Poster Board Number: 122
Title: E-journal Verification: Is It Worth the Effort
Objective: This poster describes a systematic effort to verify holdings and connectivity for subscribed electronic journals.
Methods: Working with our subscription records, we established a definitive list of our subscribed electronic journals. Paraprofessionals in the department then checked each title, answering the following questions:
• Is it in the A-Z list?
• Can you open the earliest and latest full text?
• Do the dates in the A- Z list match the publisher’s dates?
• Is it in the catalog?
• Is there a working Find-It link?
• Do the dates in the Find-It link match those in the A-Z list?
There was also a place for the paraprofessional to enter comments. Upon completion, the checklists were turned over to the digital resources librarian and serials cataloger for analysis and correction of problems found.
Results: All titles were checked between April 1, 2010, and May 7, 2010. The digital resources librarian and serials cataloger analyzed and corrected the problems found.
Conclusions: A significant number of problems were found. Upon correction, we have noticed a sharp decrease in the number of patron reported holdings problems. The project will be continued with the goal of checking each title at least twice a year.
Author: C. Steven Douglas, AHIP, Head (Acting), Collection Management, Health Sciences and Human Services Library, University of Maryland, Baltimore, MD
