LexisNexis responds to request for direct linking...

[David Wuolu]

I sent in my note to Diane Smith, Sr. Director of Editorial Products
at LexisNexis and received a response.  The response is below, and
after that is the original letter I sent to her.  Thank you to all of
you who let me put your name on the letter.  I have to believe it
carried more weight than a single voice.  If you didn't get a chance
to be listed, you can reach her at diane.smith at lexisnexis.com and give
her additional input.

--Dave

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Dear Mr. Wuolu,
 
Thank you for your note. Rest assured that this is a very high
priority within the academic group of LexisNexis and we are working on
developing the capabilities that you request. Unfortunately, as is the
case within many large operations, it takes time to both fund and
implement such changes to a system. We are very aware that user
expectations are everchanging and that we need to respond to these
issues.
 
Sincerely,
Diane H. Smith
Sr. Director, Editorial Products
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-----Original Message-----
From: Wuolu, Dave [mailto:DWUOLU at CSBSJU.EDU]
Sent: Wednesday, April 13, 2005 3:43 PM
To: diane.smith at lexisnexis.com
Cc: scott.eller at lexisnexis.com; pam.rebarcak at lexisnexis.com
Subject: LexisNexis support for direct linking to full-text articles


Dear Ms. Smith, 

David Wuolu was informed by Scott Eller at the recent ACRL conference
that you might be the person to whom this request should be directed. 
If this is not correct, please forward them to the appropriate person
in LexisNexis management.

As librarians who use Academic Universe and other Lexis-Nexis products
on a regular basis, we find the lack of support for direct linking to
articles increasingly bothersome.  Libraries are spending a great deal
of money on this product, and it lacks what has become a standard
element of interworkability, namely, the ability to directly link to
its full text content from a link resolver based upon OpenURL.

Please develop the necessary software to support direct linking at the
article level for Academic Universe and other LexisNexis products.

Sincerely, 

David Wuolu, College of St. Benedict/St. John's University 
Barbara Schaffer, SUNY Oswego 
Bonnie Hines, Louisiana State University at Alexandria 
Alice Harrison Bahr, Ph.D., Salisbury University 
Theresa Borchart, Concordia College 
Martha Rice Sanders, Providence College 
Michelle Twait, Gustavus Adolphus College 
Bob Glass, Piedmont College 
Carole M. Myles, Assumption College 
Debra Andreadis, Denison University 
Margaret Cardwell, Christian Brothers University 
Karin Wikoff, Ithaca College 
Robin Ewing, St. Cloud State University 
Julie C. Blake, St. Cloud State University 
Celia Rabinowitz, St. Mary's College of Maryland 
Martha J. Kruy, Southern Connecticut State University 
Christopher J. White, Sage College 
David Atkins, University of Tennessee 
Jonathan David Makepeace, University of Windsor 
Gail Herrera, University of Mississippi 
Rebecca Hedreen, Southern Connecticut State University 
Megan Fox, Simmons College 
Michelle Boule, University of Houston 
Wally Grotophorst, George Mason University 
James Campbell, University of Virginia 
Edward J. McDermott, Clark University 
Emily Jackson Sanborn, Duke University 
Stew MacLehose, University of New England 
John Hubbard, University of Wisconsin-Milwaukee 
Hui Hua Chua, Michigan State University 
Ken Varnum, Tufts University 
Christine Ryan, University of Tennessee at Chattanooga 
Richard Stringer-Hye, Vanderbilt University 
Rob Weidman, Lehigh University 
Davida Scharf, New Jersey Institute of Technology 
Stephanie Nicely Aken, University of Kentucky 
Jamie Redwine, Hollins University 
Jody Condit Fagan, James Madison University 
Rosie Croft, Royal Roads University Library 
Dave Wiseman, Roanoke College 
Megan Adams, Swarthmore College 
Roland Samieske, City University of New York (CUNY) 
Bonnie Nelson, John Jay College of Criminal Justice, CUNY 
LeAnn Lindquist Dean, University of Minnesota, Morris 
Ken Irwin, Wittenberg University 
Jackie AlSaffar, Buena Vista University 
Margaret Strongohr, Buena Vista University 
Jodie Morin, Buena Vista University 
Jacque Dessino, Tidewater Community College 
Judy Meirose, Florida Coastal School of Law 
Steve Barber, University of Warwick Library 
Francis Chan, Lingnan University 
Kevin Leung, Chinese University of Hong Kong 
Kit Lee, City University of Hong Kong 
Janny Lai, University of Hong Kong 
Laurance Mitlin, Winthrop University 
Martha Smith, Florida Coastal School of Law 
Barbara Gibson, Ph.D., Thomas Nelson Community College 
Robert Vander Hart, University of Massachusetts Medical School 
Janice S. Lewis, East Carolina University 
Karen Johnson, University of San Francisco