Re: Order records for e-journals Lila Ohler 11 May 2009 15:50 UTC
We do not track individual titles that are part of aggregated database bundles, but only our title by title subscriptions/memberships/packages in our acquisitions module. In other words, the acquisitions module should be used to track subscription payments in relation to the library's budget, not as a de facto cataloging module. This has been the case in every library, large and small, in which I have worked. Here at UMD we rely on the details from SFX to answer questions about whether a title is, or was, part of an aggregated journal database. Unfortunately, the titles in aggregators are simply too numerous, and in many cases change far too frequently and without warning, to sustain keeping individual order records on a title by title basis. This is why the link resolver is so important, as it does that work for us. When paired with a marc record service (which I sincerely hope we will also have very soon!), the problem of the disconnect between the titles in the link resolver profile and the representation of those titles in the public catalog is also solved. I'm a big believer in not creating more manual work for ourselves than is necessary, and instead letting the tools we employ do the work for us, and increasingly this means a suite of different tools other than the traditional ILS! Lila (Angie) Ohler Head of Acquisitions McKeldin Library University of Maryland College Park, MD 20742 301 405-9308 (phone) 301 314-1200 (fax) lohler@umd.edu -----Original Message----- From: SERIALST: Serials in Libraries Discussion Forum [mailto:SERIALST@list.uvm.edu] On Behalf Of Glasson, Patricia A Sent: Monday, May 11, 2009 9:49 AM To: SERIALST@LIST.UVM.EDU Subject: [SERIALST] Order records for e-journals Hello, We're wondering how other libraries handle large e-journal packages such as JSTOR in their acquisitions module. It has been the policy here to create an order record for every title in each package. This is done so that acquisitions staff can determine the source of each e-journal and see a list of titles included in each package. We use SFX and are implementing MARCit!, Ex Libris' MARC record service for e-journals. The new workflow makes it difficult to get an order record on every e-journal title, and our systems administrator thinks questions about order source and package content can be determined using SFX. But our acquisitions staff want to be able to see that information within the acquisitions module and are not comfortable with the idea of abandoning order records for every e-journal title. Any advice, suggestions, cautions, etc., on the pros and cons of order records for e-journals would be much appreciated. Thanks! Patty Glasson Serials Cataloging Specialist Purdue University 765-494-2811