Definition:

A periodical is defined as "a publication issued in successive parts usually at regular intervals and as a rule intended to be continued indefinitely" by A.L.A. Glossary of Library Terms. On the other hand, Ranganathan defines a periodical publication as a Conventional Document of Kind 1 with the following attributes: 

• A volume, or a small group of volumes of it, is intended to be published or completed  normally once  in a year (or at other regular intervals), though irregularity in interval is not ruled out. 
• Each successive volume, or periodical group  of volumes, is usually distinguished by the year of publication and/or by a number belonging to system of simple or complex ordinal number. Such a number is usually called the Volume Number. 
• The intention may be to  continue the publication  of the volumes for ever, though not actually be carried out, 
• The intention may be to continue the same title in all the volumes, though this may not actually be carried out. 

On the other hand, ISO Standard 3297 defines a serial as "a publication in printed form or not issued in successive parts usually having numerical or chronological designations and intended to be continued indefinitely" Thus, the term serial encompasses an extremely wide range of material including journals / periodicals, newsletters, newspapers, technical and research re-ports, yearbooks and annuals, and national and international government publications. 

In modem times, it is necessary for the collection manager or librarian to be prepared to deal with periodical / serial literature published in a variety' of physical formats in addition to the traditional print on paper.  For example, microfilm and microfiche have, for many  years, been popular serial formats. An important development in recent years is the increasing number of periodicals / serials  available in electronic formats, either as full text on-line databases or  on CD-ROM. CD-ROM is a particularly useful  format  for  indexing  and abstracting services, and the number of indexing and abstracting  journals on  CD-ROM is increasing.  Core titles  such as Biological abstracts, Index  medics,  Science Citation Index,  ERIC databases are widely avail-able, sometimes from several different publishes. 

Whatever may  be the format, the activities of the Periodicals  Department include those pertaining to selection, ordering and receipt of periodicals / serials.  To be efficient and effective, the Periodicals Department has to function in  close cooperation  with other departments,  especially the Reference and Documentation departments which are directly concerned with the