[WEB4LIB] Re: Ejournals and subjects - and browsing

[Larry Campbell]

Thanks for the reponse, Tim, and you make a number of good points, 
certainly. Regarding subject lists, though, I'd ask these questions: do 
we know how many people, engaged in so-called "information seeking 
behavior", are not seeking any particular known item and also not really 
looking for particular key words, but really would just like to see 
what's available lately in a broad academic topic or discipline -- in 
other words, are browsing or would like to browse? And how important is 
that kind of serendipitous curiosity, or just desire to "keep up", for 
students, researchers and scholars generally? And, if it's at all 
important, how do we provide adequate compensation, in our presentation 
of eresources as a whole, for the loss of a physical environment which 
typically afforded such opportunities for print resources?

Just throwing these questions out. Your point about the possiblities for 
being led astray by subject lists of titles is well taken.

Larry Campbell
Librarian, Information Technology Services
UBC Library
Email: larry.campbell at ubc.ca
Telephone: (604) 822-2076


Tim Bucknall BUCKNALL wrote:
> We have a homegrown link resolver and knowledge base at the University of 
> North Carolina at Greensboro. In it, we created subject divisions that 
> correspond to the academic departments on our campus. We also added a few 
> subjects for which UNCG does not offer degrees - Medicine, Engineering, 
> General, Trade Publications - because there were so many journals in those 
> areas.
> 
> This method of organizing is obviously great for accreditation purposes 
> because it makes it so easy to see which journals we have for each 
> department. On the other hand, having such broad subject areas means that 
> some of the lists have grown to the point that they are somewhat unwieldy. 
> We could make the lists shorter by creating more specific subject headings 
> or sub-headings within each department, but my experience at the Reference 
> Desk and some usability testing of Journal Finder lead me to believe that 
> would be a mistake. Here's why-
> 
> It is extremely rare that patrons really want a list of journals relating 
> to a particular topic. When patrons want journal literature on a certain 
> subject, at least 90% of the time they really ought to be looking in 
> article indexes, not in a subject listing of journal titles. For example, 
> a patron wanting journal literature on "cancer treatment" should be 
> looking in Medline, not in a list of journal titles that list that as a 
> subject heading.
> 
> When you make a prominent "subject" link in your list of journal titles 
> and when you make those subjects fairly specific and searchable, then my 
> usage data and usabilty testing shows that it hurts more folks than it 
> helps. In other words, you get LOTS of folks innappropriately searching 
> your journal title subjects for "cancer treatment" or "Maya Angelou" or 
> "IBM and product innovation" some other article topic and, of course, 
> getting no results.
> 
> So, in Journal Finder we relegate the subject listing to the "Advanced 
> Search" page. Few people use it, but few people are misled by what it 
> does.
> 
> You can take a look by clicking on the "Advanced Search" link from
> http://journalfinder.uncg.edu/uncg
> 
> 
> 
> 
> Larry Campbell <larry.campbell at ubc.ca> 
> Sent by: web4lib at webjunction.org
> 11/29/2004 05:26 PM
> Please respond to
> larry.campbell at ubc.ca
> 
> 
> To
> Multiple recipients of list <web4lib at webjunction.org>
> cc
> 
> Subject
> [WEB4LIB] Ejournals and subjects
> 
> 
> 
> 
> 
> 
> 
> Hi all.
> 
> I'm interested in the subject-, topic-, or discipline-based 
> categorization of ejournal titles, and hoping to get some information 
> about practices at different libraries. I'd appreciate any details re:
> - do you provide such subject access for ejournal titles at all?
> - if so, what is the basis for determining the subject categories:
>    -- LC or Dewey classification?
>    -- LC, Me or other Subject Headings?
>    -- Academic disciplines (how defined?)?
>    -- Other (what?)?
> 
> Thanks for any help at all -- reply to me personally, and I'd be happy 
> to summarize for the list if anyone is interested.
> 
> Larry Campbell
> Librarian, Information Technology Services
> UBC Library
> Email: larry.campbell at ubc.ca
> Telephone: (604) 822-2076
> 
> 
> 
> 
> 
> 
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