Serials Standing Committee
2008-2009 Annual Report
The Technical Services SIS Serials Committee focused primarily on two areas this year. The Project Counter Task Group continued its efforts to promote compliance with Counter standards for usage statistics. The Task Group chair, Shyama Agrawal wrote a short piece on "Counter Usage Statistics" in the AALL Spectrum's "CRIV Notes" on p. 36 (July 2008). The Task Group also created a Sample Letter to Vendors for COUNTER Compliance which is posted on the Project Counter website. The link to COUNTER's list of compliant vendors has been updated so that it will remain current. The Task Group was contacted by Hein in regard to their plans to upgrade their usage statistics to become COUNTER compliant within the next year, if feasible.
The Task Group continues to work on other projects including bringing its online bibliography up-to-date and creation of a spreadsheet on usage statistics in general which will document what resources librarians are using to collect usage statistics, what method of collection is used and who the vendor is for each resource. New members have joined the Task Group since its inception in January, 2007. With the current economic environment accelerating the migration from print to electronic serials, the need for supporting the development of adequate usage statistics is even more imperative.
Under the new leadership of Michele Pope, the 2008/09 spring serials Exchange of Duplicates took place in June 2009. Thirty-six libraries registered for the 2008/09 exchange, which represents a decrease of seven libraries from the 2007 exchange. However, there was a significant increase in the total number of issues offered, 19,357 up from 13,681. Despite delays created by the negotiations involved in changing management of the exchange program coupled with processing improvements, the Exchange of Duplicates program still was quite successful. Michele Pope is to be highly commended for her commitment to taking on the management of the exchange program. Notably, the list of titles in the authorities file was revised, and a credit card option was added to a revised registration form. The venture remains a benefit to TS-SIS members as evidenced by the positive feedback of participants, and the fact that it remains profitable. Although we now pay the database and website manager, Wayne Schneider (Brigham Young University Law School) $10 out of the $30 per library subscription cost, the TS-SIS received $720 in profits which support educational and other programs of the Section. A full report from Michele Pope, chair of the Exchange of Duplicate Program, has been submitted to the TS-SIS Executive Board.
An educational program (Here Today, Gone Tomorrow? The Future of Print Periodicals in Law Libraries) and a workshop (Managing from the Middle: Techniques for Success in Technical Services) were both accepted by the AMPC for the 2009 AALL Annual Meeting.
Carol Nicholson, Chair
TS-SIS Serials Committee