The birth and acceptance of serials

In this day of rapid inflation and increasing pressure on the acquisitions dollar, the introduction of a new serial is approached with mixed emotions and much trepidation by prospective publishers and librarians alike. Competing for monies already committed to serial subscriptions, the selection and addition of a new serial often requires the hard decision to drop a title which has been held by the library for some time. There is a natural reluctance among librarians to break a pattern that has been successful in order to add an up‐start periodical that has unproved history and an uncertain character. There is a temptation to resist adding a new serial, however good it may first appear to be, simply to see if it will survive the first volume—an act which, when compounded by the fact that other libraries are doing the same thing, decreases the probability of survival, and vindicates the tendency to “wait and see.”