E‐journals: A How‐to‐Do‐It Manual for Building, Managing, and Supporting Electronic Journal Collections

Citation

Osorio, N.L. (2006), "E‐journals: A How‐to‐Do‐It Manual for Building, Managing, and Supporting Electronic Journal Collections", Collection Building, Vol. 25 No. 3, pp. 100-101. https://doi.org/10.1108/01604950610677585

Donnelyn Curtis is Director of Research Services at the University of Nevada Libraries and co‐author, with Virginia Scheschy and Adolfo Tarango, of Developing and Managing Electronic Journal Collections: A How‐to‐Do‐It Manual for Librarians (2000), as well as editor of Attracting, Educating and Serving Remote Users through the Web (2002). Virginia Scheschy is the retired Director of Technical Services at the same library and has published several articles on the managing of technical services.

The manual is divided into nine chapters. The first two chapters, understanding electronic journals, and “Understanding users of online resources”, provide an overview of the characteristics of e‐journals, their users and all the participating elements between production, distribution and usage. Each of the other seven chapters focuses on a specific area of the management process.

These following chapters can be considered unique operational guides for specific library processes. Chapter 3 deals with setting the stage for the introduction of the new format, while Chapter 4 provides the basis for developing a collection of electronic journals. The issues of licensing agreements and user authentication are covered in Chapter 5. The technical aspects of ordering and receiving are presented in Chapter 6, and Chapter 7 discusses the “hows” of delivering and maintaining access to the collection. The importance of user services, including user instruction, is the topic of Chapter 8. Finally, Chapter 9 deals with usage statistics and evaluation of services. The five appendices at the end provide some additional practical details on how to manage a collection of e‐journals.

At the end of each chapter a list of reference sources is provided, as well as a list of additional information sources; these will assist readers in broadening their understanding of the materials presented. The book also contains many references to web links showing specific examples, or documentation. These links are compiled in a Web Companion for which the author has included its URL in the introduction.

The management of electronic journals is a complex subject, and Curtis has done an excellent job of distilling all the important aspects into a well‐organized guide. This is a well‐written manual, covering all the important areas related to the management of electronic journals. It is recommended for every librarian involved in serials collections, reference services and collection management. The issues discussed in this volume are applicable to a large research library as well as to a small public library. Students in LIS programs will also find this book necessary reading. Therefore, it is recommended for all types of libraries. A complementary work to this manual is the collection of papers edited by David Fowler under the title, E‐serials Collection Management: Transitions, Trends, and Technicalities (New York: Haworth Information Press, 2004).

Nestor L. Osorio

Northern Illinois University Libraries, DeKalb, Illinios, USA