Union List of Serials and Central New York Union List of Serials, Containing Entries for Libraries in the Four Counties of Herkimer, Madison, Oneida, Onondaga

摘要

These two volumes are reviewed together because they form an example of the modern technique of producing union lists of serials from computer tapes. From the beginning of the twentieth century to the 1950's, the literature required for scholarly study in all fields was growing so large, and the methods of doing research were becoming so firmly rooted in the nineteenth-century German scheme of documentation and reference, the usefulness of union lists of serials was obvious and never questioned. So long as the material to be listed did not become greater than the ability of the normal manual systems to handle it, edition after edition of national or regional union lists of serials were compiled and published. When sheer bulk made publishing a questionable financial venture, card bibliographic files were preserved in certain centers. A compromise between desirable complete, up-to-date, and easy to use union lists and no guideposts at all is to be found in the last edition of the national Union List of Serials, produced at the Library of Congress in 1965. After that, it was obvious another solution would have to be sought. The updating of the LC's New Serial Titles on computer tapes was the next step;then the production of computer-based union lists of various disciplines (for example, the lists produced by the Medical Library Center of New York) and regions (e.g., Cleveland, Ohio) followed logically.