I had a few questions and suggestions after my last post about elementary magazine subscriptions. I want to share those with you.
First of all, our district's vendor for magazine subscriptions is:
Magazine Subscriptions PTP
2707 Princeton Drive
Austin TX 78741
1-800-733-5470
mag.subscript.ptp@att.net
We've used this individual for the 3 years I've been with the district, and I haven't had a problem with any of our subscriptions. We just send one check to her for all of the subscriptions, and I can ignore those pesky renewal notices for each individual magazine.
Second, to check out the magazines to students, I put barcodes on poly project folders like these. They are a bit sturdier than sheet protectors, and they have 2 sides open so that it's easy to slide a magazine inside.
The plastic gives the magazine some protection as it travels with the student. In our system, we create a temporary catalog record (magazine title, date, and barcode) each time we check out a magazine. The record disappears after the magazine is checked in, and we re-use the cover with the barcode on it.
We charge $2 for a lost magazine and $1 for a lost cover. And we spend the first few weeks of school saying, "now, remember that you need to turn in the magazine AND the cover," each time a student checks out a magazine. It works for us!
Third, I had some more magazines suggested:
Kiki: This girl magazine is ad-free and focuses on creativity. I haven't seen this one before. Now I want it for our students!
Zoobooks: I have lots of back issues of Zoobooks. I use them for animal research projects, and I circulate them. If I didn't have these, I would definitely subscribe. It's an inexpensive way to add more animal non-fiction to your collection.
Thanks for your questions and suggestions. Keep 'em coming! Together, we're all better!
Thank you for the information on the magazines! We keep all our past magazines in those cardboard magazine holders for years and years...what I would like to ask you is how you keep the records on file for the Zoobook magazines so you know which issue has which animal? Also, how do you keep the past years in order? Ours are all in one or three boxes hodge podge...even though they start our fine!
ReplyDeleteKathryn, I keep past magazines in plastic magazine holders, but I don't have an organization system. I just flip through the covers and grab the ones that fit our research project. They are very hodge podge, but it doesn't take long to flip through them.
DeleteThanks for your comment!
Cari
Cari,
ReplyDeleteCould you please explain in more detail how you do a temp. barcode. I have Destiny as my computer system. Thanks, I appreciate any help you could give me.
Kathleen Wilverding
Hi Kathleen!
DeleteI haven't used Destiny in a few years (sniff, sniff, I REALLY miss it!), but I'll try to explain. At the beginning of the school year, I put a barcode sticker on a clear poly cover. The barcode is in the sequence of barcodes that my library uses, same length, etc. Now that clear poly cover will always have that barcode number.
As I'm checking out items, I have the option to create a temporary catalog record, with only brief information, not the whole, detailed catalog record that an item normally has. So I create a brief/temporary record, using the magazine title and issue # or date for the "title" in the brief (temporary) record. And I scan the barcode in for the space that is designated for the barcode or item ID. Voila! The brief/temporary catalog record for the item is created.
In our system, the brief/temporary record disappears as soon as the item is checked in. So the clear poly cover with the barcode on it can be re-used for a different magazine. If this doesn't happen automatically, there may be a setting you can change.
I hope that makes sense! Good question!
Cari
Cari,
DeleteThanks for getting back to me. I have to check to see if my system will do that. It seems like a faster way to do the magazines. I'm going to try this and see if it works. Thanks so much.
Kathleen