Serial Publications: A brief overview

SERIAL PUBLICATIONS:

A BRIEF OVERVIEW

BY:

AYOTUNDE BADARU

(badaru.ayotunde@gmail.com)

   UNIVERSITY OF ILORIN,

LIBRARY AND INFORMATION SCIENCE DEPARTMENT

OCTOBER, 2012

Introduction

Serial publications over the years have become a significant and vital information source for people all over the world despite language and geographical differences.  Serial publications are encountered on daily basis and can be found at all most anywhere: supermarkets, educational institutions and of course libraries.  Serial publications have evolved over time with new serials coming into existence and intervals becoming shorter because of bustling information that need to be disseminated.

Serial publications have also kept up with the latest trends, especially the internet; the production of what can be considered as e-serials is evident of this fact.  Undergraduates, postgraduates, lecturers, researchers and individuals from different works of life use serial for the major reason of its ability to provide up-to-date information on subjects and issues that concern them.

To give a general description of serial publications, Nwalo (2003) cited Osborn (1980) to describe serials as publications issued in successive parts, at regular or irregular intervals and intended to be continued indefinitely. Brown and Smith (1980) stated that a serial is a publication that is numbered, and has every expectation to continuing either regularly or irregularly.  Serial publications can be categorized into periodicals and non-periodicals this and many other issues will be discussed in this blog.

Brief History

The printing of fascicles; the production of large works in installments to reduce cost, by ancient publishers was one of the earliest marks for serial production, according to Wikipedia. 

According to Osborn (1980) writings on the tombs of Egyptian kings from 2750 to 2625 B.C. may be the earliest serial publications in history.  In his account, Osborn told of a decree by Julius Caesar ordering that the proceedings of the Roman Senate be printed.  The development of inventions year by year promoted production of serial publications.

Major ones include the invention of movable tiles by Johannes Gutenberg in the 15^th century; microform technology invented by John Benjamin Dancer in 1839 was also a major development.  In recent years, other inventions especially the computer and the internet is a push to the development of serials. Veaner (1985) as cited by Akinbode (2011), machine-driven typesetting development remarkably increased the development of serial publications.

Definitions

Serial publications have varying definitions from past to present, all based on different opinions of individuals. I am sure you can give a new one!  But we will take a look at the general acceptable ones given by scholars and institutions.

*A serial, as defined by AACR2 (1978), is a publication, in printed form or not, issued in successive parts usually having numerical or chronological designations and intended to be continued indefinitely-( this definition points out the fact that serials don’t have to be in printed  form, this confirms the e-serials concept in our introduction.  In addition, the definition uses the word “successive” which can also be known as “consecutive” meaning serials come one after the other, and according to the definition in a numerical or chronological order. Also, serials give updated information; this feature forces the serial to continue indefinitely).

*Agbaje (2002) reported that anything that belongs to, forms part, or consists of a series qualifies to be called a serial-(you might not agree with this definition, it will be better to look at it form the information perspective).

* Osborn (1980) described a serial as a printed work appearing regularly, founded with the expectation of unlimited duration, which is not predominantly concerned with events of the day or else it pays attention only to the latest development in a special field-(it is important to point the fact that although serial publications may concern events of each day, this isn’t always the case, serial publications may focus on a specified field providing information on that field alone for an “unlimited duration”).

* Brown and Smith (1980) stated that a serial is a publication that is numbered, and has every expectation to continuing either regularly or irregularly-(serial publications are numbered, this is because of the successive nature of serials.  The definition also reveals that the serials can come regularly or irregularly, will be discussed later).

* Badaru (2012) states the serial publications are print or non-print information sources issued in successive parts both regularly or irregularly, numbered and intended for indefinite period of time. I just gave my definition!

Category and kinds

Serials are majorly categorized into periodicals and non periodicals and this based on frequency according to Adio (2006).  Periodical serials appear regularly, they can appear

-Daily - published everyday (or 365 issues per year)

-Semiweekly - published twice each week (or 104 issues per year)

-Weekly - published every week (or 52 issues per year)

-Biweekly - published twice a week or every two weeks (either 104 or 26 issues per year).

-Semi-monthly - published twice each month (or 24 issues per year)

-Monthly - published every month (or 12 issues per year)

-Bi-monthly - published twice a month or every two months (either 24 or 6 issues per year)

-Quarterly - published every quarter (or four issues per year)

 Non-periodicals can be regular or irregular depending on factors surrounding its release; examples include monographic series and conference proceedings.  Nwalo (2003), Onatola (2004) and Aina (2004) stated that kinds of serials include journals, magazines, newspapers, newsletters, accessions, reports, memoirs, proceedings and transactions of societies and other periodicals like abstracts and indexes.  Serials, being released in successive parts are called issues.  Miguel de Benavides Library (2008) gave a few periodicals and brief explanation on each. Take a look.

Newsletter – is a regularly distributed publication generally about one topic that is of interest to its subscribers. Newsletters are published by clubs, churches, societies, associations, and businesses, especially companies. This provides information of interest to their members, customers or employees.

Newspaper – is a written publication containing news, information and advertising, usually printed on low-cost paper called newsprint? It often features articles on political event, crime, business, art/entertainment, society and sports. Most of the papers also feature an editorial page containing columns which express the personal opinion of the writers. Newspapers are often published on a daily or weekly basis. It features weather news and forecasts, a gossip column, a sports section and classified ads

Popular magazines – are publications, generally published on a regular schedule, containing a variety of articles

Trade publication – is a periodical, magazine or publication printed with the intention of target marketing to a specific industry or type of trade/business. Trade journals typically contain heavy advertising content focused on the industry in questions with little if any “general audience” advertising

Some serials are published on subject bases while some are on general topic. It is the serialization that distinguishes serials from books and monographs, and it is the period that dictates format and price. 

Characteristics

The characteristics serials posses are easily identifiable through careful observation and study of the publication. Madu and Adeniran (2005) gave characteristics of serials as:-

- The publisher might change:

Publishers can be a company or individual in charge of the printing and overall production of the publication.  This might change due circumstances you may and may not be aware of.

 -The content of each issue is different: 

Of course, contents of each issue should be different; this is mainly because of new information needed to be published.

 -The publication interval varies.  Some are bi-annual, monthly, quarterly, forthrightly, weekly, daily and annually:

Because of the successive nature of serial publications, the space of time between the releases of a new issue in the series is called the interval.  The interval varies as explained above.

 -No planned end to the sequence:

Serial publications may end; all of a sudden you don’t see or hear of the serial anymore, it is important to know that this is not the intention for serial publications.  Serial publications are intended for unending sequence but unforeseen circumstances come in the way most times.

 -They are current and up-to-date:

The successive nature of serial publication gives the overall ability to provide current information, as each issue gives up-to-date information on happenings after the last one. This makes serial publications a good follow-up tool for individuals.

 -They are more expensive than books:

 These may vary from serial to serial and from country to country.  But in the overall sense the cost of buying serials successively will definitely exceed the cost of buying a book at once.

 -They are subscribed to:

Serial publications are subscribed to, this involves a kind of booking and registration process with the suppliers, once a issue of the publication arrives, it is delivered to you.

Serials publications must not be confused with SERIES which is a book consisting of parts or volumes published successively with a common title and intended to be continued indefinitely but not necessarily at regular, intervals as is normally the case with serials.

To highlight the general importance of serial publications especially in the library, Elaturoti, Fagbeja, Kolade and Oniyide (1990) states that serials constitute an important part of the library collection because the information contained in them is more current than those in published books. Fayose (1995) affirmed that, “periodicals are useful because they are the most up-to-date resources in the library and that the articles in periodicals are often written by experts in the field, therefore, they are reliable and the articles are precise and not as cumbersome to read as textbooks”.  According to Anunobi et al. (2010), majority of texts/monographs produced for knowledge have their contents derived from serials articles.  

A serial publication indeed has and is still providing numerous individual with current information for research, leisure, project, and overall knowledge building!

References

Agbaje, A.A. 2002. Great expectations: serials management and information technology. Information Science and technology for library schools in Africa. Eds. E.C. Madu & M.B. Dirisu. Ibadan: Evi-Coleman Publications. 25-36.

Aina, L.O. Resources sharing and serials acquisition in African university libraries: adoption ofnew strategies. Paper presented at the SCAULWA Conference held at GIMPA, Achimota on 10^th-11^th, September, 2001.

Aina, 2004. Library and information science text for Africa. Ibadan: Third World Information Services Limited.

Akinbode, R. O. O. 2011. Influence of serials management practices and use in libraries on publication output of lectures in Nigerian universities. Ibadan

Anglo-American Cataloguing Rules 2.1978. London: the Library Association.

Anunobi, C. V., Nwakwuo, O. P. and Ezejiofor, V. O. 2010.  Serials  acquisition problems in Nigerian Federal University Libraries.  International Journal of Library and Information Science 2.7:137 – 142.  Available online http://www.academicjournals .org/ijilis.

Brown, C.D. and Smith, L.S. 1980. Serials: past, present and future. 2^nd ed. Birmingham, AL: EBSCO.

Elaturoti, D.F.Fagbeja, I.O.Kolade, H.K. and Oniyide, D.B. 1990. Approach to organising learning resources in school library media centre. Ibadan: Nigerian School library Association.

Fayose, P.O.E. 1995. School library resource centres for educational excellence. Ibadan: AENL Educational Publishers.

Madu, E.C and Adeniran, T.N. 2005. Information Technology Uses and Preservation   of Resources in Libraries and Information Centres. Ibadan: EVl-Coleman.P.117.

Nwalo, K.I.N. 2001. Effectiveness of polytechnic libraries in Nigeria. Journal of Librarianship and information Science in Africa 1.1:41-65.

Onatola, A. 2004. Basics of librarianship: Theory and practice (a guide for beginners). Lagos: Omega Publishers Ltd.

Osborn, A.D. 1980. Serial publications: their place in libraries. 3^rd ed. Chicago: American Library Association.

Veaner, A.B. 1985. Into the fourth century. Drexel Library Quarterly 21. (Winter): 4-12.