Re: Cataloging E-journals

[wrynnp01@library.med.nyu.edu (Paul Wrynn)]

Chuck Hamaker wrote:
>I'm interested in when and why or if folks do or do not catalog (ie. in
>their OPAC's) e-Journals. And how and what they link to, what content they
>note.

The Ehrman Medical Library, NYU School of Medicine,  will catalog an
e-journal providing:

1-fulltext is available for at least the current year's issues

2-the library is guaranteed access to the e-journal for at least one year

In addition to individual e-journals, we also catalog separate titles from
within collections.  The OVID e-journals are particular useful because of
their Jumpstart url's that bring users directly to the content for
particular titles within their collections.  This is also true of
ProQuest.

We use the bibliographic records for the print counterpart (in those cases
where we own the print) in order to allow one-stop shopping for our
patrons.  In addition to a hot link for the journal, we also include a
separate holdings line.

We will include more than one hotlink in cases where we have access from
more than one vendor (such as Lancet directly from the publisher and
Lancet via OVID).  There are frequently major differences in coverage,
both in currency and backfiles, from different vendors.

Access restrictions and system requirements are also added to the catalog
record as notes.

E-journals listed on the library's homepage are more inclusive, because
they may also include free trials, or titles that only offer tables of
contents and/or abstracts from their print versions.  As more and more
e-journals become stable, fulltext subscriptions, the need to update our
homepage listings may decline.

Paul Wrynn
Collection Development Librarian