Simplicity in design and use was the guiding principle for the project, and the article outlines the background, development and outcome. The clearest explanation for a serial's increase in price is the growth in its number of pages. The contribution of this paper to the literature is methodological as well as empirical. The regular publication of indexes of serial pages, serial real prices, and serial real prices per page would lead to a better understanding of serial price evolution. The author discusses the struggle of Pakistani libraries to provide scholars in Pakistan access to serial literature.
Acquisitions librarians encounter problems in several areas.
These include budgetary limitations, foreign exchange restrictions, the uncertain position of the Pakistani rupee, the bureaucracy of government finance, difficulties in customs clearance, and an inefficient postal system. Subscriptions through local agents are very popular, but these are being replaced by purchases through foreign agents. While libraries receive a fair number of publications as gifts, exchanges are not employed due to the paucity of indigenous publications. The author recommends the import of journals through foreign agents and suggests a joint acquisition programme among libraries of similar type. This article is an abridged translation of the user manual for the CD-ROM version of the ZDB, one of the major union catalogues of serials in Western Europe.