Re: Difference between database and electronic serial Mitch Turitz 03 Oct 2008 17:58 UTC

Angelica:

IMHO (In My Humble Opinion) AN electronic journal is one title,
reproduced in electronic format, essentially duplicating the original
with everything including ads, cover, back, the order of the articles,
etc.  A DATABASE is a collection of ARTICLES and/or complete
periodicals of which you can search all articles/journals for a
particular subject, keyword, author, etc. across multiple journals,
newspapers, etc. simultaneously.  An electronic journal can only be
searched across its volumes and issues, or the complete run, but not
in conjunction with a simultaneously search across other electronic
journals, normally.  So you use the database to search many sources
for your subject matter, and you use a single electronic journal to
search only one source for the information you want.

Thus, IMHO, you can charge a single electronic journal to your serials
budget, but a database to your "electronics" budget. However that is
an individual decision and also depends on how your administration
wants to look at your annual statistics, e.g., "give me the sum of all
the money you spent on electronic resources" would mean to add the
electronic serials into the electronic resources budget.  So ask your
boss how the administration wants your budget submitted at the end of
the fiscal year.

Just my $0.02

-- Mitch Turitz

On Oct 1, 2008, at 8:00 PM, SERIALST automatic digest system wrote:

>
> Date:    Wed, 1 Oct 2008 09:50:54 -0400
> From:    Angelica Freitas <afreitas@SLC.EDU>
> Subject: Difference between database and electronic serial
>
> Hello Serials people!!!
>
> I have a question!

> <snip>

> I am a bit confused by all of this and I would like to know if
> anyone out there knows the difference
> between a database and electronic journal???
>
> Sorry if I sound confusing
>
> Angelica Freitas
> Serials Administrator
> Sarah Lawrence College Library
> One Meadway
> Bronxville, NY
> 10708
> TEL: 914-395-2477
> FAX: 914-395-2473
> EMAIL: afreitas@slc.edu

Mitch Turitz
turitz@sfsu.edu