Session Number
08
Description
A plan has been developed in the Netherlands to share the responsibility for the national science serials collection amongst a large number of libraries. This is an answer to decreasing funding, but it flows from an older tradition of cooperative efforts in interlibrary loans and the union catalogues. For some time, three national subject libraries have worked together in SALINFO, the Science Literature and Information Network, to coordinate the acquisition and cancellation of science periodicals. Seeing that a wider approach was necessary, SALINFO took the initiative to invite more libraries to participate. It became apparant that the key to success of this new project would be its voluntary basis. Libraries agree to take on the responsibility for the acquisition and storage, and making available of specific starred serial titles. The Central Technical Catalogue reports the starred titles in its database. The online facilities of the National Union Catalogue will show these starred, or protected, titles also. The project will have to be expanded to include more libraries that hold unique titles (those represented by one subscription in the country) and the science faculty libraries of the universities and non-technical science research institutes. The project will then be able to meet its goal of safeguarding the quality and diversity of the national collection as a whole.
A National Serials Collection in the Netherlands
A plan has been developed in the Netherlands to share the responsibility for the national science serials collection amongst a large number of libraries. This is an answer to decreasing funding, but it flows from an older tradition of cooperative efforts in interlibrary loans and the union catalogues. For some time, three national subject libraries have worked together in SALINFO, the Science Literature and Information Network, to coordinate the acquisition and cancellation of science periodicals. Seeing that a wider approach was necessary, SALINFO took the initiative to invite more libraries to participate. It became apparant that the key to success of this new project would be its voluntary basis. Libraries agree to take on the responsibility for the acquisition and storage, and making available of specific starred serial titles. The Central Technical Catalogue reports the starred titles in its database. The online facilities of the National Union Catalogue will show these starred, or protected, titles also. The project will have to be expanded to include more libraries that hold unique titles (those represented by one subscription in the country) and the science faculty libraries of the universities and non-technical science research institutes. The project will then be able to meet its goal of safeguarding the quality and diversity of the national collection as a whole.