The question:
> From: "Holle Schneider" <HSCHNEIDER_at_gw.uscs.edu>
>
> Our library has recently been asked for the number of journals we subscribe
> to. This used to be easy when all our journals were print. Now that we provide
> access to electronic journals as well as various databases that provide full
> text access for some, but not all of the titles they cover, it is becoming
> impossible to answer this question, particularly since there is also a huge
> overlap between various vendors. How have other libraries dealt with this
> problem?
>
> Thank you,
>
> Holle E. Schneider-Ricks
> Assistant Library Director
> USC Spartanburg Library
=========
6.
From:Carole Richter <Carole.J.Richter.8_at_nd.edu>
And is it even remotely believable to count Academic Universe as 5,000+
when many or most titles include selective text only and where the content
can't be 'grouped' at the journal title level? I think the 'numbers' game
is out of control when we are each deciding how to report these huge
sprawling numbers, which sometimes relate to carefully constructed access
as in JSTOR, or at least include most content in a definable grouping (eg
EBSCO, Gale, Proquest), or numbers such as Lexis Nexis which represents
title inflation at an extreme. Not that we aren't happy to have it, but
'counting' it is a different issue. It seems to me that if libraries are
trying to track the numbers, we're going to have to become much more
specific about what numbers to use.
Received on Wed Feb 21 2001 - 09:47:07 EST