An Automated Processing System for Government Serials

Abstract

The University of British Columbia Library's Government Publications Division has developed an automated serials system capable of merging with the serials system in use for the library as a whole. The objectives of the project were: inclusion of government publications on computerized lists on microfiche for processing and reference; and transition to an automated check-in system. A major barrier to integration of the systems was the differing approach to entry: full government hierarchy vs. title entry or AACR. The project was undertaken under the guidance of the library's Systems Division and in close co-operation with the Serials Division. The automated government serials record included a corporate body authority file and a bibliographic file, which eventually merged with the central serials bibliographic file; the non-bibliographic data going into a parallel management file. Information on all current serials holdings, including holdings of uncatalogued documents, is available campus-wide via termin...