Coping with the evolving serial record

Abstract

Serials change; this has always been the bane and the joy of serials catalogers. Until the advent of the online cataloging systems capable of manipulating and updating information with practically no effort, however, the catalog record itself has remained more or less stable in printed forms such as the catalog card and in bibliographic resources such as the National Union Catalog or New Serial Titles. Now the MARC-S format makes it possible for many libraries to access and modify the catalog record. Online bibliographic utilities provide a vehicle for doing this and CONSER participants make this possibility a reality. The catalog record is no longer permanent once it has been established; the National Union Catalog and New Serial Titles have lost some of their relevance to serials catalogers who have access to online systems. Cataloging rules change as well and are applied retroactively to catalog records already established. The online record changes and expands overnight. What can the poor serials cataloger do to cope with these changes in previously secure resources, and what are some of the ramifications that the administrator may have to consider? To some extent, this problem does not affect all serials catalogers because in most cases the serial record is only used once or, at most, twice. In libraries with online catalogs, one attaches a holdings symbol to a bibliographic record, or captures it and transfers it to a local data base. Depending on local programming or policy, these records may be updated with a minimum of effort upon receipt of new tapes from a cataloging distribution service. For libraries which acquire catalog cards from a vendor (online or offline), the process is also fairly straightforward: cards are produced from a data base using a bibliographic record at a certain point in its evolution with modifications as required by the user. In environments such as these the cataloger rarely needs to use the record again until the title ceases or changes. Updates to the bibiliographic record which have occurred in the meantime will be reflected neatly in the replacements. The cataloger orders a new set of cards or replaces the old record with the updated one, and that is the last he or she will see of that record. This of course is a simplistic overview of what many libraries do with a serial record; but what happens when the user of a serial record must return to an online bibliographic record and interact with it many times over the life-span of that title? Multi4ibrary processing centers, centralized university catalog departments, union-listing agents, serials control system users, bibliographic researchers, and libraries considering automation all have to deal in some way with the interface between hard copy, computer-output microform, and online serial records.