PUNCHED CARD CONTROL FOR THE PURCHASEOF

PU8UCATIONS: A Simple Device

S R. Ojha
Publications &. Information Directorate
(CSIR), New Delhi-IIOO 12

K N Misra
Indian Oil Corporation
(Refineries Division)
New Delhi-l 10001

Follow up Work for Purchase difficult to have a regular follOw up only from. the
files. Particularly in the large libraries whe re
Libraries have different procedures for the huge purchases are mad" every month, 'some suit-
purchase of books, such as, some invite quotations able device for the purpose is abilolutely necessary
while others get their publications through the
booksellers either on the rates fixed by the associa- To overcome this difficulty and accelerate the
tion of the booksellers (if any) or on the rates fixed supply, a sim.ple and convenient device is explained
by the library committee. But it is a comm.on here which may be of great use in getting the publi-
experience that the vendors generally supply the cations supplied at an early date. The device,
publications readily, if available with som.e well however, is not expensive and is sim.ple in opera-
known wholesellers but in the case of publications tion. It can very easilv be adopted in libraries
which require some efforts to locate or are to be with annual purchases upto about 3,000 publica-
im.ported from the publishers, they do not care tions.
much until and unless there is regular tapping from
the side of the libraries. In libraries also it is

o o 0 000
---------------------------------------
0 0 0 000 0
1. Ackw. due on: ~P~_JviA~JU1'i._1UL~Ug_S_E~QCT NOV DEC JAN FEE MAR

Complaint sent on: t n J2l (3l , _

2. Ackw. recd. on:
Next due date Cancellation due on .__._

VENDOR Autho r(surname first) .

_.-----'-_._._----- Title .

Orde r No. & date

Edn, Vol. Year .
Publisher List price .
Received on: Indentor's nam.e : .
-----:-~--------- Department " '" " " Signatures " ..
Remarks(if any)

Fig. I. Ident Card Design

Vol 24 No 2 June 1977

 OJHA'" MISRA

o o 0 o 0 o o o 000 0 0
Ac kn') wledgement Co mplaint 'Zone
Zone (4)
(3)

Bibliographic Zone
Orde r z--. ne (11
(2)

Fig.2. Position of the first four

zones on the Indent Cara
The particulars in the format of the card can
Instruments and Stationery Required for the Device
be grouped into five cliff erent zones as follows:

1. Sorting needle: For sorting of thecards. I. Bibliographic Zone;

A knitting needle of about 2. Order Zone;
12" length can be used for 3. Acknowledgement Zone;
the purpose. 4. Complaint Zone; and
5. Feedback Zone.
2. Hand Pun:ch: F or punching the s ides of
the cards. Out of the se zones I to 4 are on the front side
of the card whereas zone 5 is on the back of it. The
3. Indent cards: The des ign of the indent placings of the zones 1-4 are shown in Fig. 2.
card is shown in Fig. 1.
Necessary modifications 1. Bibliographic Zone: It contains information
may be made in the text of about the particulars of the publication under
the card acco rding to the order. It also contains the details about its
requirements of the parti- ~dentor .
cular library.
2. Order Zone: In this zone, the details of the
order and vendo r are given.

o o 000 0 0'0 0 o o
Feed Bac k Zone (5)

TO BE RETURNED TO THE IDENTOR FOR INFORMATION PLEASE:-

1. The publication has been r ec e ived je processed and is available for issue.
2. The publication is OUT OF PRINT/IN PRESS.
3. We regret that the publication is not obtainable through normal channel.
4. The original publication is not available. However a xerox copy can be
obtained at a higher cost. If required. please obtain fresh approval and
send another ident card for necessary action.
5. +- _

Dr. /Shri/Srnt. _
LIBRARIAN.

Fig.3. The Fifth Zone on the back side

78 Ann Lib Sc i Doc

 PUNCHED CARD CONTROL

3. Ac knowledgetnent Zone: This zone c ont» ins rne nt has been received are cut by the hand punch.
one hole on the top and details of the d,"!' date For e x a rripl e , if an order is placed in the month of
of acknowledgernent, r e rriind e r fo r it and the APRIL it will be due for supply latest by the rnon th
actual date of the receipt of the acknowledge- of AUGUST. Therefore, the portions above the
rne n t of the 0 rd er by the vendo r . h'oles corresponding to the rriont h s of APRIL, MAY,
JUNE, JULY & AUGUST are cut so that the card is
4. Co mpl a int Zone: This zone contains twelve not sorted out in these rnont hs because no action is
holes in a row at the top of the card. These to be taken prior to SEPTEMBER (F ig. 4)
can be designated I ro rn APRIL to MARCH Now the indent card is filed in a tray alpha-
(The financial year) or JANUARY TO DECEM- betically according to authors. A particular date is
BER depending upon the requiretnent of the fixed on which every month, the cards will be sorted
library. The lnfo r rna.fio n regarding co rri- for checking the position of the supply and necessary
plaints sent to the vendor for non-receipt of action taken wherever needed.
the publication can also be given in this zone.
The "orting starts from the acknowledgement
zone. The full deck of the cards is taken and'the
5. Feedback Zone: On receipt of the publication
sorting needle is passed through the hole of all the
or otherwise when necessary, the indentor
cards under this zone and are lifted up with the help
has to be inf o r rne d of the position accordingly.
of the ne e dl e .
Such it.ems of inf o r rnat io n are noted down on
the Feedback Zone and the card is to be
Those cards for which this zone has been
returned to the indentor. (Fig.3)
punched. meaning thereby that the acknowledgment
Procedure has been received, will fall down and the cards with
unpunched acknowledgement zone will remain hang-
On receipt of the indent, the necessary de- ing on the needle. These unacknowledged card are
tails about the publication and the indentor are taken and the due date of a c knowledgement is
filled-in in the Bibliographic Zone. The order is checked on each card. If the acknowledgetnent is
then sent to a vendor (after cotnpleting the pro- not yet due, the card is filed back in the deck at its
cedural f'o r rna Li.tie s followed in the library) asking proper place. If the due date of acknowledgement
the f i r rn to acknowledge the receipt of the order and has already passed, a reminder is sent to the vendor
intimate app ro xi mat e due date for supply of the allowing him one rno n th rno r e for intitnating the
publication. This infortnation should reach the supply position. The date of this retninder is noted
library within a rno nt h f r orn the date of the order. on the card and the s a rrie is filed in the deck at its
As soon as the ac knowl e dg e ment is received, the proper place. If one such r ern ind e r has already
particular card is taken out f r orn the tray and an been sent earlier, the date of sending the reminder
app ro x irnat e date of the supply of the order is fixed, tnay be checked. There may be two possibilities:
if not already given by the vendor. The portions This date is either before the previous sorting date
above the hole in the acknowledgetnent zone and all or after it. The f o r rne r case will show that the
those corresponding to the rno nt hs between the due further grace period has also expired without getting
date of supply and the morith in which acknowledge- any reply f'r o m the vendor Now there is no sense

1. Ackw. due on: APR MAY JUN JUL AUG SEP OCT NOV DEe JAN FEB MAR;
~ ~f97!r Cornpl alnt sent on: (1) (2) (3) _
Z. Ackw. reed •• on: , I
12ifv ~rJ; 1n!.- Next due date Cancellation due on, ',!

VENDOR AutlXl r(surname first) •. 51i(;.IN~.;. w...<: .

Title ••• e.~.f.~ ; :
Order No. -&:date
Edn •••••••••..•• ~l. •••••••••••.. Year .J,}. 7.1 .
Tt.
Publisher r;.":I!f. .. ~;~ a,., Liat price •• ;. Jl; 'J.':J~ .
lleceived on: Indentor's natne .• A ..
1f. k.JA~~ :
Department,
Mol'
•. - ~
d
.•.•.•••••••••••• Sifllaturea •. ~
_.
.
'
Remarb(i£ any)

Fig.4. A filled-in and punched Indent Card

Vol 24 NQ 2 June 1977 79

 co
a

ruNt ••• THE AU'·

leNa.
flU""""'E
EYllUlWtI
THE ,,"'(_0 IS
•.••••.• T"" 0"" o'"~o~
S'u,.,.a.Y IINO y£S
T.a •••
O~ 1"H£
", OU'J
OK. S
UO•••• fbi< NO 1"
.,.u£O .•. 1 •• ( ) • I 'UN<.H ~ ••• THE '~} •• ~ ,. ••D l~I'fT~
o
TI"-C.
,..,...THJ '''n,"c TirE" IHO~H-
TOR. P
T.,! 04T5M
°RO •• OP70'"
_"00IHG Tiff
tRN<51 TNt" DUE'Dlf'TE NO
OUE:"",~I

~)
-rES
.. _T
&.'.""""'"
"'" SEND II t:.D1f/I'l.AUJT ""'0
"HI If NE(.J.ocJ£ OA'yat.

7 o
'::r:
-<
»
~
NO
~
aInC£ •.T ••_
En
::0
oaoe- _IT" THI »
"1 •.••• 00"- ~-
5'"0 "'HI" flDl'NDf'R ,.,.•• ~ ~AU" I ••
" /......
_"'- YES
,.., r:'LI' Ttfl cftA,O
'-O•.•• EXT ~MTl ••~

Fig.I: SCHEMATIC FLOW CHART

»
tj
~
l~
5'
w
o
o
I"l

:>~Hf:f.}.4 TIC ri.o <" l--/ /1 .:~:

F~1' 5 -
 PUNCHED CARD CONTROL
in waiting any more. The order with this vendor is
to be cancelled and publication re-ordered with the
vendor next in the panel. In this case a fresh card
is to be prepared and the earlier one may be des-
troyed.
In the second case, when the date of the re-
minder sent is later than the previous sorting date,
the grace period has not yet expired, hence the card
may be replaced in the deck at its proper place.
Now let US consider the cards which have
fallen down from the sorting needle. These cards
are taken together. The sorting needle is taken and
passed through the holes of all the cards corres-
ponding to the month for which the .~C1rtingis being
done. Again, some cards which are"'punched above
that hole will fall down. This means that the due
date for the supply of those publications has not yet
arrived. The cards hanging on the needle indicate
that these publications were due for supply in the
preceeding month and the same are delayed. The
complain zone is checked for any entry therein and
if this zone is blank, a complaint to this effect
should be sent allowing the vendor a period of one
month more for supply. The date of the issue of the
complaint is noted in the complaint zone. The hole
for the respective month is punched and the card is
replaced in the deck for its next sorting.
Vol 24 No 2 June 1'117
U in the meantlme, some information from the
vendor is received about the probable date of supply.
the card is taken out from the deck and all the hole.
corresponding to the months upto and including the
said month are punched and the card replaced in
the dec k at the proper place.
There will be cases, where there is already
an entry in the Complaint Zone, the grace period for
the supply has already lapsed without any response
from the vendor. Such cards are separated and a
formal cancellation of order ia issued. The publiea-
tion is then re-ordered to the next vendor in the
panel. A fresh card is prepared and the old one is
then destroyed.
As soon as the publication is received, the
corresponding card is taken out from the deck and
kept with the publication. After the technical pro-
cessing of the publication is over, the necessary
entries in the Feedback Zone are completed and the
card is sent to the indentor for info rmation abol1t the
receipt of the publication.
It ia expected that the device explained here
would be very uaeful on account of its being economi-
cal, simple in mechanism and easy in o~ration.
A S<;HEMATIC FLOW CHART llhowing differ-
ent phases of action is also given in Cigl1re 5 (pre-
vious page).
81