I must be missing something. Wouldn't non-serial, web-based or electronic
titles, if cataloged, be reported under Question 1, as "Titles"? The
instructions say not to include them in Question 3, so I assume they are
counted in Question 1.
Jim Milles
On 10/4/05, Joseph Hinger <hingerj@stjohns.edu> wrote:
>
> In filling out the recent 2004/2005 ABA Annual Questionnaire, I was quite
> surprised at some of the changes in this year's questions, specifically
> relating to electronic and web-based titles. It appears as if electronic
> and/or web-based titles or products are NOT counted anywhere in the title
> count, however, we ARE permitted to count them as a serial subscription (if
> they are serials) if they are cataloged separately in the library's catalog.
>
> These questions and definitions seem a bit illogical to me. Historically,
> at least in my 15 years of working Law Library Technical Services, emphasis
> has been put more and more each year on the phrase "if you have it cataloged
> in your system on a record, then it can be counted." In many libraries,
> micro titles are NOT cataloged to title level contained within the package,
> therefore, no counting should take place. If libraries do have the financial
> resources and manpower to catalog such packages at the title level, and you
> have records in your system for these titles, then by all means they can be
> counted. Over the past 10 to 15 years, libraries have spent great financial
> resources in cataloging such packages, as well as purchasing cataloging for
> these packages from outside vendors; thus, allowing us to count such titles.
>
> What makes the online world so different? If I catalog something online,
> whether it is a serial subscription, or a monograph, or a map, etc., I
> should be permitted to count it, as I have a record in my catalog.
>
> The way I see the questionnaire this year, NOT being able to count
> electronic and/or web-based titles or products, whether I have a
> bibliographic/cataloging record for it or not, leads me to believe that the
> overall direction of the questionnaire could change from year to year. I
> personally believe, that in alignment with the past questionnaires, that
> libraries should be able to count whatever they want, as long as there is a
> bibliographic/cataloging record for it in your library system. In my
> library, we have spent great amounts of financial resources, time, manpower,
> etc., to catalog our retrospective microform titles AND our online
> resources, as we tended to believe that "if we cataloged it, we could count
> it." Now we are being told differently, regarding web-based/electronic
> titles. I hope to see this disparity corrected in future ABA Questionnaires.
>
> A recommendation that I have is for us to be alerted at least a year in
> advance what the questions will be in the coming year. Receiving the
> questionnaire after the timeframe for which the statistics are requested has
> caused me major manipulation of the information in my online system. Had I
> known what they would be asking a year ago, I could have "recoded" my system
> to recount these statistics well in advance of receiving the questionnaire.
>
> This past year at the AALL meeting, there were several sessions on
> statistics and counting, that were very interesting and thought provoking.
> I'm sure any discussion about this topic would be appreciated by the
> Statistics Committee of AALL, as well as the Subcommittee on Serials
> Statistics, which is a subcommittee of the the Serials Committee of the
> Technical Services SIS.
>
> I would love to hear others feelings about this ABA Questionnaire
> situation, and how others are approaching these changed questions.
>
> Joseph Hinger
>
> Associate Librarian for Technical Services
>
> St. John's University
>
> Rittenberg Law Library
>
> 8000 Utopia Parkway
>
> Jamaica, NY 11439
>
>
-- Jim Milles Associate Dean & Director of the Law Library Associate Professor of Law University at Buffalo Law School The State University of New York 208 O'Brian Hall Buffalo, NY 14260 (716) 645-2089 jgmilles@buffalo.edu
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