m a y mean that an issue has had time to r e a p p e a r on the shelf before the actual o r d e r is made. As long as there is a means of n o t i f y i n g the s t a f f m e m b e r placing the orders that an issue is no longer needed, a backlog need not be entirely negative. In fact, holding r e p l a c e m e n t requests for items claimed several times without publisher response m a y be beneficial since often the issues eventually arrive a f t e r the request for r e p l a c e m e n t has been submitted. In an a u t o m a t e d system such as I N N O V A C Q , if an issue f o r which a r e p l a c e m e n t request has been s u b m i t t e d arrives as a result of a previous claim, it m a y be c h e c k e d in and sent to the location; w h e n the r e p l a c e m e n t request is processed, the c h e c k - i n record will indicate that the item is no longer needed and the request m a y be discarded. It is to be hoped that r e c o r d k e e p i n g in a manual system is as e f f e c t i v e and the result the same. Other r e p l a c e m e n t p r o b l e m s involve errors in order fulfillment by publishers a n d / o r vendors. M a n y times the issues sent are not the issues ordered, resulting in the necessity of f u r t h e r communication b y letter with the r e p l a c e m e n t source, which must be i n f o r m e d that the wrong issue was sent and that the correct issue is still needed. Although purchase orders are usually v e r y clear as to volume, issue n u m b e r , and c o v e r date, mistakes in fulfillment of orders do occur. This t y p e of error produces a longer delay in assembling a binding unit, which, if maintained in a public service area, m a y result in the disappearance of other issues within that binding unit, b e f o r e s h i p m e n t to the b i n d e r y takes place. Libraries that maintain incomplete binding units in a n o n - p u b l i c service area, such as in a b i n d e r y d e p a r t m e n t , awaiting the arrival of replacem e n t issues, are able to establish better control over this aspect o f collection integrity but offer a m u c h reduced service to their patrons. However, the s t a f f responsible for replacements has little or no control over these p r o b l e m s , except to ensure that the purchase order is as clear as possible and to use great care to m a k e sure the piece in hand is the piece ordered w h e n checking in replacements. G r e a t care also must be exercised by the periodical r o o m and branch s t a f f in filling out the original request for r e p l a c e m e n t , since the person placing the orders usually does not have time to check
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each individual request to make sure that all information is correct and that the issue is, indeed, missing. If such care is not exercised when the replacement request is initiated, the library staff may in good faith order an issue that is not missing and will later have to reorder the correct issue. G i v e n the nature o f some library users, it is not unusual for an item to be missing f r o m the shelf for weeks only to reappear after a replacement has been o r d e r e d for it. The possibility of this happening is limited if periodical room staff follow a detailed searching procedure before submitting the replacement request. At times, the claim assistant may discontinue claiming an issue and submit it for replacement without knowing that the issue already is being sent by the publisher. In such instances, duplicates will result f r o m the claimed issue and the replacement purchase order crossing in the mail. Unless the title is expensive, these duplicates are usually discarded. H o w e v e r , it is p r u d e n t to return expensive duplicates to the publisher, if possible, since there is no point in paying for them as replacements when they have been sent as a result of a claim against a prepaid subscription or standing order. As mentioned above, publisher response to a replacement order is not always ideal. Many publishers require p r e p a y m e n t for a back issue but do not make this requirement clear. An invoice that clearly states that p r e p a y m e n t is required or that is identified as a "proforma invoice" may be prepaid by the accounting department, but local accounting policy usually requires that an incoming invoice that has none of these statements must be held until the item arrives. U n f o r t u n a t e l y , all too often the publisher is waiting for p r e p a y m e n t while the library is waiting for the issue, and the situation remains a standoff. If considerable time elapses after the arrival o f an invoice, and the item does not arrive, it may be time to drop the publisher a note inquiring as to the status o f the order. Publishers would do well to be very clear when p r e p a y m e n t is required, since m a n y library financial systems do not allow p r e p a y m e n t unless the necessity for it is clearly indicated on the invoice. Several publishers, such as Elsevier, Dekker, and Academic Press, for business reasons, possibly in response to the T h o r Power Tool Ruling, have established policies of selling single issues for the current year and one or two previous years only, while anything published earlier must be purchased as complete volumes. According to a letter f r o m Elsevier in response to a purchase order for a single issue, their policy "allows single issues to be sold for the current year and the two previous
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years only. Beyond that point, only complete volumes are sold. "11 Such a policy, for a library needing one issue out of six published in a certain year, greatly increases the cost to the library. Since it is not economically feasible to pay for replacement issues that will be discarded, it is best to cancel such orders with the publisher and try to obtain them f r o m another reasonably priced source. If ultimately they are unavailable, it may be necessary to "bind as is." Patrons who need articles f r o m these missing issues are advised to submit a request to interlibrary loan.
Implications for Managers The success rate of the University of Arizona L i b r a r y Serials D e p a r t m e n t in obtaining replacements for missing serials may p r o m p t other libraries to take a closer look at their own policies, procedures, and success rates. If so, several thoughts should be kept in mind. First, the success rate, when considered without other factors, may be meaningless. Considering recent budget restrictions at m a n y libraries, expense and cost effectiveness are important factors when looking more closely at established procedures. In total dollars, how much was spent by this library t o achieve such an impressive rate o f success? Total expenditures for replacements ordered during the fiscal years 1987-88 and 1988-89, were $14,038.51 and $24,717.04 respectively, but these figures do not include the m a n y hidden costs that are not obvious, even to someone who is very familiar with the entire replacement process. The amount charged on the invoice for a replacement is not the actual cost to the library to replace missing issues, since it does not include the labor of the staff members who determine that issues are missing and who fill out the replacement request forms, nor the staff members who find the correct address, place the order, claim the order, check in the issues when they arrive, correspond with vendors when orders are not filled correctly, and send back expensive duplicates. Figuring all of these costs for labor into the average replacement cost will give a library a better idea o f whether or not intensive replacement efforts are worthwhile. Other costs, such as overhead, postage, cost o f cutting checks, and stationery, must also be added to give a realistic picture of overall replacement costs. Determining actual replacement costs that include labor and other overhead costs is beyond the scope of this paper, but library managers must be aware that the price paid for a replacement order is not the total cost to the library.
Second, most A R L libraries, of which the U n i versity o f Arizona L i b r a r y is one, base their decisions to bind complete units on their stated collection d e v e l o p m e n t policies, but they may not realize how m u c h this actually costs the library. Other types o f libraries may not make any e f f o r t at all to order replacements but may instead bind incomplete on a regular basis. T o d a y there may be other ways of dealing with missing issues as well. With commercial document delivery systems available in m a n y areas, for instance, a library, A R L or not, m a y not need to own complete back volumes because journal articles can be made available in a relatively short time via document delivery. Improvements in interlibrary loan services may also have an e f f e c t on overall replacement policies. A courier service now exists among the three universities in Arizona that carries items back and f o r t h among Tucson, T e m p e , and Flagstaff on a daily basis. Delivery takes 2 to 3 days for regular requests and 24 hours f o r rush requests. This faster ILL turnaround time may cut down on the u r g e n c y of binding complete units, but it is m u c h too soon to determine whether this service will actually have a noticeable e f f e c t on replacement policy. If the collection development policy o f a library spells out or even implies a complete collection in certain areas o f high collection intensity, there may be little reason to change replacement policy, unless library managers take a closer look at how much is being spent, what percentage of the overall budget is involved, and whether or not the patron is being served adequately. O f course, service to the patron is the bottom line in this discussion, but again it is difficult to determine how to provide the best service to all patrons who have varied needs for serials. Are students willing to wait 2 to 3 days to get material they need, or are they insistent upon having material immediately? Will students use microfilm if it is the only f o r m a t available? Will students pay the costs of obtaining materials by fax machine if they thus are able to obtain them m u c h more quickly? These questions must be answered by serials managers as well as by collection development experts in a library before changes in replacement policies are made. Third, although resource-sharing and d o c u ment delivery services may make binding complete units less crucial to a library, at least one library must still own a copy of an issue or there will be nothing to share and no way to obtain copies of articles through ILL. Perhaps A R L libraries must accept the b u r d e n o f p e r f o r m i n g an archival f u n c t i o n and must also accept that binding corn-
plete units of serials w h e r e v e r possible is necessary despite cost. So, for an A R L library, the overall policy may be, "If a serial is missing, try to replace it," without dwelling too heavily on whether or not this policy is cost effective. Without f u r t h e r study, there is no way to determine how variations in replacement policies a f f e c t service to patrons, since it is seldom possible to f i n d every single journal on the shelf when needed, no matter how comprehensive a library's replacement policies. Hopefully, this paper will stimulate f u r t h e r thought and research in this area, to the benefit o f libraries and patrons. Conclusion
Ordering serial replacements may require certain adjustments to established acquisition procedures. Although there are many difficulties in this process, w h e t h e r manual or automated, the primary goal in this expensive exercise is to maintain the integrity o f the collection and to adhere to the overall collection development policies of the library. Realistically, obtaining a replacement for every missing issue in a library is impossible, but user satisfaction in finding a cited article right where it should be may make it a necessary and worthwhile process. Many libraries would do well to r e - e x a m i n e their replacement policies and procedures, determine whether or not replacing missing serials is a library priority, and, if so, make necessary adjustments to increase their rate of success. NOTES
I. Andrew D. Osborn, Serial Publications: Their Place and Treatment in Libraries, 2d ed., rev. (Chicago: American L i b r a r y Association, 1973), 145. 2. Heartsill Young, ed., The ALA Glossary of Library and Information Science. (Chicago: American Library Association, 1983), 102.
3.
ALA Washington Newsletter 28, no. 13 (15
N o v e m b e r 1976): 6. 4. Bill Katz and Peter Gellatly, Guide to Magazine and Serial Agents. (New York: R.R. Bowker Company, 1975), 51. 5. Donald Jaeger, "Back-Volume Acquisitions: An Historical Perspective," Technical Services Quarterly 4, no. 4 (Summer 1987): 36.
(continued on page 80)
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Geraldine F. Pionessa Introduction
P i o n e s s a is a library assistant and a graduate library student at the University of Arizona Library, Serials Department, Tucson, Arizona.
Acknowledgments: The author wishes to thank J. Travis Leach, Karen Dalziel Tallman, and the rest of the U A L Serials Department for their encouragement and support while writing this paper.
In most libraries streamlined procedures exist for placing subscriptions and standing orders for periodicals and serials. Every aspect of these orders, including searching and verification, inputting, printing purchase orders, receiving, and claiming, follows a well-established routine, whether on a manual or automated system. But there is another category of orders whose procedures may not be as well established. These are serials replacement orders (hereafter referred to as "replacement orders" and more fully defined in the next section). Special procedures must be followed to handle the idiosyncracies of replacement orders since they are more like monographic firm orders than subscriptions or standing orders. Yet replacement issues must be checked in and processed like any other serials, and in many cases they must be prepaid like subscriptions. Adjustments to the standard serials acquisition process for subscriptions and standing orders must be made if a library is to be successful in acquiring replacements. As Osborn states, "Acquisition...routines should be streamlined to permit essential ordering of this kind to be carried on in a routine fashion. ,,1 However, although a library already may have well-established replacement routines, automation of serials control, or the necessity of changing from one automated system to another, may render these procedures obsolete and necessitate the formulation of new policies and procedures to fit the new circumstances.
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U n f o r t u n a t e l y , looking to the literature for guidance or inspiration is almost useless since little has b e e n written about serials replacements. In some of the serials m a n a g e m e n t "bibles," they are treated in a p a r a g r a p h or two, but there is little discussion o f a practical or e v e n theoretical nature concerning these orders. This is also the case in current journals on librarianship. Perhaps this lack of written material parallels an historical lack of interest on the part of librarians concerning this topic. H o w e v e r , the recent emphasis placed on serials budget analysis in light o f current inflationary trends d e m a n d s scrutiny of each unit of serials expenditures, including r e p l a c e m e n t costs. ARL (Association of Research Libraries) libraries m a y spend substantial amounts f o r r e p l a c e m e n t issues each year; sharing i n f o r m a t i o n on this topic m a y result in i m p r o v e d procedures, reduced costs, and greater success rates. This p a p e r will address some of the practical issues and p r o c e d u r e s involved in ordering replacements, then discuss p r o b l e m s associated with the process, o f f e r solutions based upon o n - t h e - j o b experience, and finally look m o r e closely at the i m pact of such a l a b o r - i n t e n s i v e process on library m a n a g e m e n t decisions. The U n i v e r s i t y of A r i z o n a L i b r a r y used a manual system of c h e c k - i n cards until i m p l e m e n t i n g the I N N O V A C Q a u t o m a t e d acquisition and serials control system in M a r c h 1986. Not until J a n u a r y 1987 were replacements o r d e r e d online. Since v a r ious a u t o m a t e d systems d i f f e r widely in order, claim, receipt, and p a y m e n t procedures, an a t t e m p t will be m a d e to discuss the underlying principles of the r e p l a c e m e n t process rather than procedures specific to any one system. What Is a R e p l a c e m e n t ? A c c o r d i n g to The ALA Glossary of Library and Information Science, a r e p l a c e m e n t is "the substitution of another c o p y of an item for one no longer in a library. ''~ In serials jargon, the t e r m "replacement" refers to an order and p a y m e n t for periodical or serial issues that were received and then subsequently lost or mutilated, and that are needed to complete a binding unit. This d e f inition m a y be e x p a n d e d to include those issues that have been p r e p a i d but n e v e r received although claimed or requested several times f r o m the p u b lisher, since the same p r o c e d u r e s are followed to "replace" these issues. O t h e r terms often used are "missing issue" and "back issue." However, this p a p e r will not discuss ordering of entire back runs of older materials, w h i c h often are ordered and processed differently. Most A R L libraries, based on established collection d e v e l o p m e n t pri-
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orities and guidelines, m a k e a concerted e f f o r t to bind complete volumes, and this is where the r e p l a c e m e n t process is born. E x p e c t e d issues that have not been received are claimed. If a set n u m b e r of consecutive claims have b e e n sent to the publisher and the issues still not received, or if for some reason the initial claim was made a f t e r the publisher's stipulated claim period has expired, then a r e p l a c e m e n t order m a y be the only w a y to acquire the material. P u b lishers do not always m a k e k n o w n these shorter claim periods until an initial claim is sent and then rejected, and claiming procedures are not always f o o l p r o o f , w h e t h e r a u t o m a t e d or manual. I f a p u b lisher simply ignores a claim or refuses to honor a late claim, and the issue is still needed for binding, a r e p l a c e m e n t order m a y be placed. It is amazing how sending an o f f e r to p a y f o r an issue via a purchase order m a y result in the appearance of an item that could not be had w h e n claimed as part of a prepaid subscription. A n a u t o m a t e d system such as INNOVACQ may make certain aspects of serials acquisition and control more e f f i c i e n t and e f f e c t i v e , but other aspects do not easily lend themselves to automation. The r e p l a c e m e n t process is one that will be difficult to a u t o m a t e in the way claims can be automated, given the present d e v e l o p m e n t o f such systems. An a u t o m a t e d claiming system can be p r o g r a m m e d to i d e n t i f y and signal that an issue was never received and thus requires claiming, but no automated system can be p r o g r a m m e d to i d e n t i f y or signal that an issue previously checked in is now missing, without manual intervention. F o r this reason, d e t e r m i n i n g that an issue is missing and needs replacing usually depends upon the periodical r o o m or b r a n c h s t a f f who discover gaps as they prepare materials f o r binding. These requests are sent to the a p p r o p r i a t e s t a f f person, most likely in the serials or acquisitions d e p a r t m e n t , who will v e r i f y t h e m against the c h e c k - i n records, although extensive verification and searching are not necessary. Call n u m b e r and title are required on each form. It is helpful to m a k e sure that these points o f access are correct. Volume and issue n u m b e r , as well as cover date, must be accurate and clearly c o m m u n i c a t e d to the r e p l a c e m e n t source to ensure getting the item that is needed. To Replace or N o t to Replace Once the r e p l a c e m e n t request has been received by the a p p r o p r i a t e s t a f f m e m b e r , a decision must be m a d e w h e t h e r or not to replace the missing issue. M a n y factors must be considered in this d e c i s i o n - m a k i n g process:
1. The retention policy on each title is very important because certain titles are retained for a limited time only, such as one year, or until microfilm is received. Some categories o f materials would not be replaced in paper f o r m at all, including ephemeral newsletters, newspapers, and weekly news magazines that are used so m u c h that the paper copies are soon in shreds; nor may such materials be bound at all. In fact, the paper copies are discarded w h e n the microfilm is received. R e placing these items, therefore, is not cost e f f e c tive. Displaying retention information in the c h e c k in record, however, is very helpful for such titles. 2. Whether or not a serial issue is superseded by a later cumulation affects the decision to replace, since, if a title cumulates at the end of the year, waiting until the cumulation arrives is wiser than replacing an individual issue. Many publishers do not keep the earlier issues in stock and will not fill the order until the cumulation is published, thus resulting in a duplicate if the library already has a standing order or subscription to the cumulation. 3. The c o u n t r y of origin o f a title is important in the replacement decision since titles f r o m certain countries may be out of print immediately after they are issued. This is true of most Soviet titles, titles f r o m the People's Republic o f China, and titles published in T h i r d World countries of Latin A m e r i c a and Africa. Such titles may be more difficult to obtain through back issue dealers, so a general policy may be established of "bind as is" or "bind with lacks" (depending upon local custom other terminology may be used) for these titles, and patrons may be directed to request the articles they need through interlibrary loan. Some foreign vendors will search considerably to fulfill client back issue requests, but library r e c o r d k e e p ing procedures, whether manual or automated, often cannot handle orders that are open for an indefinite time. 4. The title's importance or usefulness to the collection affects the replacement decision and can be d e t e r m i n e d by library collection development policy. Staff can make appropriate efforts to obtain a replacement depending upon the collection intensity level for that particular title. Essential titles may be those that are heavily used for research or those that directly support a degree program. If replacements for such titles are not available directly f r o m the publisher or f r o m a back issue dealer, photocopies of entire issues may be requested through interlibrary loan and later b o u n d with other items in the binding unit. If a library has not been able to obtain an out-
o f - p r i n t issue f r o m back issue dealers, copyright regulations may permit obtaining a replacement photocopy through interlibrary loan. The application of the copyright law, P L - 9 4 553, which became e f f e c t i v e 1 January 1978, to interlibrary loan practices cannot be treated adequately in a paper such as this, but it should be mentioned that sections of the law relate to reproductions that may be requested through ILL. Section 107 of the law concerns the right of "fair use," which allows some copying without permission from, or p a y m e n t to, the copyright owner. Section 108 outlines certain types of library copying that, although they may not be fair use, are authorized. According to an explanation o f f e r e d in a special issue o f ALA Washington Newsletter on the copyright law: "Sec. 108(c) authorizes the making of a single copy of an entire work for the purpose of replacing a copy that is damaged, deteriorating, lost or stolen, if the library has, after a reasonable effort, determined that an unused replacement cannot be obtained at a fair price. ''3 Section 108(e) continues this discussion with regard to an o u t - o f print work. Of course, m a n y of the terms used in the law are open to interpretation by library staff, publishers, and attorneys, and a definitive answer to the question of requesting replacement photocopies through ILL is not possible here. Staff responsible for serials replacements generally follow "common practice," but must remain aware that the law may be interpreted d i f f e r e n t l y depending upon the institution, and the law and its interpretation may change at any time. If a serious but unsuccessful effort has been made to obtain the issue from the publisher or through back issue dealers, and the requesting library indicates compliance with the copyright law, ILL may be able to obtain a photocopy of an entire issue for binding purposes. However, other problems besides the copyright law are involved in obtaining replacement photocopies through interlibrary loan: for obscure titles few other libraries may have holdings f r o m which to borrow; libraries that do own the titles may be reluctant to p h o t o c o p y an entire issue for another library due to the t i m e - c o n s u m i n g nature of this task as well as the increased charges for postage and handling; substantial photocopy charges may be involved for the borrower; and care must be taken in the actual photocopying to make sure that both sides o f the copy are aligned and have margins wide enough for binding. University Microfilms International (UMI) provides a photocopy service for missing journals, but this service may be too expensive for m a n y libraries. Overall, the process of replacing missing serials with photocopies is expensive and labor intensive.
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Sources of Replacements Once a decision has been made to replace an issue, the n e x t step is to d e t e r m i n e with w h o m to place the order: directly f r o m the publisher, through a v e n d o r or subscription agent, or f r o m another source. M a n y factors must be considered: w h e t h e r it is a domestic or foreign publication, how old the issues are, how m a n y issues are needed, w h e t h e r it is a scientific or non-scientific title, w h e t h e r the wanted issues are out of print, past v e n d o r p e r f o r m a n c e , and potential cost of the replacement. For domestic material that is still in print, the source that consistently provides the highest f u l f i l l m e n t success rate is the publisher. For f o r eign publications, in p r i n t or not, the best source is a vendor in the c o u n t r y o f origin. K a t z and Gellatly believe that domestic p u b lishers are a good source of r e p l a c e m e n t issues: "Agents are so f o n d of pointing out the dereliction of publishers in not k e e p i n g b a c k issues that m a n y librarians tend to ascribe this fault to all publishers, and not just to the mass circulation publisher, the only real o f f e n d e r . Other smaller and specialized publishers generally keep at least a limited supply of b a c k issues....Outside the mass circulation area, a safe assumption to m a k e is that the publisher has a run o f the journal for at least five years back. ''4 Although the w o r k f r o m which this quotation is taken was published m o r e than a decade ago, current r e p l a c e m e n t statistics f r o m the U n i v e r s i t y of Arizona L i b r a r y Serials D e p a r t m e n t for fiscal years 1987-88 and 1988-89 (see table) lend support to the idea that the publisher is still a valuable source for r e p l a c e m e n t issues, notwithstanding the effects of the T h o r Power Tool Ruling of 1980. Jaeger maintains that "prior to this ruling, acquisitions librarians had the option to fulfill their b a c k - v o l u m e requests either directly f r o m the publisher or through the services of a b a c k volume vendor. N o w [1987] libraries that use p u b lishers to fill b a c k - v o l u m e orders can rarely c o m plete m o r e than a small p e r c e n t a g e of their r e quests .,,5 Nevertheless, 74 p e r c e n t of the r e p l a c e m e n t orders placed directly with the publisher by the U n i v e r s i t y of A r i z o n a in 1987-88 and 75 percent in 1988-89 were fulfilled, clearly not a small p e r centage o f the total requests. C o m p a r i n g this f u l fillment rate with that o f other research a n d / o r academic libraries would be e x t r e m e l y interesting, but such figures are not readily available. Only f u r t h e r exchange of i n f o r m a t i o n and careful c o m pilation of statistics will p r o v e w h e t h e r the T h o r Power Tool Ruling has indeed a f f e c t e d the replacem e n t process.
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TABLE ._T!I_E_U~Y~R~S_U_'Y QF ARI_~NA LIBRARY SERIALS DE~.A~MJEN~ Serials Replacement Orders Fiscal Years (July I-June 30) 1987-88 and 1988-89
Orders Placed
Orders Filled
Success Rate (%)
87-88
88-89
87-88
88-89
87-88
88-89
71
I00
56
79
79%
79%
585
823
434
615
74%
75%
29%
21%
66%
66%
Foreign
Vendors Publishers
DSBE 163 175 48 36 .......................................................................... TOTAl,** 819 1098 538 730
*lqgg-89 orders filled are computed as of 2/26/90. Some of these orders are still open nnd continue to be filled. **Total replacement orders as reported here do not include orders for materials in microformat since this paper focuses on obtaininB paper replacements.
Once a decision has been made to replace an issue, a w e l l - t r a i n e d student assistant m a y v e r i f y the c u r r e n t publisher address o f the title and then record it on the b a c k of the r e p l a c e m e n t request f o r m f o r later inclusion in the manual or online record. Since the U n i v e r s i t y of Arizona L i b r a r y Serials D e p a r t m e n t subscribes to T h e F a x o n C o m p a n y D a t a L i n x , this database has p r o v e d to be an excellent source of u p - t o - d a t e publisher i n f o r m a t i o n and addresses. Other sources are Ulrich's International Periodicals Directory (Bowker) and standard b i b liographic tools. A word of warning, however: some verification sources list fulfillment agencies as publishers, but it is impossible to get r e p l a c e m e n t issues f r o m them. As Turtle says of the f u l f i l l m e n t center, "...there is no stock of back issues. The fulfillment center n e v e r possesses the actual issues, but ships the mailing labels to the p r i n t e r or printers in other parts of the country...By the time the library gets around to placing its claim, the spare issues m a y have been sold to a s e c o n d - h a n d magazine dealer. "6 Ulrich's is a v e r y good source for actual publisher addresses of titles supplied b y fulfillment agencies. O f course, the p r i m a r y source of publisher i n f o r m a t i o n is a recent issue o f the publication, but access to issues is generally not v e r y convenient, especially in libraries where the current periodical rooms are not located close to the technical services processing areas. It is i m p o r t a n t to have a file, w h e t h e r online or not, of current publisher addresses that m a y be u p d a t e d as necessary. INNOVACQ makes no provision for such a file unless a separate v e n d o r code is k e y e d for each publisher, but putting the address in a note field in the bibliographic record makes it accessible while keying the order and easy to update. Although domestic subscription agents do not seem e q u i p p e d to handle r e p l a c e m e n t orders, which
are actually f i r m orders, m a n y f o r e i g n vendors are v e r y successful in obtaining replacements f o r missing issues. R e p l a c e m e n t statistics r e p o r t e d in the table a b o v e lend support to this statement: of the total orders placed with f o r e i g n vendors at T h e U n i v e r s i t y of Arizona L i b r a r y Serials D e p a r t m e n t , 79 percent were filled in 1987-88 and in 1988-89. I m p o r t a n t factors here are f o r e i g n exchange rates and p a y m e n t in foreign currency. Foreign vendors are m o r e likely than publishers to request p a y m e n t in U.S. dollars rather than foreign c u r rency, thus m a k i n g p a y m e n t easier, and also cheaper, since m a n y banks charge a substantial a m o u n t per f o r e i g n draft. In terms o f s t a f f time f o r processing, and an average cost f o r an institution o f f r o m $20 to $40 to cut an individual check, cutting one larger check to a single v e n d o r is m o r e cost e f f e c t i v e than issuing m a n y checks to individual publishers. Foreign vendors m a y also be the only source of obscure titles f r o m Eastern E u r o p e , or other inaccessible areas o f the world. Valuable i n f o r m a t i o n , especially on types of m a terials supplied and services o f f e r e d b y individual subscription agents, can be f o u n d in the most r e cent edition o f International Subscription Agents." An Annotated Directory. 7 C o m m u n i c a t i o n with most foreign vendors is consistently productive, and the fact that a lib r a r y has m o n o g r a p h , subscription, a n d / o r serial continuation standing order accounts with t h e m seems to guarantee excellent service. Several of these vendors will even search to obtain items f r o m sources such as back issue dealers or b o o k stores, and m a y consider an order open until filled or until all sources are exhausted. R e c e n t l y the Serials D e p a r t m e n t o f the U n i versity of A r i z o n a L i b r a r y received a back issue of a Polish title that had been ordered in June 1985 f r o m K u b o n and Sagner. Four years is a long time to keep an order open, so it m a y be a good idea to i n f o r m the v e n d o r via a note on the p u r chase order that the order is open for a stipulated period of six months or a year, and that if the order has not arrived b y then it m a y be considered cancelled.
and n u m b e r of copies, since errors in these areas m a y result in n o n - r e c e i p t o f the r e p l a c e m e n t issues. Records m u s t be kept of what has been ord e r e d so that w h e n the issue arrives an aware receiving s t a f f will not discard it as a duplicate. M a n y manual systems rely on clips, tabs, color coding, attached slips of paper, or other means to annotate c h e c k - i n cards that r e p l a c e m e n t issues have been ordered. As Osborn states, "replacem e n t copies which have b e e n ordered, especially to allow a v o l u m e to be bound, do not run the risk of being discarded as u n w a n t e d items because the records are specially m a r k e d to show the replacements have b e e n requested. ''8 A library m a y opt to have a specific staff m e m b e r ' s name in the s h i p - t o - a d d r e s s to ensure that replacements do not go astray or are discarded as duplicates b y u n w a r y s t a f f who handle large quantities of daily mail. H o w e v e r , central receiving s t a f f in large A R L libraries m a y not take time to read each address carefully and will open mail and discard envelopes or mailing labels before the issues arrive in serials receiving. A n o t h e r p r o b l e m , frequent s t a f f turnover, results in journals still addressed to s t a f f who are no longer e m p l o y e d b y the library; a s o m e w h a t h u m o r o u s solution to this p r o b l e m would be to use a s h i p - t o - a d d r e s s with a fictitious staff m e m b e r such as "R. E. Placement," but again this is no guarantee that r e p l a c e m e n t issues will arrive without mishap. In an a u t o m a t e d system such as I N N O V A C Q , notations of r e p l a c e m e n t issues ordered should be added to the online c h e c k - i n record. Because rep l a c e m e n t orders involve invoices that m a y or may not arrive with the pieces, it m a y be m o r e effective to have the same s t a f f m e m b e r who places the orders assume responsibility for checking in the pieces as they arrive, thus assuring that receipt is noted on the order record and that invoices are paid. Otherwise, orders could be claimed that have already been received and noted on the c h e c k in record. M o d i f y i n g procedures in this way to avoid mistakes helps m a i n t a i n a high level of credibility and integrity within the l i b r a r y - p u b l i s h e r / v e n dor relationship.
Ordering a Replacement
Acquisition of O u t - o f - P r i n t Materials
Once the source has been d e t e r m i n e d , a p u r chase order m u s t be created. Libraries operating with a m a n u a l system of serials control will most likely type m u l t i - p a r t purchase order forms. O n line systems, such as I N N O V A C Q , usually provide for the a u t o m a t i c printing of purchase orders once the order has been input into the system. It is essential to c h e c k and recheck i n f o r m a t i o n such as address, v o l u m e and issue n u m b e r s , cover dates,
I f an issue is out of print according to a vendor or the publisher, it m a y be ordered f r o m one of m a n y b a c k issue dealers (different creatures f r o m vendors or subscription agents), which are located t h r o u g h o u t the country. In m a n y instances, trial and error or personal r e c o m m e n d a t i o n s f r o m colleagues who have had success with a particular f i r m are the p r i m a r y ways o f choosing which back issue dealer to patronize. Some libraries find that
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they are able to acquire needed titles f r o m these sources, either b y sending out a "want list" with a limited search period of six months, a f t e r which the order is cancelled, or b y sending f i r m orders that are searched only once before being returned if unfilled. O f course, b a c k issue dealers are p r o f i t - o r i e n t e d and libraries m a y be f o r c e d to pay higher prices than the publishers would charge, but often this is the only w a y to acquire missing issues. Until 12 S e p t e m b e r 1989, w h e n Universal Serials and Book E x c h a n g e (USBE) filed a petition for b a n k r u p t c y , 9 it was an inexpensive, although not wholly successful, source of o u t - o f - p r i n t b a c k issues. M a n y libraries have to rethink their o u t o f - p r i n t sources n o w that USBE has been eliminated f r o m the market.
Claiming Serials Replacement Orders Since publishers and vendors do not always respond in a timely m a n n e r to r e p l a c e m e n t orders, sometimes it is necessary to claim issues on order that have not b e e n received within a time limit established b y the library. More generous time limits should be established for foreign orders. These claims are not the same as the claims for missing issues that are initiated by receiving staff, since r e p l a c e m e n t claims are f o r orders rather than for individual issues already paid for through s u b scription or standing order. Perhaps due to the n u m b e r and variety of library claim f o r m s that exist and lack of standardization, m a n y publishers are c o n f u s e d by these claims. T h i n k i n g they are claims for issues n e v e r received, or, worse yet, assuming that they are new purchase orders, publishers send duplicates of replacements. Publisher confusion about r e p l a c e m e n t claims increases the a m o u n t of c o r respondence involved and delays receipt of the issues. I N N O V A C Q will generate claims for replacem e n t issues "automatically," but the p r o c e d u r e involves m o v i n g b a c k and f o r t h a m o n g several d i f ferent functions. Then, in some libraries, the claim f o r m s are so similar in a p p e a r a n c e to the purchase orders that confusion reigns w h e n they reach the publishers. Some of this confusion m a y be eliminated by attaching to the claim a p r e - p r i n t e d notice that explains that it is a claim f o r a r e p l a c e m e n t order that had been placed several months earlier. R e p l a c e m e n t orders should be claimed twice before concluding that the issues are not available and cancelling the order. T h e r e is a certain a m o u n t of success in claiming r e p l a c e m e n t orders, but the persastent t o l l o w - u p m a t is s o m e n m e s n e e a e a t~efore issues are sent can be annoying.
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I f needed issues are d e t e r m i n e d to be unavailable, steps must be taken to cancel the outstanding orders and annotate the c h e c k - i n records, whether manual or online, that the items are out of print. A note m a y be written on the c h e c k - i n card or placed in the c h e c k - i n record so that anyone using the serials files will be aware that this particular item is not available. Whatever the system used to alert s t a f f that binding units are complete, they must be notified that the missing issues will not be replaced and to "bind as is" or "bind with lacks." These efforts at organized r e c o r d k e e p i n g will pay o f f since duplicate requests for o u t - o f - p r i n t items will be eliminated and a relatively p e r m a n e n t record will be on file. If, as sometimes happens, the missing issue turns up despite i n f o r m a t i o n that it is not available, it can be b o u n d separately and shelved with the other b o u n d volumes. Technically speaking, orders should be cancelled f o r m a l l y with the publisher a n d / o r v e n d o r when it is d e t e r m i n e d that the issues are no longer needed. If, h o w e v e r , there has been no p u b l i s h e r / v e n d o r response after two r e p l a c e m e n t order claims, which usually takes about six months, cancellation notices would p r o b a b l y only serve to f u r t h e r confuse a publisher and are not worth s t a f f time. It then m a y be necessary to annotate only local records that no response was obtained f r o m the p u b l i s h e r / v e n dor.
Microforms as Replacements for Serials I f a library has made the decision to bind a periodical title and retain older b o u n d volumes, r e p l a c e m e n t efforts usually are directed towards obtaining missing issues in p a p e r form. Nevertheless, if all efforts at r e p l a c e m e n t fail, a f u r t h e r decision may have to be made w h e t h e r to continue binding future volumes and ignore gaps where items could not be obtained, or to replace all or part of the back run with a m i c r o f o r m , such as m i c r o f i l m or microfiche. This decision is not easy to make, considering the possibility of having a split title in terms of f o r m a t , but it m a y m e a n the difference between access to back volumes and no access. O t h e r considerations are potential patron disinclination to use a m i c r o f o r m , the availability of the title in m i c r o f o r m a t , the timeliness with which the m i c r o f o r m appears a f t e r a volume is complete, its cost, and the cost and m a i n t e n a n c e of the equipment needed to use it. I f only one or two issues are not available, it m a y be most e f f e c t i v e to bind the volumes without them, m a k i n g sure to note the missing pieces on the volume, on the shelf list, and in the holdings statement. Nevertheless, if it is a title with issues that are consistently Stolen or m u n l a t e a , it m a y oe m o r e cost etlectlve to w i t h d r a w the a l r e a d y - b o u n d volumes, replace
t h e m with a m i c r o f o r m , order a subscription to the m i c r o f o r m , and discontinue binding the title. Pourciau maintains that such a decision m a y not be quite as s t r a i g h t f o r w a r d as it appears: "Consideration o f binding costs versus those of purchasing m i c r o f i l m must recognize that the d e cision to bind loose issues, aside f r o m the costs of missing issues required to complete a bibliographic v o l u m e entails only one subscription cost. The purchase o f m i c r o f i l m at the end of a v o l u m e year, h o w e v e r , means that the library has paid f o r a subscription to p a p e r copy, and then pays again for the same material in micro f o r m a t . "1° Ordering a m i c r o f o r m as a substitute f o r binding p a p e r volumes, however, m a y result in some savings since the purchase of the m i c r o f o r m m a y o f f s e t the usual binding costs. A n o t h e r possibility is to purchase only the m i c r o f o r m and c a n cel the print subscription. This m a y be done f o r titles with m a j o r research value and m i n o r current awareness value, again d e p e n d e n t upon collection d e v e l o p m e n t policy. Individual libraries m u s t m a k e such decisions based upon user needs and local policy.
Replacement Problems Although ordering r e p l a c e m e n t issues seems fairly s t r a i g h t f o r w a r d once a p p r o p r i a t e procedures have been developed, the process is f r a u g h t with problems. It seems that M u r p h y ' s L a w rules here: if something can go wrong, it will. A m a j o r p r o b lem is that the n u m b e r of r e p l a c e m e n t requests seems to increase e v e r y year, possibly as a result of increased use or misuse of u n b o u n d periodicals by e v e r - g r o w i n g n u m b e r s of students. Since the 1982-83 fiscal year, the total n u m b e r o f replacem e n t orders placed b y the U n i v e r s i t y of Arizona L i b r a r y Serials D e p a r t m e n t has more than doubled, and this does not take into account the n u m b e r of r e p l a c e m e n t requests received that did not r e sult in an order. Reasons f o r this large increase in r e p l a c e m e n t requests are d i f f i c u l t to determine, but m a n y f a c tors m a y be involved: an increase in the n u m b e r of students enrolled at the university and a c o n c o m i t a n t increase in the n u m b e r of students using the periodical collections, t h u s . r e s u l t i n g in an increase in mutilation and stealing of journals; an increase in willful vandalism, including razoring out m a n y articles in each of a b o u t ten b o u n d volumes o f Kyklos, a foreign social science journal; a m o r e c o n c e r t e d e f f o r t on the part o f s t a f f to bind c o m p l e t e volumes; and the kind o f control that comes with the use of an a u t o m a t e d serials system.
This increase means that s t a f f dealing with replacements m a y not be able to keep up in a timely way with the n e v e r - e n d i n g stream of requests that arrive f r o m the periodical rooms and branches. This delay in ordering m a y mean that the other pieces f r o m the binding unit will remain unbound for longer periods o f time, and, if maintained in a public service area, more susceptible to mutilation or theft. H o w e v e r , a backlog is not always disadvantageous since sometimes a time lag m a y mean that an issue has had time to r e a p p e a r on the shelf before the actual o r d e r is made. As long as there is a means of n o t i f y i n g the s t a f f m e m b e r placing the orders that an issue is no longer needed, a backlog need not be entirely negative. In fact, holding r e p l a c e m e n t requests for items claimed several times without publisher response m a y be beneficial since often the issues eventually arrive a f t e r the request for r e p l a c e m e n t has been submitted. In an a u t o m a t e d system such as I N N O V A C Q , if an issue f o r which a r e p l a c e m e n t request has been s u b m i t t e d arrives as a result of a previous claim, it m a y be c h e c k e d in and sent to the location; w h e n the r e p l a c e m e n t request is processed, the c h e c k - i n record will indicate that the item is no longer needed and the request m a y be discarded. It is to be hoped that r e c o r d k e e p i n g in a manual system is as e f f e c t i v e and the result the same. Other r e p l a c e m e n t p r o b l e m s involve errors in order fulfillment by publishers a n d / o r vendors. M a n y times the issues sent are not the issues ordered, resulting in the necessity of f u r t h e r communication b y letter with the r e p l a c e m e n t source, which must be i n f o r m e d that the wrong issue was sent and that the correct issue is still needed. Although purchase orders are usually v e r y clear as to volume, issue n u m b e r , and c o v e r date, mistakes in fulfillment of orders do occur. This t y p e of error produces a longer delay in assembling a binding unit, which, if maintained in a public service area, m a y result in the disappearance of other issues within that binding unit, b e f o r e s h i p m e n t to the b i n d e r y takes place. Libraries that maintain incomplete binding units in a n o n - p u b l i c service area, such as in a b i n d e r y d e p a r t m e n t , awaiting the arrival of replacem e n t issues, are able to establish better control over this aspect o f collection integrity but offer a m u c h reduced service to their patrons. However, the s t a f f responsible for replacements has little or no control over these p r o b l e m s , except to ensure that the purchase order is as clear as possible and to use great care to m a k e sure the piece in hand is the piece ordered w h e n checking in replacements. G r e a t care also must be exercised by the periodical r o o m and branch s t a f f in filling out the original request for r e p l a c e m e n t , since the person placing the orders usually does not have time to check
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each individual request to make sure that all information is correct and that the issue is, indeed, missing. If such care is not exercised when the replacement request is initiated, the library staff may in good faith order an issue that is not missing and will later have to reorder the correct issue. G i v e n the nature o f some library users, it is not unusual for an item to be missing f r o m the shelf for weeks only to reappear after a replacement has been o r d e r e d for it. The possibility of this happening is limited if periodical room staff follow a detailed searching procedure before submitting the replacement request. At times, the claim assistant may discontinue claiming an issue and submit it for replacement without knowing that the issue already is being sent by the publisher. In such instances, duplicates will result f r o m the claimed issue and the replacement purchase order crossing in the mail. Unless the title is expensive, these duplicates are usually discarded. H o w e v e r , it is p r u d e n t to return expensive duplicates to the publisher, if possible, since there is no point in paying for them as replacements when they have been sent as a result of a claim against a prepaid subscription or standing order. As mentioned above, publisher response to a replacement order is not always ideal. Many publishers require p r e p a y m e n t for a back issue but do not make this requirement clear. An invoice that clearly states that p r e p a y m e n t is required or that is identified as a "proforma invoice" may be prepaid by the accounting department, but local accounting policy usually requires that an incoming invoice that has none of these statements must be held until the item arrives. U n f o r t u n a t e l y , all too often the publisher is waiting for p r e p a y m e n t while the library is waiting for the issue, and the situation remains a standoff. If considerable time elapses after the arrival o f an invoice, and the item does not arrive, it may be time to drop the publisher a note inquiring as to the status o f the order. Publishers would do well to be very clear when p r e p a y m e n t is required, since m a n y library financial systems do not allow p r e p a y m e n t unless the necessity for it is clearly indicated on the invoice. Several publishers, such as Elsevier, Dekker, and Academic Press, for business reasons, possibly in response to the T h o r Power Tool Ruling, have established policies of selling single issues for the current year and one or two previous years only, while anything published earlier must be purchased as complete volumes. According to a letter f r o m Elsevier in response to a purchase order for a single issue, their policy "allows single issues to be sold for the current year and the two previous
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years only. Beyond that point, only complete volumes are sold. "11 Such a policy, for a library needing one issue out of six published in a certain year, greatly increases the cost to the library. Since it is not economically feasible to pay for replacement issues that will be discarded, it is best to cancel such orders with the publisher and try to obtain them f r o m another reasonably priced source. If ultimately they are unavailable, it may be necessary to "bind as is." Patrons who need articles f r o m these missing issues are advised to submit a request to interlibrary loan.
Implications for Managers The success rate of the University of Arizona L i b r a r y Serials D e p a r t m e n t in obtaining replacements for missing serials may p r o m p t other libraries to take a closer look at their own policies, procedures, and success rates. If so, several thoughts should be kept in mind. First, the success rate, when considered without other factors, may be meaningless. Considering recent budget restrictions at m a n y libraries, expense and cost effectiveness are important factors when looking more closely at established procedures. In total dollars, how much was spent by this library t o achieve such an impressive rate o f success? Total expenditures for replacements ordered during the fiscal years 1987-88 and 1988-89, were $14,038.51 and $24,717.04 respectively, but these figures do not include the m a n y hidden costs that are not obvious, even to someone who is very familiar with the entire replacement process. The amount charged on the invoice for a replacement is not the actual cost to the library to replace missing issues, since it does not include the labor of the staff members who determine that issues are missing and who fill out the replacement request forms, nor the staff members who find the correct address, place the order, claim the order, check in the issues when they arrive, correspond with vendors when orders are not filled correctly, and send back expensive duplicates. Figuring all of these costs for labor into the average replacement cost will give a library a better idea o f whether or not intensive replacement efforts are worthwhile. Other costs, such as overhead, postage, cost o f cutting checks, and stationery, must also be added to give a realistic picture of overall replacement costs. Determining actual replacement costs that include labor and other overhead costs is beyond the scope of this paper, but library managers must be aware that the price paid for a replacement order is not the total cost to the library.
Second, most A R L libraries, of which the U n i versity o f Arizona L i b r a r y is one, base their decisions to bind complete units on their stated collection d e v e l o p m e n t policies, but they may not realize how m u c h this actually costs the library. Other types o f libraries may not make any e f f o r t at all to order replacements but may instead bind incomplete on a regular basis. T o d a y there may be other ways of dealing with missing issues as well. With commercial document delivery systems available in m a n y areas, for instance, a library, A R L or not, m a y not need to own complete back volumes because journal articles can be made available in a relatively short time via document delivery. Improvements in interlibrary loan services may also have an e f f e c t on overall replacement policies. A courier service now exists among the three universities in Arizona that carries items back and f o r t h among Tucson, T e m p e , and Flagstaff on a daily basis. Delivery takes 2 to 3 days for regular requests and 24 hours f o r rush requests. This faster ILL turnaround time may cut down on the u r g e n c y of binding complete units, but it is m u c h too soon to determine whether this service will actually have a noticeable e f f e c t on replacement policy. If the collection development policy o f a library spells out or even implies a complete collection in certain areas o f high collection intensity, there may be little reason to change replacement policy, unless library managers take a closer look at how much is being spent, what percentage of the overall budget is involved, and whether or not the patron is being served adequately. O f course, service to the patron is the bottom line in this discussion, but again it is difficult to determine how to provide the best service to all patrons who have varied needs for serials. Are students willing to wait 2 to 3 days to get material they need, or are they insistent upon having material immediately? Will students use microfilm if it is the only f o r m a t available? Will students pay the costs of obtaining materials by fax machine if they thus are able to obtain them m u c h more quickly? These questions must be answered by serials managers as well as by collection development experts in a library before changes in replacement policies are made. Third, although resource-sharing and d o c u ment delivery services may make binding complete units less crucial to a library, at least one library must still own a copy of an issue or there will be nothing to share and no way to obtain copies of articles through ILL. Perhaps A R L libraries must accept the b u r d e n o f p e r f o r m i n g an archival f u n c t i o n and must also accept that binding corn-
plete units of serials w h e r e v e r possible is necessary despite cost. So, for an A R L library, the overall policy may be, "If a serial is missing, try to replace it," without dwelling too heavily on whether or not this policy is cost effective. Without f u r t h e r study, there is no way to determine how variations in replacement policies a f f e c t service to patrons, since it is seldom possible to f i n d every single journal on the shelf when needed, no matter how comprehensive a library's replacement policies. Hopefully, this paper will stimulate f u r t h e r thought and research in this area, to the benefit o f libraries and patrons. Conclusion
Ordering serial replacements may require certain adjustments to established acquisition procedures. Although there are many difficulties in this process, w h e t h e r manual or automated, the primary goal in this expensive exercise is to maintain the integrity o f the collection and to adhere to the overall collection development policies of the library. Realistically, obtaining a replacement for every missing issue in a library is impossible, but user satisfaction in finding a cited article right where it should be may make it a necessary and worthwhile process. Many libraries would do well to r e - e x a m i n e their replacement policies and procedures, determine whether or not replacing missing serials is a library priority, and, if so, make necessary adjustments to increase their rate of success. NOTES
I. Andrew D. Osborn, Serial Publications: Their Place and Treatment in Libraries, 2d ed., rev. (Chicago: American L i b r a r y Association, 1973), 145. 2. Heartsill Young, ed., The ALA Glossary of Library and Information Science. (Chicago: American Library Association, 1983), 102.
3.
ALA Washington Newsletter 28, no. 13 (15
N o v e m b e r 1976): 6. 4. Bill Katz and Peter Gellatly, Guide to Magazine and Serial Agents. (New York: R.R. Bowker Company, 1975), 51. 5. Donald Jaeger, "Back-Volume Acquisitions: An Historical Perspective," Technical Services Quarterly 4, no. 4 (Summer 1987): 36.
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