Re: DOAJ titles in Serials Solutions Lucy Wrightington 23 Jan 2009 17:08 UTC

Chad,
Good points you make.
A while ago I asked the list for examples of how this collection was being
handled and if choosing only selectively
(as we are), what criteria were used.
I got some good responses on the criteria, while others said they wanted to
add the whole collection and include as
many titles in their database as possible.
(If anyone wants to see those responses, I'd be glad to post.)
We opted out of including this whole collection because it clutters up our
database with lots of irrelevant material which doesn't look good
when you are telling users some titles have to be cut for cost savings.
And you're right, every title potentially needs maintaining.
Plus, our A-to-Z list charges by number of titles.

Lucy Wrightington, Senior Librarian
Dickerman Library
Wadsworth Center, N.Y. State Dept. of Health
Empire State Plaza, Albany, NY 12201

             Chad Hutchens
             <chutchen@UWYO.ED
             U>                                                         To
             Sent by:                  SERIALST@LIST.UVM.EDU
             "SERIALST:                                                 cc
             Serials in
             Libraries                                             Subject
             Discussion Forum"         Re: [SERIALST] DOAJ titles in
             <SERIALST@LIST.UV         Serials Solutions
             M.EDU>

             01/22/2009 08:27
             AM

             Please respond to
                "SERIALST:
                Serials in
                 Libraries
             Discussion Forum"
             <SERIALST@LIST.UV
                  M.EDU>

I'd echo what Barabara has said about the DOAJ.  I'll also add a few other
things that I think everyone should be aware of.

1.)  Not all titles in the DOAJ are actually open access...this is an
unfortunate fact.  For some background on this, I'd strongly encourage
everyone to read this short (and Open Access) article:
http://biology.plosjournals.org/perlserv/?request=get-document&doi=10.1371%2

Fjournal.pbio.0050285&ct=1

2.) As Barbara said, there are some problematic titles in the DOAJ.
Currently, a colleague and myself are running link checks on all DOAJ
titles
in two prominent knowledge bases and there are more than just a few errors.
It looks like there are quite a few dead links and various other problems
(such as out of date URL's).

3.) I'd strongly encourage anyone considering adding this collection to at
least glance at the titles they're adding.  Depending upon what kind of
library you work at, you may simply be adding a bunch of noise to your
knowledge base that might confuse and mislead your users.  For example,
there are quite a few journals in the DOAJ that are not in English.  Now I
know not everyone speaks English, but every campus community is different
and adding a bunch of foreign language periodicals may or may not make
sense.  That's just one example.

4.) Even though there is no up-front cost associated with titles in the
DOAJ, much like Open Source software, Open Access content is "free as in a
free kitten."  Meaning, you do still need to maintain it just like any
other
e-resource you may pay for.

Cheers!

--
Chad Hutchens
Electronic Resources Librarian
University of Wyoming Libraries
Dept 3334, 1000 E University Ave.
Laramie, WY 82071-20000
Ph: (307) 766-5560

> From: Barbara Pope <bpope@PITTSTATE.EDU>
> Reply-To: "SERIALST: Serials in Libraries Discussion Forum"
> <SERIALST@LIST.UVM.EDU>
> Date: Wed, 21 Jan 2009 15:09:11 -0600
> To: "SERIALST: Serials in Libraries Discussion Forum"
<SERIALST@LIST.UVM.EDU>
> Subject: Re: [SERIALST] DOAJ titles in Serials Solutions
>
> It's funny that you ask about the stability of DOAJ.  I have had to
> contact Serials Solutions about a couple of titles that ceased
> publication over the past few years, but I would say it has been
> relatively problem free.  If you are a new user of Serials Solutions
> products, you may not yet realize that if you want to, you can add part
> of the titles in a database instead of the whole thing.  For example, if
> a database contained a lot of junk newsletters or titles that you have
> no indexes for, you can indicate which ones you want when you are adding
> the product.  Before I add a product like this, I do research on the
> titles like where they are indexed and if we already have access to
> them.  If you need to know more, email me and I can talk you through it.
>
> Sincerely,
>
> Barbara Pope, MALS
> Periodicals/Reference Librarian
> Axe Library
> Pittsburg State University
> Pittsburg KS  66762
> bpope@pittstate.edu
> 620-235-4884
>
> Stokes, Judith wrote:
>> Hi,
>>
>> We find DOAJ to be more stable than other free journal sources, but none
of
>> them cause us much trouble because there are so many of us accessing
them
>> through Serials Solutions, that changes get reported pretty quickly.
>> Occasionally, we discover we have lost free access to something --
rarely
>> anything in DOAJ -- and we report it. Serials Solutions confirms the
change
>> and follows up pretty quickly.
>>
>> Regards,
>>
>> Judith E. Stokes
>> Serials/E-resources Librarian
>> Rhode Island College
>> 600 Mount Pleasant Avenue
>> Providence, RI 02908-1991
>> 401.456.8165
>>
>>
>>
>> -----Original Message-----
>> From: SERIALST: Serials in Libraries Discussion Forum
>> [mailto:SERIALST@list.uvm.edu] On Behalf Of jianxin9
>> Sent: Tuesday, January 20, 2009 2:01 PM
>> To: SERIALST@LIST.UVM.EDU
>> Subject: [SERIALST] DOAJ titles in Serials Solutions
>>
>> Hello,
>>
>>
>>
>> I was hoping to hear from some folks who have chosen to add DOAJ to
their
>> Serials Solutions profile.  We are currently considering adding MARC
>> updates, etc.  Our main concern is that some of the content might be
>> unstable.  For those who have chosen to do this, how has your experience
>> been?  Thanks!
>>
>>
>>
>> Brandy Klug, M.L.S., M.S.Ed.
>>
>> E-Resources Librarian
>>
>> Texas Woman's University Library
>>
>> P.O. Box 425528
>>
>> Denton, TX 76204
>>
>> Phone: 940-898-3776
>>
>> Cell: 940-391-3972
>>
>> Fax: 940-898-3809
>>
>> *http://twulibraryhelp.blogspot.com/*
>>
>>
>>

IMPORTANT NOTICE:  This e-mail and any attachments may contain confidential or sensitive information which is, or may be, legally privileged or otherwise protected by law from further disclosure.  It is intended only for the addressee.  If you received this in error or from someone who was not authorized to send it to you, please do not distribute, copy or use it or any attachments.  Please notify the sender immediately by reply e-mail and delete this from your system. Thank you for your cooperation.