[Mcls-print-storage] Multivolume Sets that don't match

[Andy Breeding]

Hello All,

The message is to notify you of a complication regarding multivolume sets
in your allocated withdrawal lists.   Because the allocations were done at
the title (bib record level) they did not account for the fact that
different libraries sometimes hold different volumes for a given set.  This
has resulted in cases where a multivolume set that is allocated for
withdrawal is not backed up by two retained sets having the exact same
volumes.  Although two sets have been marked for retention, one or more of
them may be missing a volume(s).  This situation is complicated by the fact
that libraries vary in the way they assign enumeration data to their
multivolume sets.

In an effort to raise the visibility of these cases and to give you
information to help manage these cases we have written an algorithm to
identify them.  We have normalized the enumeration data and then flagged
every case where an allocated multivolume set does not have two retained
sets that have the same enumeration pattern.

How often did this occur?  Out of 341,832 "title-sets" covered in the MI
SPI agreement,  2,876 (or 0.84%) contain at least one "risky allocation."
 3,961 bibs (0.31%) are affected.  The total number of items affected are
12,960 (0.91%).   The next question we asked ourselves: are any of these
rare?  Out of the 12,960 items, 114 are associated with titles that have
less than 50 US holdings in WorldCat.

We have prepared excel files that contain--for the whole group and for
individual libraries--listings of the title-sets flagged with risky
allocations.  Some of these bear closer examination--as there are cases
where we didn't get enumeration data from a library but where a perusal of
their catalog shows that they do indeed have a set which matches the set
allocated for withdrawal.  This is sufficiently complicated that it would
make sense to discuss this in your next conference call, where we can show
specific examples and where the group can discuss how they want to handle
this issue.

Sorry for introducing this complication into the mix.  This has been a
journey of discovery for all of us!   Thanks to Mike at Wayne State whose
initial questions about multivolume sets prompted us to take a closer look
at this.

Regards,

Andy
-- 
Andy Breeding

Sustainable Collection Services
http://sustainablecollections.com
617-974-2468
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