Managing Electronic Journals

1. Managing Electronic Journals APLA 2001 Louise White louisew@mun.ca Sponsored by RoweCom Canada

2. Characteristics • Key characteristic of ejournals is convenience • Convenient to access, search, and read • Nothing about the management process should compromise convenience

3. Characteristics • Another characteristic is that they mutate • Management solutions that work today might not work tomorrow • Managers must stay light on their feet

4. Upside for Managers • Don’t have to claim them • Don’t have to bind them • Don’t have to shelve them • They don’t take up space

5. Downside for Managers • They require support technology • Workstations, printers, servers, networks • They require support staff • Manage licenses, passwords, IP ranges, user education

6. Ejournal Selection • Three possibilities • Single title • Publisher’s full list • Aggregator collections

7. Single Titles • Get what you are paying for • Check the publisher site or ask your vendor • Jake.med.yale.edu

8. Publisher’s List • Regain access to cancelled journals • Increase titles available to users • Indicate demand for titles not previously held – OhioLINK • Pricing structures - Elsevier

9. Ejournal Aggregators • Provide access to ejournals from multiple publishers • Easy way to add titles • Provide durable URLs • W.H. Wilson, InfoQuest, Ebsco Online, Ingenta

10. Variations on a Theme • Coverage can vary • Current year • 5 years less current issue/volume • All less latest 3 years • Selected full text or feature article • Decide what you want to “collect”

11. Licensing • Publisher will provide a license • If you don’t like it, suggest an alternative • CNSLP (Great Canadian) Model License, in whole or in part

12. CNSLP Model License - Users • Clause 1.1 Defines “Authorized Users” as those “permitted to access the Secure Network” • Allows no restriction by geographic location • Requires a library or institution to authenticate users

13. CNSLP Model License - Access • Clause 12.4 states that the Members will retain access to the licensed material provided during the term of the contract. • Alternately, some contracts may provide access only during the term of the contract. • Be sure you understand the difference before you enter into a contract.

14. CNSLP Model License - ILL • Clause 4.1 Members, subject to clause 6 below, may supply to a library of a non-Member (whether by post, fax or secure transmission, using Ariel or its equivalent, whereby the electronic file is deleted immediately after printing), for the purpose of research or private study and not for Commercial use, a single paper copy of an electronic original of an individual document being part of the Licensed material.

15. CNSLP Model License – Usage Data • Clause 8.3 “The publisher shall collect and compile Usage Data.” • Clause 8.4 states that the Publisher shall disclose such data provided the disclosure protects the anonymity of the user. • ICOLC Guidelines for Statistical Measures of Usage.

16. Purchase Options • Purchase for a single library system OR take the consortial route • Consortial arrangements • Advantages: price reduction, allows smaller libraries to gain access • Disadvantages: loss of control over selection, coordination required, access may be limited

17. Vendors and Ejournals • Ejournal management is interesting, except when it’s irritating • Publisher see opportunity to save by avoiding vendor fees • Look for vendor services like notification of electronic availability , license and subscription management

18. Ejournals in the Catalogue • Provide an easy-to-find, easy-to-use search feature • Consider the definition of ejournal • Cluster “availability” information • Single record for all formats

23. Password required • Anytime a password is required a hurdle has been created • Passwords must be distributed but only to authorized users • Give them grief

26. Explanatory Notes- Good • Vol. 11 (1993)- available online: http… • Most volumes, except latest 3 years, available: http… • Online access restricted to MUN users.

27. Explanatory Notes- Bad • Available Online • Recent issues are available to Mun users via the World Wide Web

28. IP Management • Start with as comprehensive a list as possible • Inform supplier of new ranges • Discourage assignment of IPs within primary range to non-authorized users

29. Remote Access • Issue is user authentication • Proxy servers, Ezproxy, patron database • My University • User education

30. Trials – A Caution • Provide access for products under consideration for purchase only • List them separately • Be clear about temporary nature of access • Expect expectation

31. Linking from an Index • Informing database or E-index providers off licensed titles • Easy to do for large packages • More time consuming for single titles • ISSNs and multiple format records

32. Crossref • Standardized linking systems based on DOI (Digital Object Identifier) • Publicly available article identifiers embedded as URLs into articles or citations • Browsers contact CrossRef to locate Web site for article

33. SFX • Standardized linking system being developed as alternative to DOI

34. Creating a Web Page • Use the catalogue record as the foundation • Aim for a low maintenance, disposable, list • Link directly to the journal or publisher site

37. Other uses for a Web Page • Great way to spot variations on messages • Use it in an awareness campaign for library services

38. Promoting Use • No sense going through all this trouble and not telling anyone what is available • Use distribution modes which already exist – papers, listservs • Keep it short • Remember – no strategy lasts forever

40. You Have A Virtual Library. Really. http://www.mun.ca/library

41. MUN front page

42. Future Issues • Archiving – print and electronic • How many libraries • Which libraries/publishers • Cost control • Changes in publishing industry