LISTSERV 16.5 - ARLIS-L Archives

A quick response,

With the reduction of budgets, we determined that binding of periodicals was no longer necessary for a significant number of our titles and that boxes worked just fine and in some cases were preferred by those that still use print periodicals.

JANE A. CARLIN
Library Director
Collins Memorial Library
University of Puget Sound
1500 N. Warner St. CMB #1021
Tacoma, WA. 98416-1021

---------------------------

Now that we are doing a lot of digitization and exhibition of these materials, we are leaning towards housing periodicals in phase boxes rather than binding. We haven't yet had a formal discussion about this issue, but there seems to be a consensus building.

Best,
Sara
***
Sara Smith
Archives & Special Collections
Frost Library, Amherst College
Amherst, MA 01002
413-542-5390

-----------------------------

I used to chair the periodicals committee at Pratt in Brooklyn,
and we acquired an increasing number of "special" periodicals,
which we believed should not (or even could not) be bound.

They were special in format or material (oversize, delicate, containing loose parts
like flip books, stickers, posters, zines or magazine inserts, etc.) or published irregularly
enough for a binding schedule to be difficult.
They were kept loose on the shelves in the special collections area (the "cage"),
but they definitely should have been and hopefully have been put in archival boxes or hanging folders.

Susan Thomas

Susan E. Thomas
Coordinator of Reference Services
Assistant Professor
Long Island University
Brooklyn Campus Library
718.246.6382

------------------------------

Hello,
I recommend binding. Then the issues can’t wander off on their own.

since you asked,
Elizabeth Frenchman
Resource Librarian

Davis Brody Bond, LLP
Architects and Planners
315 Hudson Street, New York, NY 10013
Tel +1.212.633.7883 Fax +1.212.633.4760

---------------------------------

I work for a small special collections library. It was decided a few years ago that the point of our library’s mission is to keep the books and materials in our collection as “untouched” as possible. Thus, recent preservation practices tend to involve simply re-housing many of our books and periodicals in boxes or some sort of customized/customizable enclosures. It’s been a very good experience for a few reasons: the periodicals never have to be sent off-site, it’s easy to integrate any potential missing issues in between the other issues, and (as follows our preservation practices), the periodicals are more true to their original format, and the cost for isn’t that much different than sending the periodical bundle to the bindery.

We place our periodicals in archival “document” boxes, which work pretty well for periodicals of a variety of shapes and sizes. The document boxes come in widths of either 2.5 inches or 5 inches, and we use both of them (the 2.5 inch ones for periodicals which don’t come that frequently, and the 5 inch ones for periodicals which come rather often and would fill up the box faster).

One can order such boxes at University Products:
http://www.universityproducts.com/cart.php?m=product_list&c=923&primary=1&parentId=1266&navTree[]=1266&navTree[]=1460&navTree[]=923

or at Gaylord:

http://www.gaylord.com/adblock.asp?abid=937&search_by=desc&search_for=document%20boxes&mpc=WW

I guess that some of the negative side effects of keeping our periodicals in such boxes is that it’s a bit more difficult to see the chronological/enumerative information on each periodical issue unless one takes the whole stack of issues out of the box. Also, I’d recommend putting some sort of padding (like tissue paper or bubble wrap) into the boxes which aren’t yet entirely full, otherwise the excess space may cause the individual issues to warp over time because they aren’t supported well.

I hope that this helps!

Best Wishes,
Lauren Paustian

------------------------------------------------

With loose issues in boxes you still have the problem of potential loss by misplacement or theft. With bound volumes, however, you have the even worse problem of degradation of the journal issues. Unless you opt for the expensive "through-the fold" sewing, in a few years your journal issues will suffer loss from problems of opening and eventual weakening of the paper itself. The binding, on the other hand, will remain as strong as ever.

-----------------------------------------------

Hello,
We haven't had any discussions on the point, but it's something I've been thinking about. We've bound issues for a long time (way before my time) and I've always found scanning and photocopying bound issues of journals to be quite the chore. Having them loose would easily remedy that. Of course, they are more likely to get damaged over time as well as single issues misplaced or lost too. I'd love to hear what you end up doing.

Best,
Alison

Alison L. Huftalen
Head Librarian

419.255.8000 ext. 7386
[log in to unmask]

Toledo Museum of Art
PO Box 1013
Toledo, Ohio 43697

-------------------------------------------------------
We bind things if they aren’t too brittle, and box them if they are. But so many of our titles are in frequent use for research that binding is far preferable, even if the titles aren’t yet worn.

We’re still trying to figure out what to do with the large collection of older forecasting materials we have, so this is very relevant to our current concerns.

Thanks,

Beth McMahon
Library Periodicals Analyst
Fashion Institute of Technology

-------------------------------------------------------

Here at the American art/ Portrait Gallery Library we bind periodicals when funds are allocated by the central administrative entity. “When & how much” depends on the budget, which is relatively good this year. There is off-site storage, but our library has sufficient room for bound and unbound serials (and will for some time into the future.) The binding allocation has shrink, but this is off-set by the growth in e-journals. We have also stored a good amount of our serials in conservation boxes (or similar types—board envelops) over the some 50 year history of the library. The boxes, envelops, are required, for example, for the many newsprint publications, restricted use little magazine, rare magazines, among others. Our serials are accessed with unique a LC catalog number (AP1) and shelved separately from the general collection. This is what makes the box and board containers “work”; otherwise they would be too cumbersome. Some of the boxes are huge.

I would never support ending the binding program, and we will always use the various conservation containers. Note, we are undergoing an inventory of the serials collection. I can give you a number later in the year. Our collection is large enough, and used enough, to justify both.