Principles

Electronic journals selected and acquired, licensed, or provided free over the Internet for the UCR community will be reflected in and accessible through SCOTTY, even if access is also available through the CDL, INFOMINE, or other websites.

Policies and Decision-making

The "Collection Development Policy for Purchased or Leased Electronic Resources" (see attached) is the prevailing policy to be followed when considering the purchase of an electronic journal. Limitations to access, such as the number of simultaneous users, password requirements, maintenance issues, etc., are factors to be considered in the decision. The library's ownership versus leasing of the journal data and ongoing availability of archival files in the event of a cancellation are also important considerations.

Procedures

New electronic journal subscriptions must be handled through the processing stream below so that accurate information may be communicated through SCOTTY and forwarded to Melvyl, CDL, and INFOMINE. Specific procedures are listed below.

Collection Development Department

A Selector completes the "Worksheet for the Purchase or Acquisition of Electronic Resources" form and attaches the "Checklist for Processing Electronic Journal Subscriptions" (see attached) to initiate a subscription to an electronic journal, whether free or fee, and submits it to the Bibliographer. The Bibliographer and the Head of Collection Development approve the request, and forward it to the Head of Acquisitions, who will review and sign the license agreement. If the electronic subscription is not approved, Acquisitions should be notified so that SRU staff can add a note to the order record for the print edition if we have it, indicating decision, reason, date and name concerning the electronic journal.

Acquisitions Department

Staff in the Serials Receiving Unit (if print already held) or the Searching and Ordering Unit (if new paid electronic subscription only) process the electronic journal subscription as a new subscription. See the attached code list for bibliographic, order, and check-in records. If the e-journal is an addition to the print version of the journal, SRU staff will add a check-in record for the e-journal and an order record. The URL will only be listed in the 856 field of the bib. record, and not in the order or check-in records. The bibliographic and order record numbers will be recorded on the checklist and forwarded to the cataloging department.

Cataloging Department

Because of the specific requirements for cataloging e-journals (856 and other note fields), all e-journal subscriptions will be forwarded to Cataloging for record editing. Catalogers will follow current recommendations of the UC System Electronic Resources Cataloging Task Force, including the use of one bibliographic record for both print and electronic formats of the journal in most cases, even if only one of the formats is owned by the library. See the attached " UCR Electronic Resources Cataloging Guidelines."

INFOMINE

The cataloger completing the checklist will forward a copy to the staff member in charge of INFOMINE.

Maintenance of Records

As staff or patrons encounter problems with electronic journals accessed through SCOTTY, they should be communicated to the SRU unit of Acquisitions. SRU staff will handle problems as they currently do for print publications, forwarding requests for title changes, etc. to Cataloging staff as needed.

Each year, a list will be run of all e-journal records (whether by presence of 856 field, location code, or form code). These records will then be run against link checking software to look for errors in URLs by Systems staff. The report will then be manually reviewed and Innopac records will be manually corrected when URL changes occur. All e-journals will also have to be manually reviewed to check for cessation, change in coverage, etc. Some changes in e-journals may require review by bibliographers. Depending on the number of e-journals, SRU staff may need assistance checking the e-journal sites for content changes. Selectors may be able to assist with this task for their own subject areas.

Passwords/Restricted Access

If we are paying for the e-journal and/or there are restrictions on accessing it, these restrictions will be noted in the records as follows: Subfield z in the 856 field in the bibliographic record--general note saying "Contact reference staff for access"; restriction noted in the check-in record; login and password recorded in the order record. Communication with Systems staff will be needed for managing simultaneous user limitations.

Prepared by Stefanie Wittenbach 12/1/98

©2007 UCR Libraries, All Rights Reserved. Privacy Statement   Suggestions/Comments