Abstract
This session tackled the issue of possible alternatives to libraries' continuing the practice of in-house checking in and claiming of print journals. Julie Su of San Diego State University Library spoke of how her library employed a vendor's consolidation service to outsource the claiming of print serials with the potential to automate the check-in processes with a technology product. The other speakers, José Luis Andrade of Swets and Bob McQuillan of Innovative Interfaces, Inc., provided insights on how vendors are providing service and technology solutions to enable libraries to achieve automated serials check-in and claims, both necessary to achieve shelf-ready print journals.
This tactics session focused on one alternative solution to continuing the known, standard model of libraries' checking in and claiming print journals. The three speakers during the session were Julie Su, Head of the Serials Unit at San Diego State University; José Luis Andrade, President for the Americas at Swets; and Bob McQuillan, Senior Product Manager at Innovative Interfaces, Inc. Together, the three presenters offered an outsourcing solution that involved cooperation between an academic library and service providers to meet particular serials check-in and claiming needs.
Su focused on the specific serials practices at San Diego State University (SDSU). She outlined the challenges SDSU Library faced with serials processing. Like many other academic libraries, it was facing the transition of serials from print to electronic formats and had a great number of print serials cancellations, but there were still plenty of print subscriptions that could not be converted and needed to be managed. Moreover, the statistical information gathered at SDSU Library indicated that the entire serials collection, print and electronic combined, was growing by leaps and bounds despite cancellations of print formats. With the shift in serials formats comes the shift in serials work and priorities. A small and dwindling serials staff had been handling all the work of acquiring, processing, and cataloging serials. However, the difficulties of managing both print and electronic serials were overburdening the shrinking number of staff members. This situation created pressure on the library to review its serials processing practices and to seek solutions. Su asserted that the conditions of format transitions and budgetary and staffing pressures at libraries are creating a situation in which libraries can no longer continue to operate in isolation. Solutions outside the box—outside of the self-sustained library—must be sought.
Su's research focused on finding alternative strategies for managing serials work. Some successful models were mentioned. One is to use WorldCat Cataloging Partners, which provides copy cataloging and book processing services. Another model, to provide assistance to the e-journals processing and access management tasks, is to use electronic resources access and management services combined with machine-readable cataloging (MARC) services. While these other models can very well be assumed successfully to deal with the issues of serials processing, SDSU Library's solution was to combine automation of a majority of print serials processing, outsource claiming, and receive shelf-ready journals in batches. To accomplish this, they looked to SwetsWise Consolidation. The library had used Innovative Interfaces' Millennium Serials module to manage its print serials, but lacked Innovative's Serials E-Checkin Server module that would allow automated batch check-in of physical shipments via Electronic Packing Slips (EPSs), a service provided by Swets to current Innovative customers. Therefore SDSU Library decided to outsource print serial claims, but would continue to check in serials manually with Millennium Serials module.
Su reported that SDSU Library tested Swets' consolidation service on a group of two hundred print titles. They selected biweekly delivery of issues and the use of Serials Industry Systems Advisory Committee (SISAC) barcodes without call number labels. Using the service meant incorporating the service reports and packing slips into their serials processing routines, but they continued with in-house check-in. Following the test, they concluded that this approach has yielded a successful outcome, with a 95 percent fill rate. Su closed her portion of the presentation by suggesting a more complete solution that could be gained from combining different aspects of automation technology to make shelf-ready journals a reality. Though such a solution was not available at SDSU Library at the time, Su was aware that consolidation services vendors can load electronic files of packing slips into integrated library systems (ILSs) to batch-process check-in for all issues in a given shipment. Such a complete solution will require cooperation and coordination among libraries, service providers, and systems vendors to be realized.
Next, José Luis Andrade of Swets discussed their consolidation service. Andrade described how SwetsWise Consolidation works, the benefits libraries can expect from the service, and how it interfaces with the ILS to automate the check-in process. According to Andrade, consolidation services such as the one offered by Swets have seen great popularity outside the United States, especially in areas where the postal service is not as reliable. In such places, the main goal is to increase the delivery rate of serials. Within the United States, libraries could benefit from services like SwetsWise Consolidation as a means to outsource check-in and claims for print serials, which would allow them to focus limited staff and financial resources on the management of electronic resources.
SwetsWise Consolidation builds on subscription agent services to centralize and automate much of the serials check-in and claiming functions that libraries traditionally handle on their own. All the print serials are mailed to a library's subscription agent's location, where they are checked in and physically processed so they will be shelf-ready when they are shipped to the library. Swets uses a system that tracks and predicts patterns of publication of serials titles. Claiming of items is also part of the service. While it does not yet support the creation on MARC 21 holdings records that can be used by library customers, it does make available publisher schedules and various reports to keep customers informed of shipments and their contents through the subscription database that is part of the service. Swets' consolidation service also handles the check-in process and uploads this information into subscribing libraries' ILSs.
Andrade spoke of the benefits libraries can expect from a consolidation service system. While subscribing libraries will need to get used to shifting a lot of the work and control that are involved in serials processing, Swets does provide a great deal of transparency by ensuring that customers can decide on the frequency of shipments and track the progress and contents of each shipment. By having Swets consolidate a subscribing library's print journal subscriptions and handling a lot of the administrative and processing tasks involved with such serials, libraries can expect to have the subscription agent be their single point of contact for questions and issues concerning their print serials. Such a service, asserted Andrade, also frees up library time and funds that can be used for other functions.
Bob McQuillan, Senior Product Manager at Innovative Interfaces, Inc., discussed another aspect of the solution of automating serials check-in, processing, and claims. Serials E-Checkin Server works well with serials subscription services such as those offered by Swets and EBSCO and enables such services to batch load check-in records into the ILSs of participating libraries. It is meant to integrate with the Millennium Serials module. McQuillan covered how Serials E-Checkin Server works and the benefits libraries can expect from it.
McQuillan identified the University of Pretoria, South Africa, Department of Library Services as a user of the Serials E-Checkin Server system. The University of Pretoria Library was in need of an automated solution to their print serials situation since they are a large academic library serving a large population of undergraduate and graduate students, faculty, and staff. He noted that in 2004, it took one staff member five hours to manually check in 120 print journals. Serials E-Checkin Server is an automation solution that seems to be working for the University of Pretoria Library. Setting up the system is necessary, but once the initial set-up functions are accomplished, a noticeable increase in serials processing can be accomplished. McQuillan reported that after University of Pretoria set up Serials E-Checkin Server, one staff person was able check in 2,120 print journals in four hours.
Serials E-Checkin Server requires the library to code the check-in records that will be used with it. The serials subscription vendor must then obtain the library's IP address and its ILS's username and password in order to enable communication. The serials vendor then logs in to the Serials E-Checkin Server to upload EPSs via a file that describes the contents of a particular shipment from a subscription agent. Upon receiving EPS files, the library can process them, which will then update the check-in records. McQuillan also pointed out Serials E-Checkin's ability to automate the batch printing of labels, and also how routing and online library catalog views were managed with Millennium Serials.
McQuillan and Andrade answered questions following the presentation. Audience members wanted clarification and greater detail on the specific processes used by both SwetsWise Consolidation and Innovative Interfaces' Serials E-Checkin Server. Both rely on Serial Item and Contribution Identifier (SICI) information and SISAC barcodes to be able to fulfill serials check-in automation and shelf-ready journals.
Su concluded the session by highlighting some future prospects in the automation of serials processes for check-in and claims. Further developments may include providing update patterns in EPS files and in publishers' Serials Release Notification (SRN). A crosswalk that articulates the interoperability between Online Information Exchange (ONIX) SRN and MARC holdings formats is still greatly needed. Making use of cooperative initiatives, such as the Cooperative Online Serials (CONSER) Publication Patterns Initiative, has yet to be done widely as well.