Identifiers: Keys to ESerials Management and Access in U'S' Libraries

1
IdentifiersKeys to E-Serials Management and
Access in U.S. Libraries

• Regina Romano Reynolds
• Director, U.S. ISSN center
• (National Serials Data Program) Library of
  Congress

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The New World of E-Serials
New data, more data
New User Demands
New library environments
Aggregations, packages, etc.
New identifiers
New transactions
New organizations
Licenses
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Overview

• E-serials challenges
• Aggregations
• Licenses
• Connecting users with articles
• E-serials management
• Information exchange

• E-serials solutions which use ISSN
• Publications access management companies (PAMS)
• OpenURL resolution
• Electronic resource management systems (ERMS)
• ONIX transactions

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E-Serials Access in U.S. Libraries

• E-Serials in the OPAC (catalog)
• a record may or may not be present in the OPAC
• one record may be used for both print and online,
  or separate records may be used
• serials may be individually cataloged, or record
  sets may be purchased for each aggregation, or
  for the entire e-holdings of a library
• A-Z lists
• used instead of record in OPAC, or
• in addition to OPAC single or separate record
• OpenURL Resolvers (SFX, etc.)
• in conjunction with, or instead of, OPAC records

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Connecting Users to Content
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Getting Users From Citation to Online Article

• Does the library subscribe to this journal?
• In which aggregation(s) or package(s) can this
  journal be found?
• Which aggregations or packages contain the volume
  and issue in which the article appears?
• If the library does not have the article in
  online form, does it have it in print?

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Aggregations

• General term for packages of journals or journal
  services, e.g., ScienceDirect, EBSCOhost
• Content of packages may change titles or groups
  of titles can be added or dropped dates of
  coverage change
• Content of aggregations frequently overlaps,
  i.e., the same journal is available in more than
  one aggregation but coverage (available volumes)
  may be different

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Managing Large Numbers of E-Serials

• Which titles do we have access to?
• Which aggregations contain which titles for which
  dates?
• To what extent do our aggregation contents
  overlap?
• When do our subscriptions expire?

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Rights Management Licenses

• When does this license expire?
• May we archive this journal?
• How many users can access this journal at one
  time?
• Is printing allowed? downloading?

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Transactions The Players
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Transactions Some Examples

• Titles held by publisher

• A-Z lists
• Print Holdings

• Price lists
• List of titles by publisher

• Electronic holdings

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Serials Management Without Standards
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Hello
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Some Solutions

• PAMs
• ERMS
• ONIX
• OpenURL
• ISSN

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Publications Access Management Companies (PAMS)

• E.g., TDNet, Serials Solutions
• Create A Z lists of journals
• Track titles added, removed or changed in
  aggregations
• Track years of coverage in aggregations
• Track changes in URLs and coverage
• Use ISSN for identification, file-matching,
  de-duplication

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Electronic Resource Management Systems (ERMS)

• Database programs designed to help libraries
  manage information about subscription e-journals
  and databases
• Still in early development
• Examples Innovative Interfaces ERM module,
  EBSCOs Electronic Journals Service, etc.
• ISSN used for identification, file matching,
  de-duplication in the ERMS database

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ONIX For Serials

• A structured, comprehensive and extensible
  metadata standard for journals and other serial
  resources
• An evolving group of messages designed to support
  specific serials transactions
• Expressed in XML
• Developed and supported as an open standard by
  NISO and EDItEUR

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ONIX Message Formats

• SOH (Serial Online Holdings)
• Library-created A-Z lists
• Populating OpenURL resolver knowledge bases (SFX,
  WebBridge)
• Populating Electronic Resource Management systems
• SPS (Serials Products and Subscriptions)
• Exchanges on availability/prices
• SRN (Serial Release Notification)
• Article-, issue-, or release-level exchanges
• Future possibility of automated check-in
• ISSN is a critical element for identification of
  the resource in all of the messages

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Example SOH Creates an A-Z List
A-Z List courtesy of Nate Trail, Library of
Congress
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ExampleSOH Populates a Resolver Database
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OpenURL

• Actionable URL that transports resource
  metadataincluding ISSN
• Supports access from an information resource
  (source) to library service components (targets)
• A link server parses the elements of an OpenURL
  and provides the appropriate services identified
  by the library

Based on a slide by Steve Shadle
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OpenURL Example

• Record describing journal article in citation
  database
• AU Smith, Paul
• ISSN 1234-5678
• VOLUME 12
• ISSUE 3
• PAGES 1-8
• PY 1998
• DBASE BIOSIS

http//sfxserver.xyz.edu/sfxmenu?sid Provider1BI
OSISgenrearticleissn1234-5678 volume12issue
3spage1epage8date1998 aulastSmithaufirst
Paul
Based on a slide by Steve Shadle
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OpenURL Link Resolution
User submits database search
Database validates user and performs search
User selects individual citation
Clicking SFX button sends Open URL to SFX server
SFX server resolves URL producing customized
result
xyz.edu student
XYZ.edu SFX user
result
server
BIOSIS
Based on a slide by Steve Shadle
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Example of SFX Services Presented to Requestor
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OpenURL Link Resolvers
Link resolution software resolves OpenURL
requests by

• - Identifying the bibliographic elements of an
  OpenURL, especially the ISSN
• - Comparing those elements to institution-specific
  resolution tables
• - Identifying the most appropriate services to
  present to a user

Based on a slide by Steve Shadle
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Identifiers

• For parties (publishers, libraries,
  organizations, etc.) e.g., SAN
• For services needs to be developedcan ISSN be
  used?
• For resources ISBN, ISMN, DOI, ISSN, etc.

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Why Do We Need Identifiers?

• Names can be represented different ways
• e.g., National Serials Data Program or U.S. ISSN
  center Library of Congress or U.S. Library of
  Congress
• Titles have even more possible variations
• JAMA or the Journal of the American Medical
  Association or JAMA Journal of the American
  Medical Association
• Even if not perfect, identifiers are much more
  accurate and precise to use in automated files
  than names or titles

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ISSN in the Electronic Environment

• Searching and identification in OPACS
• Identification of resources in standard ONIX
  transactions
• Identification, file-matching, and de-duplication
  in databases supporting Electronic Resource
  Management, PAMS, and link resolution
• Extremely important element in the construction
  of Open URLs

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What Should ISSN Identify?

• Works?
• all related resources, regardless of title
  changes, medium, language?
• Titles?
• all resources having the same title regardless of
  medium?
• Bibliographic entities?
• resources which would be cataloged on a separate
  bibliographic record
• Products?
• any continuing resource or version a publisher
  needs to identify for selling purposes

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Multiple Levels of Identification Needed

• Could be met by one standard (e.g., ISSN) or more
  than one (e.g., ISSN and some other identifier(s)
• Revision of the ISSN standard (ISO 3297) is
  hoping to achieve two levels of identification
• title-level increasingly important to identify
  and link to content regardless of format in the
  digital environment, e.g., OpenURLs
• manifestation or product level

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Conclusions

• Identifiers are more important than ever in the
  digital environment
• ISSN for e-serials are needed by PAM Services and
  ERM Systems for identification of resources, file
  matching, and file de-duplication
• E-serials need to be identified at both a title
  level and a manifestation or product level the
  revised ISSN standard will try to meet both needs

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If the ISSN did not exist, someone would have to
invent it.