BFU@NIHCU.BITNET (Roger Burns) (08/28/90)
Archive-name: issn/27-Aug-90 Original-posting-by: BFU@NIHCU.BITNET (Roger Burns) Original-subject: ISSN for electronic magazine Reposted-by: emv@math.lsa.umich.edu (Edward Vielmetti) The following is excerpted from the September 1990 issue of the electronic magazine NETMONTH. - Roger Burns BFU@CU.NIH.GOV BFU@NIHCU.BITNET ==================================================================== NetMonth is a network service publication distributed free of charge to students and professionals in BITNET and other networks. This magazine and its companion file, BITNET SERVERS, are the work of the BITNET Services Library (BSL) staff and contributors from around the network. ********* * *** * Getting an ISSN for an Electronic Journal * *** * * *** * by Charles W. Bailey, Jr. *** *** * *** * University of Houston * *** * * *** * LIB3@UHUPVM1 ********* [Thanks to Ted Werntz for bringing this to my attention. - Ed.] The International Standard Serial Number (ISSN) is a unique eight-digit number that identifies a particular serial. For serials published in the U.S., ISSN numbers are assigned by the National Serials Data Program (NSDP) of the Library of Congress. Recently, NSDP assigned an ISSN to The Public-Access Computer Systems Review, an electronic journal that complements the Public-Access Computer Systems Forum (PACS-L@UHUPVM1). The PACS Forum is a moderated BITNET list that deals with all computer systems that libraries make available to their users, and it currently has over 1,100 subscribers in 25 countries. The PACS Review, which is published three times a year, deals with the same subject matter as the PACS Forum. When an issue is published, PACS Forum users are notified by a table of contents message, which describes that issue's article files and provides instructions for retrieving the files. NSDP also created a bibliographic record for the PACS Review in the OCLC Online Union Catalog, a twenty-million-record database that is widely used by libraries for cataloging, interlibrary loan, reference, and other purposes. (A more powerful, user- friendly version of the OCLC Online Union Catalog called EPIC has just been made available for fee-based searching.) A bibliographic record describes a serial (or other work) in a standard machine-readable format according to established cataloging rules. It is noteworthy and commendable that NSDP took the initiative to assign the PACS Review an ISSN number and to catalog it; I never contacted them requesting that they do so. NSDP staff learned of the PACS Review as the result of two speeches I made about the publication at a recent national library conference. The assignment of an ISSN number and the creation of a bibliographic record on OCLC makes an electronic journal more accessible to libraries and their users. Electronic publishers are fortunate that NSDP has taken a progressive, proactive stand on electronic journals, and it is treating them seriously. I would urge other electronic publishers to contact NSDP and obtain ISSN numbers for their electronic journals. The appropriate application form is contained in a brochure called "ISSN is for Serials," which is available from NSDP. For further information about getting an ISSN number contact: Library of Congress National Serials Data Program Washington, D.C. 20540 (202) 707-6452