Methodology and Background Information to Assist the Planning of Serials Cancellations and Cooperative Serials Collection in the Health Sciences

To aid in controlling the cost of acquisitions in a research library, techniques were developed for the rational selection of serial titles for cancellation. The context for the proposed methodology was a network or multicampus environment rather than an individual library, and it was tested with a specific body of health sciences serial titles in the University of California library system and in Region XI of the National Library of Medicine's Biomedical Communications Network. Background data was collected on about 600 current foreign language serial titles. Employing several different decision rules, estimates were made of the subscription cost savings that might be realized in the network. It appeared feasible to extend the same methodology to other groups of serial titles. (Author/DGC)