Dear all,

 

I recently asked for information about what other institutions do about
periodicals binding since we are currently reviewing our policy. Many
thanks to all of you who replied. I have summarised responses below.
Please feel free to get back to me if you have any queries.

 

Questions asked:

 

Do you still bind periodicals?

 

            If yes, what criteria do you use for selecting titles to
bind?

            

Do you use an in house binder or external supplier, (who??)

 

If you have stopped binding periodicals has this had implications for
the management of your collections? ie do more parts go missing; is it
harder for users to find the issue they want etc

 

What do you do about material needing rebind or repair - periodicals or
monographs?

 

Date of survey:  10 December 2008

 

Total number respondents                 UK                  15

                                                            Overseas
1

 

 

Responses:

 

UK:      13 institutions still selectively bind periodicals

2 institutions do not bind periodicals 

 

Of the 13 who still bind, 10 use one or more external binders, two use
an in house bindery; one uses students on a book binding course to carry
out the work.

            

 

External Binders used:

 

Hollingworth and Moss, Leeds (used by 5 institutions)

Remploy (used by 2 institutions)

Riley, Dunn and Wilson, Huddersfield (used by 2 institutions)

Blissetts, Acton, London (used by 2 institutions)

Spink and Thackray, Leeds (used by 1 institution)

            Chivers, Trowbridge, Wiltshire (used by  one institution for
repairs/rebinds)

 

 

Criteria used for selecting titles to bind:

 

Print format only

Most heavily used titles

Vulnerability of material

Precedent

Current subscriptions only

Perceived "useful" life of title

Durability of original bind

 

Issues associated with not binding:

 

There were a small number of comments indicating collections were
"messier", (see below), but, overall respondents did not feel that
reducing or ceasing binding had had any serious impact on management of
collections.

 

"Our printed journals collection has looked messier and has needed extra
work to keep it in order. But now that so many periodicals are available
electronically and back issues are being digitised, I can see that our
printed collection will shrink in time..." 

                                                                      

"Where issues aren't bound, more seem to go missing and it has an impact
on how quickly re-shelving takes place " 

 

"(Unbound journals) do get out of sequence more often but it's not too
difficult." 

 

Other comments on periodicals binding:

 

"Our students now expect to find most of their journal articles online
rather than in print . The older members of staff do like the print
copies though."

 

"Our students do tend to expect e-access as the norm"

 

"Overall we are gradually edging towards an e-only policy for our
journals although with large humanities departments including Art
History, this may take some time." 

 

Repairs and rebinds:

 

Many respondents seem to manage repairs and rebinds by taking a mixed
approach - doing in house repairs where possible and sending larger
repairs to an external binder and/or purchasing a replacement copy.

 

7 respondents said that they do in house repairs; 9 said that they send
repairs/rebinds to an external binder; 4 respondents commented that they
will buy replacements as an alternative to rebinding.

 

Selected comments relating to repairs and rebinds:

 

"Monographs - weigh up benefits of repair v. replace (and maybe purchase
e-book)"

 

"We will bind a monograph if it is our last copy and not available for
purchase, even as second hand." 

 

"We have looked at the cost of re-bind v replacement and on the whole we
think re-bind is much cheaper once you build in the processing costs for
new orders." 

 

 

Overseas:

 

1 response:

 

Only selected periodicals are bound, using an external binder. Monograph
repairs are sent to an external binder. Periodicals requiring repair are
broken into individual parts and shelved as individual issues.

 

 

Original email request:

 

Hi,

 

We are in the process of reviewing our policy re periodicals binding. I
would be very grateful for any information on what other institutions
are doing  - specifically: 

 

            Do you still bind periodicals?

            If yes, what criteria do you use for selecting titles to
bind?

            Do you use an in house binder or external supplier, (who??)

If you have stopped binding periodicals has this had implications for
the management of your collections? ie do more parts go missing; is it
harder for users to find the issue they want etc

What do you do about material needing rebind or repair - periodicals or
monographs?

 

Any information on any or all of the above questions would be really
helpful.

 

I will summarize responses for the list. All responses will be reported
anonymously.

 

Many thanks

 

Elaine Lewis

 

Library Services Manager

Library Customer Support

Library Services

Academic Services

University of Birmingham

Edgbaston

Birmingham

B15 2TT

 

Tel: 0121 414 2785 

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http://www.library.bham.ac.uk

 

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