E‐journal Invasion: A Cataloger's Guide to Survival

Citation

du Preez, M. (2008), "E‐journal Invasion: A Cataloger's Guide to Survival", The Electronic Library, Vol. 26 No. 1, pp. 130-131. https://doi.org/10.1108/02640470810851798

E‐journals pose their own set of problems when it comes to cataloguing and can be an inexperienced e‐journal cataloguer's worst nightmare. Helen Heinrich's new book E‐journal Invasion addresses theoretical and practical application issues of serials cataloguing. In E‐journal Invasion, Heinrich guides cataloguers and cataloguing managers to the implementation processes for commercially available journal MARC records and electronic serial access management services.

Chapter 1 examines the changes the Internet has brought about in the lives of cataloguers by explaining why cataloguers should provide access to online publications in their catalogues. Discussions on the MARC record as a metadata schema used by cataloguers in bibliographic control follows, highlighting the need to adopt other schemas and style sheets such as Extensible Markup Language (MARCXML), Metadata Object Description Data (MODS), Dublin Core, and Online Information eXchange (ONIX) to improve the communication between MARC and non‐MARC resources. The explanations of each of these schemas and style sheets are enhanced by numerous illustrations of each schema and style sheet.

The principles for content description used for printed resources could not keep up with online information sources. This resulted in the implementation of new AACR revisions, especially Chapter 9, now known as “Electronic resources” and Chapter 12, now known as “Continuing resources”. The reasons for these changes are explained in order to show the practical applications of the new cataloguing rules. Heinrich not only addresses the changes in the AACR2R 2002 Revision in Chapter 2, but also discusses the place of electronic journals in the library setting and the different cataloguing methods to provide access to these important resources as well as the reasons for cataloguing e‐journals, while motivating the need for the new cataloguing codes which will be known as Resource Description and Access (RDA).

Chapter 3 pays attention to the commercial services assisting in the various forms of access to online journals, as well as the management of aggregated databases such as EBSCOhost, Gale and ProQuest. Heinrich explains why aggregated databases are a blessing for collection development and acquisitions but at the same time are curses for cataloguers who need to provide access to the journals contained in these databases. Chapter 3 mainly addresses the cataloguing issues (the curse part) of sources contained in aggregated databases.

Theory should always be followed by practice. E‐journal Invasion is no exception. Chapter 4 is an attempt to share the process of step‐by‐step implementation of the commercial MARC record service from Serials Solutions as it was experienced by the California State University, Northridge. This is an attempt to help libraries avoid feeling blindfolded during the implementation and post‐implementation maintenance.

The concluding chapter addresses current and future cataloguing issues such as metasearching, OpenURL standards, CrossRef (a type of citation‐to‐full‐text linking), and open access, a Program for Cooperative Cataloguing, the Web Cataloguing Assistant, the AMeGA Project, and access‐level records. Bibliographical notes appear at the end of each chapter and the book is further enhanced by the inclusion of a good index.

E‐journal Invasion is a well researched and very practical book addressing important e‐serial cataloguing issues. The book can be recommended to all e‐serials cataloguers and cataloguing managers who are charged with defining policy and procedures in providing access to electronic journals.