[PADG:742] Re: barcodes on covers

[Winston Atkins <Winston.Atkins@xxxxxxxx>]

Andy, et al.,
At the request of our subject librarian for art, we no longer barcode on
the front cover. The concern was the decorative elements on the covers of
art books may be significant; I had similar concerns for nineteenth century
publishers case bindings. Cataloging and Circulation wanted one location
for all barcodes, and no-one wanted to put a second barcode on the book to
get it transferred to high-density shelving.

After much discussion (we are a library, after all), we decided that the
lower back cover near the spine worked best, and we use it for all books,
whether destined for the stacks or HDS. It allowed placement that gave
access to the barcode via the cut section of the storage trays. We've run
into some concerns with publishers barcodes on softcovers, but moving the
barcode closer to the center of the tail of the board seems to have solved
that without problem for the HDS staff. Some libraries (Stanford?) have
turned the barcode 90 degrees so it's perpendicular to the publishers
barcode, but we ran into resistance about making one more change--that
would make at least the fourth location change since we began barcoding.

We rarely have problems with barcodes peeling off, although I think it may
happen occasionally with new books for which the adhesive hasn't set, and
that have not gotten the edges down snugly.
Best,
Winston



                                                                           
             Andrew Hart                                                   
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UNC-Chapel Hill may be moving materials to a high-density shelving
facility that requires a barcode on the outside of every book cover. To
reduce the amount of re-barcoding in the future, we also have a proposal
on the table for putting barcodes on the exterior of new books going
into open stacks. If your library has exterior barcodes, please comment
on any associated problems you  have observed. If your library has
recently considered this practice, I would also be interested in some of
the arguments, pro and con, and what you decided to do.
Thanks,
Andy

--
Andrew Hart
Preservation Librarian
CB#3910, Davis Library
University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill
Chapel Hill, NC 27514-8890
Tel. 919-962-8047
Fax 919-962-4450
Email: ashart@xxxxxxxxxxxxx