MINITEX 
MESSENGER 
Vol. 2, No. 1, March 197 5 Minnesota Interlibrary Telecommunications Exchange 
Wilson Library, University of Minnesota Minneapolis, Minnesota 55455 
MINITEX CONTINUING 
EDUCATION PROGRAM 
The MINITEX Reference Workshop Weeks have been 
planned to provide a continuing education experience for 
Reference Librarians from MINITEX participating libraries. 
Over seventy-five percent of the library resources in Minne-
sota are located in the Twin Cities metropolitan area. The 
opportunity to spend a week viewing collections, examin-
ing new, expensive, and specialized library resources, and 
making the acquaintance of collection librarians and other 
resource persons is, we believe, an invaluable experience for 
MINITEX librarians which will aid in the cooperative shar-
ing of resources. 
The goals of the week-long workshop are threefold: we 
wish to assist visiting librarians to (1) become more familiar 
with how MINITEX requests are handled; (2) become 
acquainted with MINITEX resource libraries; and (3) find 
out more about other MINITEX services. The workshops 
also provide an invaluable experience in social and profes-
sional communication. Workshop participants spend the 
week interacting with the librarians and staff members of 
MINITEX, the University of Minnesota and other Twin 
Cities libraries, and getting to know one another as well. 
There have been four or five participants in each 
MINITEX workshop. Each is the designated MINITEX 
librarian of a library in a given geographic locality. For 
example , the participants from the Mankato area repre-
sented the libraries of Mankato State College, the University 
of Minnesota-Waseca Campus, Gustavus Adolphus College, 
and the Minnesota Valley Regional (Public) Library. The 
groups are small enough to be easily accommodated by any 
library department and yet are sufficiently diverse to pro-
vide a variety of questions, comments, reactions, and ideas . 
The small number is also easily accommodated in one auto-
mobile, one elevator, one lunch table, and so on, which 
makes touring and travelling very manageable. 
The idea of bringing together academic, public , and, in 
some instances, special librarians from the same geographic 
locality for a continuing education experience appears to be 
unique . Usually, this type of experience consists of pro-
grams or "packages" designed to meet identified needs of 
specific library personnel. Such activities are prepared and 
sponsored by individual libraries, library schools, state 
library agencies, library associations or library networks. 
Whether the focus is placed on the individual, the tempor-
ary group or the organization, the participants are almost 
always from a like occupational situation (i.e., reference 
librarians, law librarians, library trustees), but from differ-
ing geographical localities. This manner of organization 
focuses on the participants' function in a library but seldom, 
if ever, places emphasis on communication with counter-
parts in local institutions, sharing of local resources, or 
meeting needs of library users locally. 
MINITEX member libraries have accepted the concept 
that recurring needs and basic materials that support an 
institution's curriculum are the responsibilities of local 
libraries and are best met by them. It is this concept of 
local and regional sharing that underlines the MINITEX 
program. By bringing together the librarians from one area, 
a situation is created in which they are able to inform each 
other of local needs and resources and find out what 
resources are available that might be acquired locally and 
which ones would be too specialized or too expensive for 
local acquisition. A week of sharing thoughts and express-
ing ideas while attending the workshop helps foster com-
munication on the local level when librarians return from 
their week with MINITEX. 
Visiting librarians usually pool their automobile trans-
portation to the Twin Cities, and the driver is reimbursed 
for mileage. They share rooms at a motel very near the 
campus of the University of Minnesota where the MINITEX 
Central Office is located. Participants are reimbursed for 
their Twin Cities expenses. The more substantial contribu-
tion to the week's expenses, however, comes from the home 
library which allows a professional leave of absense for the 
workshop participant. Without the cooperation of these 
libraries in making arrangements to cover desk hours and 
fill other obligations, and in scheduling leaves to coincide 
with a set date, this program would not be possible. 
The MINITEX Workshop Week program is arranged and 
conducted by the Assistant Director of MINITEX. This 
resource person has a general knowledge of MINITEX 
policies and procedures, is in touch with the day-to-<lay 
operations of the document delivery service, and works 
with the reference service. Her associate membership in the 
University Library Faculty and University Library com-
mittees provides a familiarity with the University Library 
units and an acquaintance with staff librarians; membership 
in local chapters of state and special library groups strength-
ens ties with local libraries included in the MINITEX work-
shop tours. 
Whenever possible MINITEX staff members take part in 
the workshop week program. They accompany the visiting 
librarians on tours of campus libraries , and of the Twin 
Cities libraries as well. Staff members who are involved with 
the day-to-day operations of the MINITEX program pro-
vide another source of information and another communi-
cation link for the workshop participants. 
On the first day of their visit the librarians meet in the 
MINITEX Central Office where introductions are exchanged 
and the plan for the week's activities is reviewed. The 
interaction of participants begins here and continues 
throughout the week over lunches and coffee breaks, in 
transit and on tours. Common situations are seen from 
different points of view; unique information resources are 
shared by all. Tours are conducted the first day in the 
Reference and Government Publications divisions of Wilson 
Library (the University's main library), and ample time is 
allowed to examine new and expensive reference materials. 
The group also has an opportunity to visit the headquarters 
of the Minnesota Union List of Serials (MULS), also 
located in Wilson Library at the University of Minnesota. 
Here they talk to the Data Base Manager who answers any 
particular questions they might have about sending in up-
date information on their serial holdings for inclusion in the 
MULS microfiche updates. 
Participants visit the MINITEX Serials Exchange at the 
Gifts and Bloc Purchases Division of the University Library, 
also located in Wilson. Back issues, incomplete runs, un-
wanted gifts, and volumes that have been replaced by 
microfilm are sent to this location for exchange among 
MINITEX participating libraries. An efficient index of items 
on hand enables the University staff librarian to quickly 
find items requested on want lists submitted by MINITEX 
libraries. There is a rapid turnover; items not wanted or 
needed by any libraries are sold in bulk along with other 
University discards. There is no system of credits or charges 
for materials donated or received and there is no list made 
of items on hand, which keeps paperwork to a minimum. 
Last year over 8,000 items were exchanged by this service. 
Most materials are received in the boxes used to transport 
MINITEX materials. Serials to be delivered to libraries 
are shipped in the boxes along with other MINITEX 
materials. 
The second day is usually spent in the city of St. Paul. 
Here the librarians visit the Legislative Reference Library. 
The history, organization, and holdings of this library are 
explained by its Director. Although its primary concern is 
to serve the Minnesota Legislature, this special library and 
its staff have readily provided materials and information to 
library patrons throughout the state via the MINITEX net-
work. 
The Minnesota Historical Society is the next stop. A 
walking tour is given through the library's reference room 
and stacks while the scope of the collection and its arrange-
ment are described. Comments on the library's history and 
the building's architecture add to the interest of the tour. 
The visitors see the Newspaper, Audio-Visual, and Manu-
scripts divisions, and there is usually time for a quick tour of 
the current exhibits on display in the building. 
The tour of James J. Hill Reference Library, a private 
general reference collection, specializing in business, eco-
nomics, science and technology, is always enlightening. Its 
history and development are described by a staff librarian 
along with information on one of its current specialties, the 
standards collection. St. Paul Public Library, a large metro-
politan institution, seems like familiar territory to most 
librarians. Its printing division, where signs, brochures, and 
bookmarks are made, illustrates one aspect of librarians' 
creativity. 
In addition to the Hill Reference and St. Paul Public 
libraries, which are next door to each other, visits are also 
made to the headquarters of two library networks: CUC 
(Cooperating Libraries in Consortium) and OPLIC - Inter-
library Loans (Office of Public Libraries in Cooperation). 
CUC, housed in Hill Library, features telephone access to a 
Union Catalog of holdings of the seven participating local 
private college libraries and Hill Library. Requests for 
materials are telephoned to the Union Catalog , locations 
are found, and materials are requested from libraries hold-
ing them. Requests not filled at the Union Catalog are for-
warded to St. Paul Public or MINITEX. A courier trans-
ports the items back and forth among the eight member 
libraries, the Legislative Reference Library, Minnesota 
Historical Society, St. Paul Public Library and the MINITEX 
Central Office. The OPLIC -Interlibrary Loan headquarters, 
located in St. Paul Public, receives requests via teletype or 
or mail from the state's public libraries. Requests not filled 
by the St. Paul Public Library , or by the other major metro-
politan public libraries, are fed into the MINITEX network 
for possible retrieval from the University or other non-
public libraries. The visits to the two network headquarters 
provide an enlightening and informative contrast tb the 
MINITEX Central Office and its operations. Visiting 
librarians also have a clearer idea of how MINITEX operates 
and interfaces with CLIC and OPLIC. 
The third day of the workshop week begins with the 
participants' attendance at the weekly staff meeting of the 
MINITEX Central Office staff. Here they have a chance to 
meet more staff members and listen in on the latest 
developments in MINITEX programs and procedures. After-
ward the group travels to Hennepin County Library's 
Southdale Area Branch which has won national awards for 
its architectural design. The physical plant proves to be a 
librarian's dream. Tours of the Popular Library and Infor-
mation Services are conducted by amiable staff members. 
The tour of the Media Lab which provides a variety of A-V 
equipment for public use is a special treat. 
A sharp contrast to Hennepin County Library is 
Minneapolis Public Library and Information Center, situ-
ated in downtown Minneapolis. The city's public library is 
the state's largest, and its resources, particularly in business, 
art, and music, rival most collections in the Midwest. It is 
the home of ECOL, a state-supported ecology library which 
provides library materials directly to anyone in the state. 
Visiting librarians also have a chance to find out about 
some of MPLIC's activities: INFORM, the business refer -
ence and document retrieval service; the Minneapolis Star 
and Tribune Indexes, which are produced by MPLIC; and 
the workings of the Municipal Reference Library. The 
library's extensive collections of business directories, govern· 
ment documents, pictures and photographs, music scores, 
and foundation information are viewed by the MINITEX 
workshop participants who are well aware that they have 
only scratched the surface of the information resources 
available here. 
Some time is spent in the MINITEX Central Office dur· 
ing the week with the staff librarian in charge of processing 
the incoming requests for materials from participating 
libraries . Librarians have an opportunity to ask questions 
about the procedures to be used at their libraries and the 
MINITEX staff can point out any problems that have come 
about in filling requests from a particular library. A session 
is also scheduled with the MINITEX Reference Librarian 
who explains about the reference service. Visiting librarians 
who may not have used this service find out that informa-
tion needs that cannot be met with local library or com· 
munity information resources may be transmitted by a toll-
free call to MINITEX. The resources of the University of 
Minnesota and other metropolitan libraries are utilized and 
long distance phone calls are placed when necessary to 
help provide answers to reference questions, usually within 
24 hours. Patrons may relate their questions directly to the 
MINITEX Reference Librarian during regular workday 
hours. Answers are either telephoned or mailed directly to 
the patron. The service also provides an opportunity for 
professional consultation among librarians when searching 
for sources of information. 
The fourth day of the workshop week begins with a tour 
of the Biomedical Library on the University of Minnesota 
campus. Staff librarians describe the collection and show 
visitors the automated technical processes and minicom-
puter systems. An on-line computer search of MEDLINE is 
demonstrated and its capabilities are discussed. The visitors 
learn about the Twin Cities Biomedical Consortium 
and the Midwest Health Science Library Network of which 
the Biomedical Library is a participant. It is through these 
channels that MINITEX is able to obtain specialized library 
materials relating to the biological sciences for outstate 
students, faculty and citizens. The thorough tour of this 
specialized collection of materials with its links to even 
greater resources is invaluable. 
On-line computer searches on the ERIC and Psych 
Abstracts data bases are next on the day's schedule. These 
are demonstrated by a librarian in the Education Library 
at the University. The same search is done on the two data 
bases which gives a vivid illustration of the capabilities of 
searching and the variations that can occur in different sub-
ject fields. Participants are invited to suggest search ques-
tions and even sit at the terminal and type out their own 
searches. 
The schedule for Thursday afternoon is kept open so 
that workshop participants may plan their own programs. 
Some options include tours of the other campus libraries, 
either self-guided, by a MINITEX staff member, or by the 
collection's librarian. Participants have thus visited the Law, 
Education, Art, Music, Chemistry, Pharmacy, Engineering, 
Geology, Natural History, Botany, Veterinary Medicine, 
Biochemistry, Forestry, and Plant Pathology libraries. 
Others have spent more time examining new reference 
works of locating resources of a particular interest to some 
of their regular library patrons. 
Friday's program features a morning trip to the St. Paul 
campus libraries via intercampus bus. A sit-down tour with 
a staff librarian is in order after the long week. The 
collection and its organization are explained by a staff 
librarian. A description is given of the CAIN data 
base for on-line computer searching in agricultural subjects. 
The participants are well versed in this subject area by now 
and ask thoughtful questions about the data base's at-
tributes and its shortcomings. As in other library tours and 
visits, the issues of library budgets, storage problems, ser-
vice priorities, staffing needs, and publishing trends are 
talked out over another cup of coffee . Before leaving the 
campus, the group visits one of the five departmental 
libraries of the St. Paul campus. The Entomology, Fisheries 
and Wildlife Library with its considerable holdings of 
ecological interest provides numerous examples of the types 
of information and library materials of general interest that 
are to be founci in specialized library collections. 
A wrap-up discussion of the week's activities is held at 
lunch on Friday. There is so much to talk about by this 
time that having to eat lunch seems almost an inconvenience. 
Some of the highlights and disappointments, delights and 
frustrations of the week are discussed. Usually everyone 
adds notes to a list thats/he has been keeping all week, as 
the group recalls names and phone numbers of people they 
met, important files of information that were kept in 
libraries they visited, titles of reference works or journals 
they had seen for the first time, statistics they had read or 
heard, and so on. Notes are also kept on questions to look 
into and program arrangements and details that might be 
changed for future workshop weeks. Suggestions about 
MINITEX procedures from workshop participants are 
brought up at the next MINITEX staff meeting. 
A formal evaluation of the MINITEX Reference Work-
shop Weeks has not been undertaken as yet. All participants 
are asked to write a critical summary of the week to be 
sent to the MINITEX Director, and most are asked by 
their libraries to give a talk or write a report for the benefit 
of other staff members. 
MINITEX has attempted to set up a similar reference 
workshop program for local librarians. Librarians from the 
Twin Cities (the CLIC librarians and members of the 
Reference Division at the University of Minnesota) were 
invited to tour some of the MINITEX resource libraries in 
the Twin Cities. The tours were conducted during a week-
long period and participants could sign up for any or all 
tours. The local librarians provided their own transportation 
and no meals were arranged for the group. Since most 
librarians had seen at least some of the other libraries in the 
program, no one signed up to go on all the tours offered. 
Also, due to work commitments, no one was given the 
entire day off to participate in the workshop tours. As a 
result the groups did not have the cohesiveness that the 
tours for the outstate groups had, and they did not run as 
smoothly because people arrived late, left early, did not 
know other participants, and so on. More work needs to be 
done on the planning of programs for local groups. Certain-
ly, the fact that seventy-five percent of the library re-
sources are in the Twin Cities area would lead one to 
believe that most of the state's librarians are there also, and 
that they need to obtain more bits of information from 
their abundant local resources than do their counterparts 
outstate. 
In its proposal to the state legislature for the 1975-77 
biennium, MINITEX has asked for funding to expand its 
continuing education program to include one-week training 
sessions at the MINITEX Central Office for 100 librarians 
from participating libraries and twelve annual regional work-
shops. It is hoped that such funding will make possible the 
improvement and expansion of the MINITEX Reference 
Workshop Weeks and other programs which will contribute 
to the cooperative sharing of library resources for the bene-
fit of all Minnesota citizens. 
A typical program for the MINITEX Reference 
Workshop Week: 
Monday: 10:00 am Tour of MINITEX office 
and introduction to MINI-
TEX activities. 
1 :00 pm Tour of Wilson Reference 
Department 
3:00 MULS Office 
3:30 MINITEX Serials Exchange 
Program 
4:00 Tour of Government Pub-
lications 
Tuesday: 9:00 am Tour of Minnesota Legis-
lative Reference Library 
10:30 Tour of Minnesota Histori-
cal Society 
2:00 pm CLIC Union Catalog 
Wednesday: 
Thursday: 
Friday: 
2 :30 OPLIC interlibrary loan 
headquarters 
3:00 Tour of St. Paul Public 
Library 
4:00 Tour of James J. Hill Ref-
erence Library 
8:00 am 
10:00 
1:00pm 
3:00 
4:00 
MINITEX staff meeting 
Tour of Hennepin County 
Library-Southdale Area 
Library Branch 
Tour of Minneapolis Pub-
lic Library and Information 
Center 
MINITEX requests 
MINITEX Reference Ser-
vice 
9:00 am Tour of Biomedical Library 
11 :30 ERIC, Psych Abstracts 
searches 
Afternoon Individual program 
9:00 am Tour of St. Paul campus 
libraries 
11 :00 Wrap-up session and evalu-
ation 
OUTSTATE MINITEX REFERENCE WEEK 
PARTICIPATING LIBRARIES, 
GROUPED BY GEOGRAPHIC LOCALITY 
Austin -Rochester: 
Fargo-Moorhead: 
Mankato Area: 
Northfield: 
St. Cloud: 
Miscellaneous 
Grouping: 
Albert Lea Public Library (SELCO) 
Austin Community College 
Austin Public Library 
SELCO Regional Consultant 
University of Minnesota Hormel Institute 
Concordia College 
Lake Agassiz Regional Public Library 
Moorhead State College 
North Dakota State University 
Gustavus Adolphus College 
Mankato State College 
Minnesota Valley Regional Public Library 
University of Minnesota-Waseca 
Carleton College 
St. Olaf College 
Great River Regional Public Library 
College of St. Benedict 
St. Cloud State College 
St. John 's University 
Bemidji State College 
LeSeuer-Waseca Regional Public Library 
Southwest Minnesota State College 
University of Minnesota-Morris 
MIN/TEX REFERENCE SERVICE 
The MINITEX Reference Service was initiated in Octo-
ber , 197 3, as an extension of the document delivery service , 
in recognition of the fact that sources for filling information 
needs cannot always be readily identified. Library users 
need not be discouraged if their local libraries do not have 
the reference books , bibliographies, or other resources to 
answer their questions. 
If a patron has a question that cannot be answered with 
local library or community information resources, a toll-
free call to MINITEX may be placed by the reference per-
son. The question is described to the MINITEX_ Reference 
Librarian and possible sources for answers are discussed. If 
the patrons are at hand, they can speak directly to the 
MINITEX librarian to be sure that the question is under-
stood. If patrons are not present (which is often the c~se 
since librarians frequently spend additional time searchmg 
before placing the call) the patrons' names and tele?hone 
numbers are supplied so that they can be contacte~ 1f any 
other information or clarification is needed durmg the 
search. 
Questions are also transmitted to MINITEX via teletype 
or through the mail. Whatever the format, three items of 
information are requested: (1) the patron's name and 
phone number; (2) the source of the patron's information; 
and (3) the sources already checked by the local librarian. 
The resources of the University of Minnesota and other 
metropolitan libraries are utilized and long distance phone 
calls are placed when necessary to help provide answers to 
questions, usually within 24 hours. Answers are either t~le-
phoned or mailed directly to the patron. Frequently dunng 
the discussion with the local librarian, possible sources are 
mentioned that have not been checked locally. In this way 
the MINITEX Reference Service also provides an oppor-
tunity for professional consultation among librarians when 
searching for sources of information. 
In addition to MINITEX (document delivery) funds, 
support to include public libraries came from LSCA Title III 
funds, from which $20,000 was granted to conduct a pilot 
demonstration project to test the need and value of a state -
wide reference and information network. One of the bene-
fits of the program is that it gives reference librarians who 
work in small isolated libraries a sense of community with 
other reference librarians. 
The MINITEX Reference telephone is attended by a pro-
fessional librarian in the afternoons from 1 :00 to 4:30. 
Mornings are used for searching collections. From January 
to November, 1974, the reference service was administered 
by a full-time Reference Librarian, with the help of the 
Assistant Director of MINITEX, and since August, 1974, a 
Graduate Library Assistant (library school student). Since 
November the reference work has been carried out in the 
following manner: the Assistant Dir\!ctor attends the tele-
phones in the afternoons to take questions and formulate 
search strategies, and , as time permits , to search the card 
catalog and Reference Room in Wilson Library. Most search-
ing on questions is done in the mornings by a Graduate 
Library Assistant and in the afternoons by a half-time refer-
ence librarian. The system works fairly well. The Assistant 
Director, being a full-time staff member, provides coordina-
tion, continuity, and back-up help for the reference service. 
Her experience with the MINITEX Reference Workshop 
Weeks provides insight to potential sources of information 
from other Twin Cities library collections. The Graduate 
Library Assistant has a broad general knowledge of reference 
materials and an invaluable familiarity with the University 
library collections. The half-time reference librarian has a 
technical background with experience in special libraries in 
the Twin Cities area, and further complements the expertise 
of the reference personnel. 
One of the unique aspects of this reference service is the 
financial resources that have allowed the librarian to call the 
patron and discuss the problems of the question after the 
search has commenced; or to call anywhere in the United 
States to obtain an answer to the question. If, in the judg-
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ment of the librarian, a long distance call will shortcut a lot 
of valuable search time, that method of locating the re-
quired information is used. 
Because of the schedules of the MINITEX reference staff 
and the fact that the University of Minnesota library col-
lections are in so many different physical locations, it is 
difficult to deal satisfactorily with questions requiring an 
immediate reply, but in emergencies the MINITEX staff 
does what it can. 
Questions involving medical diagnosis and treatment or 
legal procedures are discouraged. Librarians never know the 
medical history of the patient, the complicating or mitiga-
tive circumstances of the patient's condition, and other 
necessary background information. Since the latest informa-
tion on diagnosis and treatment appears in the voluminous 
medical journal literature, selecting articles for library 
patrons would necessarily mean editing the research find-
ings. Furthermore, not all journal literature is accepted as 
valid by the medical community. If the librarian turns to 
reference books - even current ones - the information is 
not guaranteed to be up to date or relevant to the particular 
case at hand. MINITEX staff are more than willing to pro-
vide books or copies of articles recommended by the 
patient's (patron's) physician. 
Answering legal questions involves many of the same 
problems as those dealing with medical literature. Patrons 
are referred to local legal aid societies, county and state 
attorneys for assistance. 
Members of the MINITEX reference staff appreciate 
feedback from librarians and patrons, especially in cases 
where information sent is insufficient or not what the 
patron had in mind. No user surveys have been made; how-
ever, the staff has received many written and verbal "thank 
you's". 
The following summation of the types of questions asked 
was written by Beverly Thiede, former MINITEX Refer-
ence Librarian, now Head of Information Services at Henne-
pin County Library: 
No statistics have been kept according to the subject or 
topic of the request. The following information is general 
in nature and is presented to illustrate the breadth and 
variety of the questions. 
From October 1973 to November 1974 we were asked 
the same question only twice. First we were asked to find a 
list of Naturopathic Colleges in British Columbia, and the 
second time we were asked for a list of Naturopathic doc-
tors in the United States. 
The majority of questions has been for biographical 
information. Students and faculty are interested in the 
background of authors. Leaders of organizations try to 
locate speakers, and they also want material for introduc-
tions . Frequent requests occur from the public on artists' 
biographies. We also have looked for various historical 
figures , for example: "Please provide a brief description of 
Charles Thorold, who was an alderman and sheriff in 
London in 1706". Fortunately for us this family was 
covered in heraldry sources. Numerous requests are made 
for addresses and descriptions of organizations , businesses 
and publishers. 
We have had many questions about the meaning and 
origin of words , phrases , and "forgettable" quotes. 
A considerable amount of time has been spent with 
census material, federal and state bills and resolutions. 
Types of questions received: 
How did New York City spend its portion of the Federal 
Revenue Sharing funds in 1973? 
Illustrations of symbols for revolutions. 
Crude oil prices and production statistics national and 
worldwide. 
Sign language manual in Finnish for a deaf person. 
Financial ratios in the auto parts industry. 
Bibles in Pidgin English. 
Diving and decompression tables. 
Phases and the rise and set time of the moon in August, 
September of 1862. 
How to train the horses used in mounted police patrols. 
Crime rate in India. 
Tanning of sheepskins leaving the wool on. 
How to sell insurance with the use of audio visual aids. 
Number of registered voters in Atlanta, Georgia. 
Breeders of Beefalo (this was before the national and 
local press coverage). 
A patron requests the origin of a brown glass bottle from 
the early I 900's with the word Benetol on it. 
Date of the establishment of Betcher, Minnesota (patron 
wanted to place a plaque on a building). 
Picture of a Carboy. 
Ski jump record of John and Ole Mangseth in 1907 and 
1908. 
Montagnards and other ethnic groups in southwest China. 
Physical description of the British Transport ships in the 
Charles River on April 177 5 . 
Reason for the decline of the frog population in Minne-
sota. 
Are there alligators in the New York City sewers? 
How to make a two-person horse costume. 
MINNESOTA UNION 
LIST OF SERIALS 
GENERAL DESCRIPTION OF THE PROJECT 
January 1975 saw the publication of the long awaited 
First Edition of the Minnesota Union List of Serials 
(MULS). The edition consists of five volumes totaling 
3628 pages. The arrival of this edition marked a climax in 
the project which had begun three and a half years before 
in 1971. 
The project began when MINITEX participants agreed 
to devote a portion of the document delivery funding to 
the creation of a union list of serials for the state of Minne-
sota. Contributing to this decision was the fact that over 
three-fourths of the requests coming into MINITEX were 
for photocopies of journal articles and the existing serials 
reference tools were proving inadequate for verifying and 
locating titles within the state. 
During the Summer of 1971 the project was set up in 
conjunction with the Systems Division at the University of 
Minnesota Library. In August of the year the information 
gathering got under way. For the purpose of the project 
the term "serial" was defined in the broadest possible sense. 
Hence, journals, periodicals , transactions, proceedings, 
memoirs, annuals/yearbooks, monographic series (if series 
added entries appear in the catalog of the contributing 
library), newspapers, looseleaf services , in fact any title 
which is published over a period of time and for which there 
is no forseeable end will be found in MULS. 
Since it was the largest single library in the state and 
since the project was actually housed on the site, data from 
the University of Minnesota Library system was the first to 
be coded. Almost exactly a year later the Preliminary 
Edition of MULS was published. This contained most of the 
University's serial titles as held by the Coordinate Campus 
libraries. The Preliminary Edition in two volumes consisted 
of 1566 pages and contained over 37,000 titles plus cross 
references and added entries. 
Subsequent funds to continue the project came from the 
State Legislature through the Minnesota Higher Education 
Coordinating Commission (MHECG) and through the Office 
of Public Libraries and Interlibrary Cooperation (OPLIC). 
During the next two years the Minnesota Union List of 
Serials was expanded to a statewide configuration with the 
addition of the following collections: Minneapolis Public 
Library and Information Center, six State College libraries, 
15 private four-year colleges, 24 state agency libraries in-
cluding the Minnesota Historical Society, St. Paul Public 
Library, James J. Hill Reference Library, 15 regional public 
libraries including all of the MELSA (Metropolitan Library 
Service Agency) libraries, five seminary libraries and the 
Mayo Clinic Library. North Dakota State University and 
Veteran's Administration Hospital Library in Fargo were 
added along with the Tri-College Universities list. Some 
further activity also took place with the University holdings. 
Titles from the Bio-Medical Library which had not been in-
cluded in the Preliminary Edition were added. Several 
thousand closed titles within the main library were also 
identified and added as were many titles in the Ames 
Library, Special Collections, the Public Administration 
Library, the Government Publications Division and the 
Immigrant Archives Collection. The holdings from the 
Hormel Institute were added, as well. A few areas still 
remain to be finished, but for the most part the University 
entries are now complete. 
In September 197 4 when the magnetic tape for the 
First Edition was generated for the photocomposer, the 
data base contained more than 71,000 distinct titles plus 
approximately 34,000 cross references and added entries. 
It is now possible for librarians and patrons throughout the 
state to find out where or whether specific titles are held. It 
hopefully will no longer be necessary for an outstate 
library to request journals from the Twin Cities when a 
library much closer holds the same title. This type of infor-
mation will enable kinds of cooperation which formerly 
were only wishful thinking. It is hoped that programs in 
cooperative acquisition and retention policies can be gener-
ated among library groups. This type of joint effort can 
help to eliminate costly duplication and storage while also 
assuring that the most complete range of titles remains 
available to the widest possible group of users. 
Cooperation is earnestly being sought in keeping MULS 
up to date, and it is expected that funding for this activity 
will be forthcoming. It is hoped that each contributing 
library will regularly report all changes in their serials 
holdings; this includes additions, cancellations, deletions, 
title changes, etc. Without this kind of effort on the part of 
all concerned, the entire project will become less worth-
while in the long term by simp~y becoming more and more 
out of date. Update material is constantly being processed 
by the MULS staff and it is hoped that quarterly issues will 
be produced on microfiche. At the present time, the plan 
is for each update to completely supersede all former publi-
cations so that a user never has more than one place to 
check for a title. 
As an illustration of the importance which can be 
attached to subsequent issues of MULS, it should be 
mentioned that since the cut-off date for the First 
Edition, not only have the libraries in the Twin Cities 
Biomedical Consortium (TCBC) been added to the list. but 
many other holdings have been affected by cancellations, 
withdrawals, etc., due to budgetary considerations. These 
changes, additions, and deletions will all be reflected in the 
first fiche update. 
STANDARDS 
When the MULS project was first begun a decision had 
to be made concerning which format standard was to be 
followed.. The MARC II Serials format had recently been 
issued by the Library of Congress MARC Development Of-
fice and seemed a logical choice. This, indeed, was the de-
cision. Although not all fields have been employed, this has 
not precluded the addition of others at any appropriate time . 
Generally speaking, our MARC entries are organized into 
four sections. The first two parts, the leader and the record 
directory, concern only the programmer since they never 
print out in any file but are, rather, used by the computer to 
handle input. The third part of the record consists of control 
field tags. We use two of the available tags-the 008 or fixed-
length data elements and the 009 tag which lists in ascend-
ing numerical order the four or five digit holdings location 
numbers. The variable-length fields comprise the fourth and 
main portion of any record and are, for the most part, what 
is seen in one of the printed entries. The variable-length 
tags employed are: L.C. Card Number, International 
Standard Serial Number, Main Entry-Personal Name, Main 
Entry-Corporate Name, Main Entry-Conference or Meeting, 
Title Edition, Imprint, Abbreviated Journal Title, General 
Notes, Contents Notes (brief), Notes on Volumes or Num-
bers, Notes on Supplements, Notes on Indexes, Notes on 
Indexing or Abstra.cting Coverage, Added Entries, Holdings 
Statements and Cross References. The holdings statements 
contain not only the statement of material held and the 
information to uniquely identify the holding location but 
may also contain pertinent call number(s) and/or give 
information concerning the holdings at that particular 
locale. Subfield levels are encoded in all variable-length 
fields for ease in sorting and retrieval as are indicator values 
where applicable. In addition to the variable-length tags, 
three fixed-length elements are given in the printed volumes; 
these are the beginning date, the ending date and the locally 
assigned ID number. 
The MULS staff has tried as far as possible to adhere to 
the Anglo-American Cataloging Rules (North American 
Text) and towards this end each entry is taken through a 
careful and quite exhaustive verification procedure. This 
course of · action has resulted in a degree of uniformity 
among participants which has not been true in the past. As 
new national and international standards such as ISDS and 
ISBD(S) have evolved, they have been carefully watched 
and any officially accepted changes are consequently adopt· 
ed as quickly as possible. 
As a result of this conformity to accepted standards, the 
Minnesota Union List of Serials data base has been chosen 
as one of the start-up files for the CONSER (Cooperative 
Conversion of Serials) Project. 
CONSER 
The CONSER Project had its unofficial beginnings at an 
informal group meeting which was held at the Las Vegas 
ALA meeting in 1973. The meeting was called for the 
purpose of discussing the generation and maintenance of 
machine-readable union files of serials. Although the meet-
ing was to have been small and no formal publicity was 
given to it, 25 people representing 20 institutions in the 
United States and Canada were in attendance. 
Three major concerns surfaced during the meeting. 
These were: the general lack of communication among 
the groups who had or were in the process of producing 
machine-readable serials files, the basic incompatability 
among these files and the apparent confusion and/or mis-
understanding concerning existing and proposed biblio-
graphic description and format standards. 
Several things happened as the result of this meeting. It 
was decided by those present that such a group ought to 
continue and a charge was given to three members to pre-
pare a position paper outlining the need for such a group; 
also, a steering committee was selected. A meeting of that 
committee was funded by the Council on Library Resources 
(CLR) in September of 1973. The purpose of the meeting 
was, according to Richard Anable one of the project's 
prime supporters, to "establish a mechanism for coopera-
tively converting a comprehensive retrospective biblio-
graphic ciata base of serials" . 
It was generally agreed that the project was a worth-
while one and moves were made to find a sponsoring 
agency, since neither the discussion group nor the steering 
committee had legal status. Following discussions with 
several groups, it was decided that the Council on Library 
Resources was the most appropriate institution to serve as 
interim manager. The agreement is stated in these terms 
because it is expected at the end of a two or possibly three-
year period of rapid file building that the project will be 
passed to a permanent manager, most likely the Library of 
Congress. 
As Mr. Anable stated in the objectives for the steering 
committee, the approach is two-pronged. First of all is the 
desire to arrive at some agreed upon set of practices to be 
used in file building. To this end several working groups 
were formed to discuss various aspects. These concerned 
themselves with holdings statement notations, working com-
munications and authority files. A fourth group, which is 
addressing itself to the matter of training, has subsequently 
been formed. 
The second prong of the approach was to establish a 
mechanism for cooperatively converting a comprehensive 
retrospective bibliographic data base of serials. To achieve 
this goal two things were sought: a) an existing system to 
house the project (at least during the interim phase) and 
b) one or more suitable large data bases to use as a start-up 
file. The Ohio College Library Center (OCLC) was chosen as 
the system to house the file and the Minnesota Union List 
of Serials (MULS) was chosen (in conjunction with the 
MARC.S and Canadian MARC serials files) to be the major 
start-up base. 
Progress is being made on the project. Last December a 
contract was signed between OCLC and CLR for the use of 
the OCLC system. In January the MULS file was delivered 
via CLR to OCLC in preparation for the mounting of the 
data on the OCLC system. Terminals have been received at 
the Library of Congress (and NSDP), the National Library 
of Medicine and the National Agriculture Library and tests 
are being made. Other libraries such as SUNY and Cornell 
already have terminals, since they are members of OCLC. 
The other initial participants should be receiving their 
terminals within the next month or two. The entire project 
should be in operation by this summer. 
The goal for a two-year period is to create a file of 
200,000+ records in which the highest possible level of 
bibliographic integrity will be maintained. The matter of 
creating a true union list through the addition of holdings 
statements has not yet been completely discussed, but a 
decision should be forthcoming in the near future. 
The CONSER Project is an exciting one for many reasons 
and worthy of support. We in Minnesota can be proud that 
our state file will be providing the basis for cooperative 
activities at an even higher level. 
CONFERENCE CALLS 
One further act of cooperation should be mentioned ; 
this is the monthly conference call held among the serials 
librarians of the University Coordinate Campus libraries, 
those of the State College libraries, and the CLIC co-
ordinator. In an attempt to avoid the cancellation or with-
drawal of unique material, lists are prepared monthly by the 
serials librarians for the purpose of accepting the responsi-
bility for retention and binding. These are then checked 
against the MULS master file, annotated, copied and sent 
out to all the participating librarians. On the phone calls 
any problems, requests, etc., are discussed. With the appear-
ance of the new edition of MULS it is hoped that checking 
at the sites will help to avoid cancellation and/or withdrawal 
of unique titles even before getting to the conference call 
stage. Hopefully, other such cooperative ventures may be an 
outgrowth of MULS in the future.