Charlotte,

IMO the best way to offer access is to put the 856 field in your OPAC journal bib record.  This not only shows you have online access to the print journal, it also gives the patron an immediate link to the online.

You can also create an A-Z list on your library's web site, each journal still requires it's separate link.

By login do you mean signing in with a user name & password at the journal's website?  If, after you've set up your account, the publisher requires this entry there's nothing you can do to get around the requirement.  You could ask patrons to request these at your Ref or Circ desk.

Hope this helps!

Carol

Carol S. Feustel
University of Cincinnati Libraries                       phone: 513-558-0179
Donald C. Harrison Health Sciences Library
Journals Specialist
MSB R005B / PO Box 670574
231 Albert Sabin Way
Cincinnati, OH 45267-0574

-----Original Message-----
From: SERIALST: Serials in Libraries Discussion Forum [mailto:SERIALST@LIST.UVM.EDU] On Behalf Of Charlotte Gerstein
Sent: Tuesday, October 28, 2008 12:24 PM
To: SERIALST@LIST.UVM.EDU
Subject: [SERIALST] managing online access to periodicals subscribed to in print

Greetings, SERIALST list folks,

I am a reference/instruction librarian and new to the list, so pardon me if this question reveals any ignorance about serials management issues, but I have a question I'm confident I can get help with here.

We are wondering if there is a simple or streamlined way to offer our users access to the online versions of periodicals we subscribe to in print.   These would be periodicals not included in any of our full-text databases, but to which our print subscription comes with electronic access.  Is there any way around creating a separate login for each journal?  What is the simplest way to offer access to our users?

Thank you very much for any help with this question!

Charlotte Gerstein
Reference & Instruction Librarian
Calvin Coolidge Library
Castleton State College
Castleton, VT  05735
charlotte.gerstein@castleton.edu
(802) 468-6409