See each report for more details.
NOTE: Where not already indicated, either the CMDC Steering Committee or the EIG will assign responsibility for further investigation.

Selection | Ordering | Cataloging | User Services | Archiving

Selection

1. Bibliographers should consider subscribing to electronic journals that are relevant to users' needs, with due concern for costs and benefits.

• ACTION: Subject policies need to reflect this.
• RESPONSIBILITY: Distributed among bibliographers

2. The role of the bibliographer needs to be discussed in terms of the ordering and technical access issues. Some questions are: Who should be the main contact person, when that is required? How much research should the bibliographer have to do before placing an order?

• ACTION:Still open questions.
• RESPONSIBILITY:EIG bring up with CMDC?

3. Some technical criteria must be met if access to electronic journals is to be successful in the Dartmouth environment, and Acquisitions staff or the bibliographers need to confirm these points at the time of subscription. Systems needs to be notified of a possible new journal subscription as soon as possible, if a script will be required to access the journal, because they need to determine whether it is possible to write a script. The communications link between Acquisitions and bibliographers is firmly established, but Systems staff also need to be included in the communications loop as they take on a role in e-journal acquisitions. CMDC, Acquisitions, and Information Systems should discuss ways to improve this communication.

• ACTION:Revise the document "Bibliographic Control of Computer Files"
• RESPONSIBILITY:Jim, Carol and Cecilia

4. The Collections Policies group should be asked to add an additional line to the "format section" of the Collection Development Policy. This line should ask bibliographers to refer to the document The Collection Policy Statement for Information in Electronic Format when dealing with electronic products.

• ACTION: Spelled out in rec. 4
• RESPONSIBILITY: Collections Policies Group

5. The EIG should develop a checklist of preferred contract arrangements, which should include points such as a guarantee that access to backfiles should be available after the subscription year and even after cancellation of a current subscription.

• ACTION: EIG should discuss whether or not to do this.
• RESPONSIBILITY:

Ordering

6. The Collection Policy Statement for Information in Electronic Format (December 1994) should be updated to reflect Information System's concerns regarding the purchase of electronic resources.

• ACTION: Spelled out in rec.6
• RESPONSIBILITY: EIG and CPG

7. Mechanisms for handling orders for e-journals, which reduce the need for title-by-title repetitious interaction with suppliers, should be supported. The Blackwell's EJN (Electronic Journal Navigator) is an example of a materials vendor stepping in to provide order and delivery services for e-journals. Assuming that the product delivered is acceptable and the pricing is reasonable, we generally support the use of vendors in the e- journals acquisitions process. In some cases, such as Project MUSE, we have dealt directly with publishers very successfully, but one-on-one direct subscriptions to a large number of publishers tends to be labor-intensive to a degree which our staffing level does not support. There may be some price advantages to subscribing direct, but in most cases these would be offset by the cost of staff time required to manage direct subscriptions.

• ACTION:
  • Do more testing of e-journals.
  • Have discussions with vendors and publishers
• RESPONSIBILITY: EIG, Acquisitions, others?

8. When e-journals have been referred to Systems for further investigation, Acquisitions staff should note the Order records so that bibliographers will be able to contact the appropriate Systems personnel with questions about an order's status.

• ACTION: Spelled out in rec.8
• RESPONSIBILITY: Acquisistions

9. Define the data, including the various URLs, which should appear in brief bibliographic records for items on order. Since full cataloging of e-journals does not immediately follow on the receipt of the title, records in the public catalog should be designed to include information needed by patrons to achieve access.

• ACTION:Done
• RESPONSIBILITY:Bib. Control

10. The Collection Services Group and CMDC should evaluate the need for check-in information and holdings in the Innopac system and convey their suggestions to Acquisitions.

• ACTION:
  • Define issues
  • List pros and cons
  • Look for examples at other institutions
• RESPONSIBILITY: EIG in consultation with CSG and CMDC

11. A definition of "missing issues" for electronic journals and a statement of the expectations for Acquisitions follow-up should be developed by CMDC to provide guidance for Acquisitions.

• ACTION: Spelled out in rec. 11
• RESPONSIBILITY: EIG in consultation with CMDC?

12. Notes should be kept in the INNO order records regarding changes in URL's, lapses in subscriptions, problems with publishers or vendors, and other acquisitions-related information about access problems.

• ACTION: Done
• RESPONSIBILITY: Acquisitions

13. As payment for e-journal titles is transferred from special funds to bibliographers' serial budgets, the funding of multi-subject package plans may pose problems if one or more of the bibliographers involved chooses to cancel (or no longer pay for) a title within the package. Acquisitions and CMDC will need to gain experience with this type of plan so that we can manage them effectively and fairly.

• ACTION: Continue to work with electronic journal publishers and vendors
• RESPONSIBILITY: Acquisitions, bibliographers, others?

Cataloging

14. Full cataloging will be applied to all remote electronic resources purchased for addition to the collection. National cataloging standards and practices will be applied. Include the URL for the resource within the Marc record so it is possible to select it directly from the catalog record. The catalog has been modified so that hotlinking of a URL is possible, and display formats and indexes will be modified to accommodate this new data. Separate cataloging records will be created for materials in electronic formats from those in paper formats until standards for expressing these relationships are formed within the national cataloging community. Cataloging records for remote electronic resources will be contributed to the OCLC and RLIN bibliographic databases.

• ACTION: Done

15. For collection management purposes, LC classification numbers will be applied whenever possible. Base numbers only (that portion of the number that expresses topic) will be applied.

• ACTION: Done

16. When multiple resources are purchased within one product or contract, cataloging should be done for the individual titles if access to the individual titles is desirable. If electronic serials duplicate or continue paper subscriptions, links referring users to the other format will be added to the catalog records for both the paper and electronic formats when appropriate. These links may be in the form of notes about other available formats, earlier/later title links if the title has changed, or other notes added by the cataloger. It is also important that Systems be notified as soon as possible of changes in URL's; this will mean changes to scripts, if there are any.

• ACTION: Done

17. It is difficult to assess the volume of freely available electronic resources that will be selected for addition to the collection. Whenever possible, the same standards outlined above will be applied to free materials. Staff in Bibliographic Control will work closely with selectors to assess priorities for cataloging these resources. Generally, higher priority will be given to cataloging purchased resources than to free ones, although some obvious exceptions, such as US GPO resources, exist. Some consideration will be given to anticipated stability of the URL, or, whether the resource can be expected to remain in its current form at its current location for a long period of time. The policy to provide full cataloging may need to be reviewed if the volume selected is too high. In some cases, less- than-full cataloging standards may be preferable in order to provide access quickly to a large body of material.

• ACTION: In process, many may have been cataloged on OCLC.
• RESPONSIBILITY: Bib. Control

User Services

18. Investigate the possibility of creating a browse view of the online catalog that would allow users to easily create a current list of all electronic journals that are in the Dartmouth Library Catalog.

• ACTION: Done

19. E-journal suppliers should be prompted to address the question of how a user or a library staff person will be notified that a latest volume or latest issue or latest article has been published. During the test period, some suppliers indicated an interest in supplying this service; some did not. Vendors, such as Blackwell's, who offer access to a body of e- journals, might also be prompted to consider some kind of a notification system, for example via e-mail, for their clients.

• ACTION: On-going
• RESPONSIBILITY: Distributed-Head of Collection Services, bibliographers, Acquisitions Head and staff, etc..

20. The Collection Services Group, CMDC, and the Library Online Systems Committee should evaluate the need for "current issue" information and summary holdings information in the catalog, and convey their suggestions to Acquisitions.

• ACTION: Bring up at CMDC meeting on Electronic Information
• RESPONSIBILITY: EIG

21. The library should continue to review alternate means of access to electronic journals.

• ACTION: On-going
• RESPONSIBILITY: EIG, etc.

22. Using electronic resources should be made as easy as possible. The ideal arrangement should include: No individual password requirements; Institution-wide access which will accommodate off campus students when possible; Convenience in terms of ease of access, searching and identifying journal articles, and printing of articles.

• ACTION: On-going, done during the evaluation of the product; include consideration of technical
• problems also.
• RESPONSIBILITY: Those who are negotiating contracts. EIG could draft an outline of points to consider.

23. Library staff should hold educational sessions for library staff and users, to promote awareness of electronic journals and to offer instruction on the use of electronic journals, helper applications, and other related topics. The level and type of instruction needed by staff and users should be addressed.

• ACTION: On-going
• RESPONSIBILITY: EIG/STDC/CMDC

24. Questions regarding electronic journal access should be diagnosed as much as possible, and then referred in the appropriate way. Staff should follow the guidelines in Appendix E, "Problem Resolution for Electronic Journals" for guidance.

• ACTION: The document has undergone many changes, but something needs to be available to staff.
• RESPONSIBILITY: STDC will distribute this.

Archiving

25. A variety of scenarios for archiving are developing, including publisher archives, consortial archives, and library-specific archives. As there is probably no single solution for this concern, we should explore and evaluate different services for cost, ease of access, restrictions, and other concerns.

• ACTION: On-going
• RESPONSIBILITY: EIG/CMDC

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Last updated December 10, 1997 by: CMDC@Dartmouth.Edu (jdh)