Serials rationalization at Oxford University Library Services using Ulrich's Serials Analysis System

Oxford University Library Services (OULS) brings together collections of 36 centrally funded libraries in Oxford. The integration of collections is a lengthy and very complex process. OULS has chosen Bowker’s Ulrich’s Serials Analysis System (USAS) as the most suitable tool to analyse and rationaliz...

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Format: Journal article
Published: United Kingdom Serials Group 2005
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Summary:Oxford University Library Services (OULS) brings together collections of 36 centrally funded libraries in Oxford. The integration of collections is a lengthy and very complex process. OULS has chosen Bowker’s Ulrich’s Serials Analysis System (USAS) as the most suitable tool to analyse and rationalize its serials collections.This article describes the background to the project and the implementation of USAS at Oxford University. Gathering and uploading serials information from 36 different university libraries into one system proved to be a challenging task. The internal issues universities may face as they start to gather consistent serials information are discussed, and the problems arising from uploading serials data into USAS are considered. Despite these drawbacks OULS is convinced that the new analysis system from Bowker is a potentially very powerful tool for local, regional and national collection management.