The NISO Institutional Identifiers (I2) Working Group: An Update

An update on the work of the National Information Standards Organization Institutional Identifiers (I2) Working Group.     

Electronic Journals: Cataloging and Management Practices in Academic Libraries

The growth and availability of electronic journals offer libraries the opportunity to provide end users with quick and easy access to more journals than ever before, thereby creating a complex new workload in academic libraries. Libraries have addressed the evolving challenges unique to electronic resources by creating new policies and workflows and dedicating staff to work on the processes, despite the lack of best practices. In the fall of 2009, a survey was distributed to ninety-five libraries at peer institutions to gather information about their policies and practices for cataloging and managing electronic journals in order to gauge the current status of electronic journal management among these peer institutions. This paper reports on the survey findings related to cataloging approach, sources for bibliographic records, methods for identifying problems, and the staff and staff hours dedicated to electronic journals.     

The United States Book Exchange

Serials Review visits the United States Book Exchange in Cleveland, Ohio. The staff of this nonprofit organization supplies back issues to over 2,000 member libraries in addition to nonmember libraries in the United States and the world. The tour will examine how this exchange is organized and how electronic access to journal literature has changed its emphasis. Serials Review 29:318–320.     

Reviews

Rachael Green Clemens reviews Usage and Usability Assessment: Library Practices and Concerns, James T. Deffenbaugh reviews Metadata Fundamentals for All Librarians, and Marguerite E. Horn reviews The Accidental Systems Librarian. Serials Review 2003; 29:325–329.     

An Interview with Stanford M. Forrester, Editor and Publisher of bottle rockets

A little haiku zine / from Connecticut / who would have guessed? This installment of “They Might Be Giants” focuses on bottle rockets, a small haiku journal from, that's right, Connecticut. Stanford M. Forrester, publisher and editor of bottle rockets, talked briefly with Michael Brown about poetry, fireworks, and why he does what he does. Serials Review 2003; 29:321–324.