electronic journal lists: summary of responses

[Elizabeth Felt]

In December, I asked list members if you have decided yes or no to creating 
a web page listing all of your electronic journals.  If yes, I also asked 
the following questions:

--Who is responsible for adding/deleting/checking the links?
--How much time does it involve?
--How is the list arranged? Title? Subject? Both?

Thanks to everyone who responded. Below is my summary of the information I
received.

TYPES OF LISTS:

One library stated that they decided not to create such a list, but instead 
link to the IPL's impressive list of free electronic journals. (See URL below)

Several libraries have created lists of the electronic journals that they 
are paying for, but do not include free periodicals. One librarian pointed 
out that they catalog both types of electronic journals, but they were using 
the "list" as a way of highlighting the journals to which they pay 
subscription fees.  

Eastern Washington University Library lists all of the journals available 
full text through electronic databases (ProQuest and IDEAL), with a link to 
the database.

Texas A&M-Commerce Library mentioned that they have a list of all of their 
print journals, which includes a mention of the electronic databases where 
they are indexed.

Several libraries have created lists which include both free and 
subscription electronic journals. One librarian noted that with a list, you 
can incorporate specific messages about the journals.  

Several libraries include journals on their list to which only the table of 
contents, citations and/or abstracts are available (but not the full
text).

WHO IS RESPONSIBLE AND TIME INVOLVED

Although not everyone answered this question specifically, it seemed as 
though librarians were the ones doing most of the work. One library, with an 
extensive list, has three cataloging staff members update the  pages as a
minor part of their regular workload. 

Only one library stated that they use software to check the links, although 
more libraries may be doing this. The software used is Linkbot 
(http://tetranetsoftware.com/linkbot-info.htm); that library is
also currently  evaluating Tierra Highlights 
(http://www.tierra.com/products2/highlights2.html) which does live 
monitoring of page changes. 

Several librarians noted that the licensed electronic journals seem fairly 
stable; however, the free journals were extremely unstable.

Because the types of lists were so disparate, it is hard to summarize the 
time involved in upkeep. Most respondants stated that they did not spend as 
much time as they "should" keeping the page updated.

Bill Thayer stated that any electronic list past about 100 items is a major 
headache.

HOW IS THE LIST ARRANGED?

Most lists seemed to be organized only by title. There were a few that 
included subject and publisher, in addition to title. The Free University 
Berlin Medical Library lists links to publisher pages as well as links to 
specific titles. The NRCC's Virtual Library uses an MS-Access database which 
makes updates, deletions and additions simpler, because one change updates 
all lists.

URLS

Internet Public Library List of Free Serials
http://www.ipl.org/reading/serials/

Industrial Engineering and Management Library, Technion--Israel Institute of 
Technology
http://iew3.technion.ac.il:8080/Lib

Texam A&M University-Commerce James Gee Library
 http://multimedia.tamu-commerce.edu/library

Free University Berlin Medical Library
http://www.medizin.fu-berlin/medbib/ezschr.html

Eastern Washington University Library
http://www.library.ewu.edu/gateway/ejournals.html

University of North Carolina at Greensboro Jackson Library 
http://www.uncg.edu/lib/

Thanks again to everyone who responded!

Elizabeth
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Elizabeth Caulfield Felt
Reference Librarian
Washington State University 
Holland Library
Pullman, WA 99164-5610
509-335-8957          felt at wsu.edu
http://www.wsulibs.wsu.edu/faculty/felthp.htm
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