ON May 19th Shirley Ainsworth [mailto:[log in to unmask]] wrote:Re: SFX
"if an article is available from 4 or 5 different sources, which
is often the case, and this should be represented in the national database,
this is also extremely frustrating for the users- how are they to know which
one(s) is the right one for them?"
...
"While the idea of a national database sounds wonderful, I reckon that at
some point in the chain we need information about each institution's
subscriptions, so the results can filtered through that."
Response from
Chuck Hamaker
I think most libraries (large academics are a small minority in the
overall scheme of numbers of libraries) may never be able to support
localized implementations though they need them as much if not more than
large acacdemics. Smaller libraries need to be even more efficient than
large ones in use of their e-resources and ultimately in linking them.
I believe open url resolution is going to become as obvious a necessity for
navigating through and across databases as online catalogs were for
libraries in the 80's.
For libraries in consortial systems with shared electronic resources it
should be fairly simple to implement open url linking for all the
consortial "same resource" databases. I.e. provide cross database sourcing
with open url compliant databases. I think that's how Colorado's GoldRush
system began.
The "unique" resources might take a bit more effort, but for many libraries,
this could be a relatively small number of titles or databases. More than
half the e-titles I have rights to are from central consortia, ie. I share
those rights with probably several hundred libraries. -public, academic,
etc.
With some resolver systems --the local library doesn't need its own server,
nor its own personnel to set up and maintain. I think this suggests that
doing it for one or doing it for hundreds or thousands might be less
burdensome than it sounds --especially if there are significant shared or
same resources held by participants. No resolver is a hundred percent
anyway.
How many libraries have Proquest and Ebscohost, or IAC or some combination.
Should each library that does haveto configure, pay for, maintain a local
resolver system for users to cross seamlessly across these resources to
identify and retrieve full text? Why?
For the "individual" unique stuff,perhaps we need local resolver
configurations-though given products coming on the market right now, I'm not
even sure about that.
If a country or group of institutions have the same rights to multiple full
text resources, then centralized resolver systems make sense. The easier we
make it for people to find the stuff, the more likely we are to retain
funding and increase usabilty.
Chuck
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