"CONSER Cooperative Open Access Journal Project" by Les Hawkins

CONSER members have discussed a plan to provide CONSER-authenticated records for online journals in the Directory of Open Access Journals (DOAJ). This column provides information on the Cooperative Open Access Journal Project, which is a multi-library project to provide high quality bibliographic records containing accurate ISSN data. If successful, the project could serve as a model for cooperatively providing records for other online journal collections.

The CONSER website has a page devoted to the project: http://www.loc.gov/acq/conser/Open-Access-Project.html

"CONSER Cooperative Open Access Journal Project" is published in the Serials Review, vol. 36, issue 3 (Sept. 2010), pages 167-168.

DOI: 10.1016/j.serrev.2010.05.007

“Me and My Shadow: Observation, Documentation, and Analysis of Serials and Electronic Resources Workflow” by Kristen Blake and Erin Stalberg

Blake and Stalberg's “Me and My Shadow” outlines a project done at North Carolina State University Libraries to document and review serials and electronic resources workflow. This three-stage project looked at the entire serials lifecycle and began with a staff shadowing component where a librarian directly observed tasks being performed. Workflow mapping was the next step, where the information gleaned from shadowing was documented in a graphic representation showing what steps were involved in various processes and by whom. Finally, the workflow was analyzed to look for areas that could be made more efficient. This article provides a nice literature review, highlighting several articles looking at library workflow analysis. The authors identified a gap in the literature regarding shadowing techniques in libraries as a tool for workflow mapping and analysis and sought to fill that gap with detailed sections on the shadowing process and outcomes. This article will be of interest to librarians preparing to engage in a serials workflow analysis. A link to view the workflow mapping diagrams created in this project is an added bonus.

The article can be found in the Serials Review, vol. 35, issue 4 (Dec. 2009), pages 242-252.

doi:10.1016/j.serrev.2009.08.018

"A Snapshot of Early Acceptance of the CONSER Standard Record in Local Catalogs" by Lori J. Terrill

A new issue of the Serials Review is now online. This article contains the first published research that I'm aware of on the CONSER Standard Record. Here's the abstract:

In an effort to enhance the usefulness of serial bibliographic records, while also increasing the cost-effectiveness of record creation and maintenance, CONSER adopted new cataloging guidelines in 2007. Commonly referred to as the “CONSER Standard Record,” the new cataloging standard was developed to support the user tasks of finding, identifying, selecting, and obtaining resources. This study looks at initial acceptance of the new standard by catalogers by measuring the types of edits made to these records in the copy cataloging process. Results indicate that libraries accept most of the changes made to the mandatory elements in the CONSER Standard Record, as compared to former full-level cataloging standards, and do not suggest the need for significant revision of the standard.

The article can be found in the Serials Review, vol. 35, issue 1 (March 2009), pages 16-27.

Serials Review: Call for Column Co-Editor

Serials Review is looking for a co-editor of the "Balance Point" column. The "Balance Point" has traditionally served as a forum for multiple authors who work in areas related to serials and who present different viewpoints about current issues and controversial topics related to serials.

The Balance Point co-editor is charged with editing the column for two issues of Serials Review per year. Responsibilities include determining column topics, recruiting contributors, communicating with the journal and columns editors, editing and incorporating the writing of contributors to the issue, preparing introductions, and seeing that publication deadlines are met.

The person should be linked to the serials profession, either in librarianship, publishing or some area of serials content provision.

This person should be curious about exploring issues related to serials and want to make a contribution to the literature of serials.

Though this is an unpaid volunteer position, the rewards include publication, involvement in a major scholarly/professional journal publication, and the intellectual satisfaction of contributing to the professional and scholarly discussion of serials.

Interested parties should send a description of their interests and qualifications to:

Beverley Geer, b_geer@yahoo.com or Connie Foster, connie.foster@wku.edu

via SERIALST

Behind the Scenes at the Serials Review

Connie Foster's editorial in vol. 34, issue 4 (Dec. 2008) of the Serials Review gives an insider's view of the process of putting together a professional journal. Potential authors will want to take note of the tips she offers in the "Consistencies in Manuscript Preparation" section.

CONSER Updates

"CONSER Updates: The Serials Cataloging Cooperative Training Program at Ten Years and Revision of Integrating Resources: A Cataloging Manual" is now available as an article in press for the Serials Review. In this article, Hien Nguyen provides a history of the SCCTP and Lew Hawkins discusses the revision process for Integrating Resources: A Cataloging Manual.