-----Original Message-----
From: Violet Bowman [mailto:[log in to unmask]]
Sent: Wednesday, October 16, 2002 6:06 AM
To: [log in to unmask]
Subject: E-Journal Management in Academic Libraries
Apologies for cross-posting.
I am carrying out Research in order to complete an MA in Information
Services Management.
I would be very grateful if you could take a few minutes to fill in the
questionnaire below, which contains ten questions. Most of these
questions only require you to place a cross in the appropriate box.
All information provided will be treated as confidential.
Please send a request to [log in to unmask] if you would prefer to
view this questionnairte as an attachment.
The Mangement of Electronic Journals in Academic Libraries
Please place a cross in the appropriate box. More than one option can be
selected for question one.
1. Who deals with the followimng aspects of electronic journal
management in your library?
E-Journals Periodicals Subject Web Cataloguer Other:(Please
Librarian Librarian Librarian Master specify)
Liaison with
faculties [ ] [x ] [ ] [ ] [ ] [ ]
Evaluation [ ] [x ] [ ] [ ] [ ] [ ]
Selection [ ] [x ] [ ] [ ] [ ] [x ]Director
Liason with [ ] [x ] [ ] [ ] [ ] [ ]Director
signs licenses; I (periodicals librarian)
read and take care of them
agents/publishers
Registration [ ] [x ] [ ] [ ] [ ] [ ]
Cataloguing [ ] [x ] [ ] [ ] [ ] [ ]
Web page
maintenance [ ] [ ] [ ] [ ] [ ] [x ]Director does
the systems and web page stuff
Resolving [ ] [ ] [ ] [ ] [ ] [x ]
access queries
Promotion [ ] [x ] [ ] [ ] [ ] [ ]
User training[ ] [ ] [x ] [ ] [ ] [x ]Reference
librarian and Director make web-based tutorials
2. Are these e-journal duties specifically mentioned in their job
descriptions?
Yes [ ] No [x ] In some cases [ ] Unknown [ ]
3. Does your library have a written acquisitions policy for e-journals?
Yes [ ] No [x ]
4. What impact has the introduction of e-journals had on the management
of printed journals/serials in your library?
The e-journals have been another thing for us to take care of. We
have not dropped any paid subs for print
in favor of electronic but we have allocated resources now for Serials
Solutions, because we spent a few
years trying to keep up with the constant changes ourselves, manually, then
with student help. We are hoping this
will help us keep on top of them better.
When we get a journal request from a faculty member, we always ask
if they want print, electronic, or both.
In many cases our students are more enthusiastic about electronic
resources than our faculty have been.
We subscribe to about six news-type periodicals (Time, Newsweek,
Nation, Aviation Week and Space Technology, U. S. News and World Report,
ENR) in print that we used to replace with microfiche after a year to save
space. We are not getting the microfiche anymore but relying on the news
periodicals in our aggregated databases.
A faculty member has expressed an interest in JSTOR so we are
studying it, esp. since we have little space here to expand.
5. Approximately how many e-journals does your library provide access
to? (This figure should include any free, full text e-journals that
are listed on your web pages or catalogue). About 80, not counting those in
the aggregators. These are ones we get free with a print subscription,
mostly.
6. Approximately how many printed journals/serials does your library
provide access to? (This figure should include both current and
non-current titles). 1,200 altogether, with about 350 current ones.
7. Does your library intend to replace existing print subscriptions with
online only subscriptions?
Yes [ ] No [ ] For some titles [x ] For most titles [ ] We don't
add print issues of Federal Reserve Bank titles--we use only the online now
Undecided [ ]
8. Do you think that a post should be created in your library for the
management of e-journals?
Yes [ ] No [x ]
9. Please elaborate: I think I can handle things as they are, with the
support of my boss. There is more I need to know, such as HTML, which would
relieve him, but I am managing the print side, including claiming and
binding, and here, I do reference work too, so really, I don't have enough
time, though I like it. Here we have a director who really works hard,
doing reference and systems work as well has his administrative stuff,
committees, etc. There is only one other librarian here besides myself, and
we have two paraprofessionals who handle circulation and supervising the
student employees, and interlibrary loan and copy cataloging. We haven't
had a cataloger for three years so we use a "team" approach and it seems
unlikely we will be getting one since we are handling it ok. We are working
on that though, so if we ever get a new librarian here, it for sure would be
a cataloger, not an e-journal manager. That's how it is on this
campus--everybody works hard here, not just our department.
10. Additional comments on e-journal management: It would be a help if
publishers/vendors offered an online-only option. Our vendor is biased in
favor of print with free online, but if publishers ever hope to reduce their
overhead, they should commit to one format or the other, rather than both.
I know they are in a tough spot because as librarians we worry about the
archiving issues, and they want to continue to provide what we want. But
really, we could all save $ this way, I think.
Optional:
Name: Karen Bolton Telephone number:
Job Title: Serials Librarian Email Address: [log in to unmask]
Please mark with a cross if you are willing to take part in a short
telephone interview [ ]
Thank you for taking the time to complete this questionnaire.
All information provided will be treated as confidential.
Please return your completed questionnaires to:
Violet Bowman, Email: [log in to unmask]
St George's Hospital Medical School Library, Cranmer Terrace, Tooting,
London, SW17 0RE.
--
This message has been scanned for viruses and
dangerous content by MailScanner, and is
believed to be clean.
|
