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Demystifying Continuations

Recently, YBP's Continuations Unit Supervisor Joshua Winant spoke at the Thirteenth North Carolina Serials Conference on a topic that confounds librarians and vendors alike: continuations. Not quite periodicals, not quite monographs, continuations and their publishers present special challenges for acquisitions librarians. Josh outlined the scope of continuations, their acquisition and management, and closed with sample correspondence around one particular title that dramatized many of the issues he mentioned. Josh's colleagues at YBP feel that his paper merits wider distribution and so present it here as a feature story in Academia. If you would like to comment on the thorny issues surrounding continuations, e-mail us at sales@ybp.com. Josh Winant and Beverley Geer, YBP's new rep in Texas, will be at NASIG in a few weeks - please look for them there!



Thirteenth North Carolina Serials Conference

Presenter: Joshua Winant
Supervisor, Continuations Unit
YBP Library Services
Phone: 800 258-3774, ext. 3340
Email: jwinant@ybp.com

Abstract:

The world of continuations (contins) is a mystery that’s often avoided or left unsolved because the exceptions encountered seem to have no end. This mystique exists because many involved with contins only spend a portion of their day performing isolated tasks, and the experience of contins as a place where rules do apply is left to the few who spend whole days maintaining systems to accommodate such orders.

Demystifying Contins will take this acquired knowledge and construct a world which is overshadowed by exceptions, but not governed by them. A general overview, it will build upon a series of questions great and small: What is a continuation title? Why do they exist? How do libraries organize their staff to handle them? How do publishers fulfill continuation titles? How many titles changes were there last year? The answers will help map the common ground of a world that has gone uncharted.

Although presented by a book vendor, Demystifying Contins will not focus on the practices unique to a jobber like YBP. Views of publishers, vendors, and libraries will be presented and the discussion should both reaffirm and enlighten regardless of one’s exposure to the topic in the workplace.

Program:

What is a continuations title?

  1. A Serial.
  • Chiou-Sen Dora Chen, Serials Management: A Practical Guide.
    "If you were to ask librarians what they refer to when they say "serial", you would likely receive a variety of answers. One librarian would be talking about periodicals only; a second librarian about yearbooks, periodicals, and newspapers; and a third librarian about all continuously received publications (1)."

  • AACR2 defaults to accepted definition:
    "Serial. A publication in any medium issued in successive parts bearing numeric or chronological designations and intended to be continued indefinitely. Serials include periodicals; newspapers; annuals (reports, yearbooks, ect.); the journals, memoirs, proceedings, transactions, ect., of societies; and numbered monographic series (2)."

  • 2 major types of Serials based on frequency.
    1. Periodicals.
      Published more than once per year at regular intervals, i.e. monthly, quarterly, semi-annually.
    2. Non-Periodicals. Published annually or greater, regularly, i.e. biennially, triennially, or irregularly.
  • Further definition based on method of acquisition and type of vendor
    1. Periodicals.
      Pre-payment; annual subscriptions with subscription agent.
    2. Non-Periodicals.
      Paid upon receipt; standing orders with book vendors.
    3. Definition of "subscription" blurs vendor types, i.e. annuals.
  • Serials synonymous with Periodicals
    1. High usage; newspapers (technically) magazines, journals.
    2. High Frequency, Labor-intensive for staff.
    3. Subscription items, pre-paid.
  • Non-Periodicals synonymous with Continuations
  1. A Continuation.
  • Non-Periodical Serial
    1. Annuals, including regular frequencies greater than annual; yearbooks, directories, almanacs, proceedings.
      Examples: American Nature Writing (Fulcrum Publishing), Proceedings of the Eastern Snow Conference(Eastern Snow Conference, Trent Univ.)
    2. Irregular frequencies greater than annual or less than annual; transactions, occasional papers, bulletins, special publications.
      Example: Special Publication. Royal Society of Chemistry (Royal Society of Chemistry)
    3. c. Standing orders, billed individually.
  • Other Types of Continuations
    1. Monographic series; numbered and unnumbered
      AACR2 defines as, "A group of separate items related to one another by the fact that each item bears, in addition to its own title proper, a collective title applying to the group as a whole (3)."
      Separate item = monograph
      Own title proper = monographic title
      Collective title = series title
      Group as a whole = series
      Example: Geological Society of America. Memoirs. (Geological Society of America)
    2. Non-monographic series; numbered and unnumbered. Each item does not bear its own title proper in addition to the collective title.
      Example: Advances in Heterocyclic Chemistry. (Elsevier Academic Press)
    3. Multi-volume sets published over time; numbered and unnumbered.
      Example: Brill’s New Pauly: Encyclopedia of the Ancient World. (Brill Academic Publishers)
    4. Loose leafs.
      Binder plus updates of loose pages
      Example: Russia and the Republics Legal Materials. (Transnational Juris Publishing)
    5. Supplements; annual or irregular.
      • Additional/revised material available later in year.
        • Example: Books in Print. Supplement. (R.R. Bowker)
      • Material that could not fit into normal format size.
        • Example: Advances in Biosensors. Supplements. (JAI Press/Elsevier)
    6. Special Issues.
      Issue of a journal bound into book format and sold as a separate monograph.
      Example: Hypatia Book. (Indiana Univ. Press)
  • How many continuations exist?
    1. 50,000 in domestic book vendor database.
    2. 2500 new titles per year (5).
    3. 41% of 66K academic titles profiled between. 4/03-3/04 were published within a series (5).
  • How many continuations publishers exist?
    1. 1260 imprints with 5 or more series (5).
    2. 1870 imprints with 3 or more series (5).
  • What are the popular contins titles (5)?
    1. World Almanac and Book of Facts. (World Almanac/St. Martins Press)
    2. Library of America. (Library of America/Penquin Putnam Inc.)
    3. Physician’s Desk Reference. (Medical Economics Books)
    4. Statesman’s Yearbook. (Palgrave/Macmillian)

    5. Almanac of American Politics. (National Journal, Inc.)

  • What are the least popular contins titles (5)?
    1. Highly localized and/or highly technical material typically with only one library on standing order, i.e. geological bulletins.
    2. 8-15% of the standing orders for top accts are for titles with one library on order (5).
  • What is the range of frequency range for continuation titles?
    1. Greatest.
      SPIE Conference Proceedings. (Int’l. Society for Optical Engineers)
      355 volumes/yr
      Lecture Notes in Computer Science. (Springer Verlag)
      260 volumes/yr
    2. Least.
      Census of Population and Housing Summary; Social, Economic, and Housing. (U.S. Government Printing Office)
      Every 10 years.
      New City. (Princeton Architectural Books)
      8 years between vols.3 & 4.
      Merck Manual of Diagnosis and Therapy. (Merck)
      7 years between 16th & 17th eds.
  • What is the range of costs for continuations titles?
    1. Greatest (5).
      Comprehensive Dissertation Index, Supplement. (University Microfilm Int’l)
      $3265/yr.
    2. Least (5).
      Guide to the Constitutional Amendments. (Public Affairs Research)
      $3/yr.
    3. Average cost = $102 (5).
      Twice as much as average cost of a Non-serial monograph (5).

Why do continuations exist?

  1. Publishers.
  • Marketing/Sales Tool
    1. Previous sales help to predict print runs.
    2. Pre-payment funds publication.
    3. Increase of series being published.
      • Importance associated with an item being in a series, "making the team."
      • Series Editor renown in field.
      • 2001 - 37% of titles in series (5)
      • 2003 - 41% of titles in series (5)
    4. "Publisher" Series.
      • Loose grouping within a subject area or book type, no series statement in bibliographic record.
      • Example: McGraw Hill Handbooks. (McGraw-Hill Co., Inc.)
    5. Unnumbering series to increase sales, sell as part of series and as a monograph.
      • Example: Architectural Monographs. (John Wiley & Sons, Inc.)
    6. Increasing frequency to drop to Journals Dept and eventually make available electronically.
      • Example: Studies in American Political Development. (Cambridge Univ. Press)
    7. "Branding" of serial titles helps to promote new series upon release.
  1. Libraries.
  • Collection Management Tool
    1. Builds core collections.
    2. Standing orders save on acquisition costs.
    3. Organizes Serials staff.
      • Periodical staff
      • Non-Periodical/Monograph staff
    4. Locates book on shelves.
      Classed Together or Separately
    5. Decides work to be done.
      • Numbered series require tracking
      • Items classed separately require cataloguing
    6. Decides which vendor to order from.
      • Periodicals to Subscription agents
      • Continuations to Book Vendors
    7. Budgeting/Forecasting tool.
      • Annuals are fixed costs.
      • Standing orders can be cancelled to reduce budgets.
      • Monographic series can come from Monographic budget.

How are continuations acquired?

  1. Standing Orders.
  • Automatic delivery of newly released items supplied with an invoice against (quoting) an established PO (purchase order).
    1. Need to clearly define standing order (S/O) is automatic delivery for a book, not a flyer or proforma invoice.
  1. Tickler File.
  • A file for all items that must be ordered individually at intervals based on frequency. Pre-payment may or may not be required.
    1. Migration from Standing Orders to Tickler
    2. File.
    3. 2001: 60% Standing Orders (5)
    4. 2003: 40% Standing Orders (5)
    5. Eroding S/O fulfillment from publishers.
      • Corporate mergers
      • Turn-over of Customer Service staff
      • Increase in distributed titles
  1. Approval Coverage.
  • Notification slips announcing newly-published titles in series.
    1. New series discovered
    2. Pick and choose items from a prolific series if complete coverage isn’t required by library.
    3. Traditional continuation services not offered, i.e. tracking, statusing, reporting.

Why are continuations such a challenge to manage?

  1. Change.
  • A memorandum on NASIG website titled, Shaping a Serial Specialist, simulates logging on to a dynamic career using several passwords. The first password is, "CHANGE. A variety of formats, publication patterns, title changes, and price increases are a few of the many sides of serials. Serials are complex, constantly changing publications that are intellectually challenging to process, interpret, and access (4)."
  1. Forces of Change.
  • Publisher competing in a For-Profit marketplace
    1. Unnumbering of series to sell more copies.
    2. Publisher" series.
  • Material changes
    1. Split-outs.
      Example: Chilton’s Auto Service Manual has split into Chilton Ford, Chilton Chrysler, Chilton General Motors. (Chilton’s/Thompson Learning)
    2. Mergers.
      Example: Architect’s Sourcebook merged with Designer’s Sourcebook to form Sourcebook of Architectural and Interior Art. (The Guild)
    3. Titles changes.
      • Increase in material but not enough to split.
      • Adding/Deleting Editors name to/from title.
      • 2002: 130 Title changes (5)
      2003: 150 Title changes (5)
      Example: Annual Review of Biophysics and Bioengineering changed to Annual Review of Biophysics and Biomolecular Structure. (Annual Reviews Inc.)
  • Technological changes
  1. "Experimenting with Technology"
    • More material if made available electronically.
    • Reduced cost of book production/postage costs.
    • Richer texts, searchable.
  2. Format changes.
    • CD-ROMs
    • Online versions (PDF files) downloaded from publisher’s website, free or for resale.
    • Print + Online packages
    • Online Only versions
  3. Return to Print.
    Publishers unable to sell material from own server.
  4. Unbundling of print + online.
    Larger journal publishers moving to online only formats.
  • Corporate Acquisitions amongst Publishers
    1. Cessations of overlapping titles.
    2. Inactive series as find new editors.
    3. Branding of imprints intensifies.

    Why do continuation vendors exist?

    1. Acquisition.
    • Ordering from 1000+ publishers and consolidating in one weekly shipment
    • Accept Standing Orders regardless of publisher’s ability to fulfill, build Tickler Files
    • Process pre-payments as required by publishers
    • Filter-out damaged/defective copies, 10% of publisher shipments affected
    • Expertise, find most effective method of ordering for each publisher
    1. Management.
    • Tracking
    1. Publisher contacts, claiming.
    2. Book-in-hand profiling.
    3. Expertise, acquired knowledge.
      Example: Response from a Contins Bibliographer to a library query.

      "This is fairly complicated to explain, but here goes.

      CPA Examination Review comes out annually in four volumes.

      In 2003, the four volumes were:
         Auditing
         Financial Accounting & Reporting
         Accounting and Reporting
         Business Law & Professional Responsibilities

      In 2004, the four volumes were:
         Auditing and Attestation
         Financial Accounting & Reporting
         Regulation
         Business Environment and Concepts

      It is clear that the first two volumes listed for 2003 are the prior editions for the first two volumes listed for 2004.  According to the Wiley Fall 2003 catalog, in which the 2004 volumes were announced, Accounting and Reporting is the prior edition of Regulation; Business Law & Professional Responsibilities is the prior edition of Business Environment and Concepts.  If this is true, the library is right and we should have sent Business Environment and Concepts.  The books themselves have no information about prior editions.  I called Wiley Customer Service and was told the exact opposite of the information in the catalog.  If Wiley Customer Service is correct, then we sent the library the correct volume - Regulation.  Since I now had conflicting information, I emailed the buyer's contact at Wiley, who checked with a marketing manager, to see if I could find out which was true.  It turns out neither is true:

          "Accounting and Reporting has combined with Business Law & Professional Responsibilities to become Regulation.  Business Environment and Concepts is a completely new section."

      This means that we did send the library the correct volume.  They have returned it--I believe from their letter that they are expecting the "correct" volume to now be sent.  The question to the customer is, do they want us to send them another copy of Regulation?  And do they want to keep their standing order which would be for future copies of Regulation (6)?"

    • Status Reports/Confirmations
      1. Title/Format changes.
      2. Split-Outs/Mergers/Cessations.
    • Sales Reports
      1. Budgeting.
    • Added services
      1. Every other year orders.
      2. Duplication control between other accts.
      3. Technical Services.
        Cataloguing records
        Electronic invoices
        Shelf-ready books
    • Collection Management
      1. Announce new series.
      2. Process claims, fill gaps.
      3. Suggest alternatives when canceling.
    • Trend towards consolidation in one full service vendor
      1. Publishers: 80% of orders from vendors.
      2. Mainstream workflows.



    References:

    1. Chen, Chiou-Sen Dora. Serials Management. A Practical Guide. Chicago: American Library Association, 1995. pg.1.
    2. Gorman M, Winkler P. Anglo-American Cataloguing Rules. Ottawa, London, Chicago: Canadian Library Association, Library Association Publishing Limited, and The American Library Association, 2nd ed, 1988 Revision. pg.622.
    3. Gorman M, Winkler P. Anglo-American Cataloguing Rules. Ottawa, London, Chicago: Canadian Library Association, Library Association Publishing Limited, and The American Library Association, 2nd ed, 1988 Revision. pg.622.
    4. Foster C, Meiseles L. Shaping A Serial Specialist. North American Serials Group. Website: www.nasig.org/public/Shaping.Specialist.html.
    5. Data gathered from Continuations Database, YBP Library Services.
    6. Jill Hastings, Continuations Bibliographer, YBP Library Services.








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