RESOURCE CENTRE MANUAL
HEALTHLINK WORLDWIDE
now ready to be classified and catalogued (see Section 5: Organising the
information).
Example of an accessions register
4.6.3 How to record periodicals
Periodicals (journals and newsletters) are not normally recorded in the
accessions register. They can be recorded in two ways. You can either use
cards, using a separate card for each periodical, or you can use a ‘logging sheet’
produced on a typewriter or computer. The cards or logging sheets are filed
alphabetically by periodical title in a card file or ring-binder file labelled
‘Periodicals’.
To complete a logging card or logging sheet, write the title of the periodical at the
top. Enter the following details:
• how long the periodical will be kept (for example, indefinitely, one year,
five years, current issue only)
• whether the volume will be bound when complete (tick if yes/cross if no)
• whether the periodical will be displayed on shelves (tick if yes/cross if no)
• circulation list: who should receive the periodical (names or initials).
TIP: Circulating periodicals
Some resource centres circulate periodicals to staff of the
organisation that the resource centre is part of. A word of warning:
some staff may keep the periodicals for a long time, meaning that
resource centre users cannot see them. You could give staff a ‘return
by’ date (allow a maximum of a week) and explain that you will
collect the periodicals if they are not returned by this date. However,
this is difficult to do for periodicals that are circulated to several
staff. If you have a photocopier, you could circulate a photocopy of
the contents page, so that staff can come to the resource centre to
read articles of interest to them. You could also put a copy of the
contents pages on a noticeboard.
SECTION 4: DEVELOPING THE COLLECTION
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