Collection Management - Serials Department

Serials

The library contains over 2,000 periodical titles that do not circulate. Webster, Maxwell Library's online catalog, lists all currently held serials. A current list of periodicals listed by academic discipline is also available.

All serials from 1987 to date are located on the first floor in open stacks (blue shelves). Older serials are kept on the first floor, on the silver compressed shelving (titles A-E) or on the tan shelving (E-Z).

Assistance in finding specific periodicals can be obtained at the Periodicals Office or at the Reference Desk, both located on the first floor.

Photocopies of articles from periodicals not available in the Maxwell Library may be available from other libraries in the Southeastern Massachusetts Cooperating Libraries (SMCL) consortium. Copies of the SMCL Union List of Serials, a large green volume listing periodical holdings of members of the SMCL consortium, are at the Reference and Periodicals desks. Requests for SMCL materials may be made through Document Delivery Services on the first floor.

Current issues of over 40 newspapers covering a spectrum of regions, countries, and opinions are located on racks in the open area behind the Reference Desk. Back issues of newspapers and all microforms are kept in the micro room on the first floor.

Microforms

Many library materials are in microform and must be read with special machines. Microforms are of several types. microfilm, microfiche, ultramicrofiche, and microcards. Most of the microforms and their readers are located on the first floor next to Reference and Periodicals. ERIC, Tests in Microfiche, and the Kraus Collection are located in the Educational Resources Center (ERC) on the second floor. Several microform readers are also provided in that area. Paper copies of microforms can be made at 10 cents a page.

When a reader uses a microform, s/he should ask the attendant for instruction and assistance in using the equipment. Reading machines are sensitive, and the microforms themselves are easily damaged.

The micro room houses a number of newspapers on microfilm, including The Boston Globe and The New York Times. Also available are several journals on microfiche, and the following special microform collections:

• Library of American Civilization: An ultramicrofiche collection consisting of about 20,000 volumes, or about 6,000,000 pages covering all aspects of Ameican life up to the outbreak of World War I.
• Library of English Literature, Parts I, II, III, and IV: An ultramicrofiche collection consisting of about 4,000 volumes, or approximately one million pages, covering major primary and secondary sources on English literature from its beginnings to the early 20th century.

Last Modified: May 19, 2008