Serials standards work: the next frontier

Serials, one of the more complicated areas of library technical endeavors, has lacked the benefit of standards for a long time. Even now, with standards beginning to be available, the majority of institutions are not working within standard serials formats. A survey to determine the use of serials standards in libraries was conducted in 1988 by the American Library Association, Resources and Technical Services Division, Serials Section, Committee to Study Serials Standards. In the spring of 1988 a survey was sent to a group encompassing the Association of Research Libraries members, CONSER participants, United States Newspaper Program participants, Microform Project libraries, and some vendors and librarians who attended the Committee meetings on a regular basis. The survey questionnaire assessed the current level of serials standards awareness of librarians and vendors. Topics included the type of serials systems used, standards relevant to serials control and union listing and whether or not they are implemented, types and levels of training staff received in the application of standards, benefits of the standards, and areas where standards are most needed.     

国内外图书馆多元文化服务研究综述

论述国际图联以及美国、加拿大、澳大利亚等国图书馆组织都制定有图书馆多元文化服务方针,国外学者的研究内容主要集中于图书馆多元文化服务的规划、馆藏建设与管理、读者服务与馆员教育;国内图书馆界到目前为止还没有一个完备的图书馆多元文化服务发展纲要性文件或法规,国内学者的研究内容集中于对国外研究情况的介绍,对我国图书馆多元文化服务的意义、对象、措施及具体实践情况的探讨;指出导致国内外研究存在异同点的根源是国内外不同的多元文化环境。     

《国际图联图书馆电子借阅原则》解析

[目的/意义]考察国际图联图书馆电子借阅原则及相关文献,解析国际图联关于图书馆电子借阅和电子图书知识产权的新观点。[方法/过程]图书馆电子借阅面临着出版商知识产权保护的限制,国际图联以《图书馆员及其他信息工作者的伦理准则》等文件表达过其立场。现在国际图联通过"电子借阅"和"电子阅读权利"表达了新的立场,并发布了《国际图联图书馆电子借阅原则》。[结果/结论]分析该原则的具体内容,认为应该以公众权利作为图书馆电子借阅的思想基础;国际图联提出的以电子阅读权利为理念的电子借阅原则,很好地表达了图书馆界对电子借阅服务的诉求。     

知识时代的创新——出席第67届国际图联大会和访问美国主要图书馆记述

第67届国际图联大会于2001年8月在美国马萨诸塞州历史名城波士顿召开,中国图书馆学会110位代表参加了此次图书馆界的盛会。本文详述了此次大会的情况及会后代表团成员访问美国主要图书馆的感受。     

知识时代的创新——出席第67届国际图联大会和访问美国主要图书馆记述

第67届国际图联大会于2001年8月在美国马萨诸塞州历史名城波士顿召开，中国图书馆学会110位代表参加了此次图书馆界的盛会。本文详述了此次大会的情况及会后代表团成员访问美国主要书馆的感受。     

Serials receipts decentralization for two branch campus libraries at the University of Washington

During 1996, staff at the University of Washington Libraries, a large research library, undertook a project to decentralize serials receipts for two branch campus libraries. This article examines the rationale for decentralization, the planning involved, and how the project was implemented, including follow-up. It details the project’s outcomes and discusses various problems encountered and the impact of the changes on branch campus and central library staff. The authors include a list of steps for executing a successful decentralization project. The authors conclude with general observations about changing to the practice of receiving serials directly at branch libraries.     

Boundary Spanners and Serials Deselection

Periodic serials deselection projects are an economic necessity, especially for academic libraries that serve predominantly undergraduate institutions. The dialogue between teaching faculty and librarians accompanying the serials deselection process may be an important learning experience for both, especially if thc library uses subject specialist librarians as "boundary-spanners," a concept explored in the essay. Nonetheless, even the most skillfully conducted cancellation program will reduce a library's ability to support scholarship and impair the working relationship bctween the library and its teaching faculty.     

Serials Management in the New Shanghai Library

Abstract

With a total floor space of 83,000 square meters, the new Shanghai Library, which opened on 20 December 1996, is among the top ten largest libraries in the world. The library was perhaps the first in China to implement international standards. In the early 1980s the Shanghai Library began cataloguing foreign books and periodicals following Western practices. In 1980, the library compiled a draft set of cataloguing rules for foreign serials based on ISBD(S). The library and the Library Society of Shanghai then organised a number of training classes for serials librarians from all over the country. Earlier, in December 1979, the Sixth Subcommittee of the National Document Standardisation Committee had begun compiling a set of cataloguing rules for serials. A draft based on ISBD(S), written by staff of the library, was put forward to the Fuzhou (city) Meeting in March 1983. After several discussions and revisions the National Standard Bureau finally approved the rules (GB 3792.3-85). In order to further the stardardisation of serials management, the Shanghai Library has issued its catalogue cards for serials to other libraries and information units. The catalogue cards have been widely distributed to the Chinese library community. Because of these developments, the library has become a de facto centre of serials research in the country.     

The Role of Public Libraries in Self-Publishing: Investigating Author and Librarian Perspectives

Little is known about self-publishing authors and about the concerns of public librarians regarding how best to support library self-publishing initiatives. This article presents and analyzes a survey of authors participating in programming at the Woodneath Library Center/Woodneath Press. It also presents and analyzes the results of a survey of public librarians. Findings suggest that self-publishing authors in this case study would benefit from author services support, and that librarians require targeted training to provide such support. As libraries explore this potential new role, more needs to be done to support author services in public libraries appropriately.     

Strategies for the Development of Public Libraries: A Survey of Selected Public Libraries in Lagos State,Nigeria

Public libraries serve as valuable assets in meeting a community's strategic goals. This article investigates strategies for the development of public libraries in Lagos State, Nigeria. Observation and questionnaire methods were used as research tools. The population of the study consists of librarians and users of public libraries in Lagos State. The eleven public libraries and twenty local government libraries in the state were surveyed. The major findings were that public libraries in Lagos State were not adequately funded and that the parent body has yet to meet the International Federation of Library Associations (IFLA) standard of public library establishment. The study highlighted the challenges facing public libraries in Lagos and offered some remedies.     

Digital Information

Summary

“Sometimes the perfect solution is not an option” was the opening attention-grabber for this workshop. From different perspectives, a library director, a serials librarian, and a serials vendor each recognized a trend towards library directors becoming more directly involved in collection development and technical services decision-making. The presenters believe a number of factors are creating this trend, including tighter budgets but higher service expectations, increasing availability and importance of library materials in electronic formats, and their accompanying complexity, costs, and related issues. This interactive workshop explored several scenarios related to the changing roles of library directors, serials librarians and vendors.     

IFLA推动图书馆阅读障碍服务：起源、进程与成效

回顾IFLA历年来对图书馆阅读障碍服务关注的历程,辩证分析IFLA推广图书馆服务于阅读障碍人士系列举措的优势与局限,综合参考IFLA的专业报告、论文和案例详细解读图书馆服务于阅读障碍群体的准则与对策,总结IFLA对图书馆阅读障碍服务的贡献及对我国图书馆开展阅读障碍服务的启示。     

信息无障碍，距离还有多远？——对146家美国城市公共图书馆的调查

文章以美国城市公共图书馆协会146家图书馆为调查对象,借助无障碍评估工具WAVE对这些馆的网站主页进行测评,逐一开展网站访查和内容分析,统计为残障用户提供服务的情况。调查发现,美国城市公共图书馆网站达到《康复法案》Section 508中规定的信息无障碍标准的比例只有15%,“缺少表单标签”“链接图像缺少替代文本”等是常见错误;55%的图书馆网站主页有残障用户服务信息。我国公共图书馆应重视信息无障碍建设,遵循信息无障碍标准,定期进行审查与维护,借助信息无障碍技术提供残障服务。     

Filling the Gap in Serials Education

A review is presented of the creation, activities and evolution of the Regional Serials Committee of the Serials Section of the American Library Association's Resources and Technical Services Division. For approximately ten years the committee has been using various means to evaluate serials matters and to inform librarians concerning these. The committee has sponsored workshops and published helpful manuals. Energies are now being directed toward the collecting of educational materials to be used in serials/training for acquisitions, check in, claiming, cataloging, binding, retrospective conversion, public service and automation. These materials are to be made available to interested librarians.     

Serials Control with Microcomputers in the Law Library

Microcomputers provide smaller and specialized libraries with attractive, affordable alternatives to mainframe-based systems. By combining state-of-the-art hardware with software packages for libray tasks like serials control, law librarians can solve many problems assoclated with the large volume of serials (70 to 90% of annual acquisitions) that they typically receive. But not all serials control systems are equally sophisticated in their storage or recessing capabilities. This article discusses the major requirements of adequate control of legal serials and analyzes some commercially available systems in light of those requirements.     

Demonstrating Value in Federal Medical Center Libraries

Abstract

Librarians in the federal sector, like librarians in other medical center libraries, increasingly find it necessary to prove their worth to administrators of their facilities in order to keep their libraries open. The Federal Libraries Section of the Medical Library Association developed a survey for use by federal librarians to help them quantify the value of library reference services provided. Using this survey, these librarians gathered statistics to show the library’s effect on patient care, education, and administrative questions.     

Identifying the Serials Librarian: Serials-Related Position Titles in the United States and Around the World

Serials are a familiar academic job responsibility, but serials librarians are becoming difficult to identify. While serials continue to exist, the transition from print to electronic resources contributes to a trend in which the job titles of librarians who manage serials no longer include the word “serials.” A content analysis was conducted to examine the prevalence of the word “serials,” as well as common synonyms including “continuing resources” and “periodicals,” in U.S. and non-U.S. academic library job titles. In a sample of 98 U.S. national and regional universities and colleges, 18 librarian and 98 staff job titles were found that included the word “serials” or a synonym for serials. By comparison, a sample of 71 universities from 8 non-U.S. countries revealed 17 librarian and 85 staff job titles that included the word “serials” or a synonym for serials.     

Promises and challenges of electronic journals: academic libraries surveyed

In spring 1997, a questionnaire was mailed to 95 major academic libraries in the United States to explore how serials librarians are responding to the boom of electronic journals (e‐journals). Fifty librarians (52.6%) answered the survey with one follow‐up. The study found that over 70% of the libraries that returned the survey had participated in e‐journal‐related activities. Questions relating to ‘access’ were consistently ranked high in explaining why librarians in major academic libraries think e‐journals are valuable, yet ‘cost’ seems to be a critical factor in determining e‐journal adoption. For most of the libraries surveyed, the figure for e‐journals appears modest, although some institutions claimed to have more than 1,100 titles in their e‐journal collections.