E-Serials Collection Management: Transitions, Trends, and Technicalities

For a brief shining moment, perhaps we all imagined that electronic serials would be the solution to the difficulties of dealing with paper journals: numbering errors, missing issues, claiming, checking in, binding, reshelving, etc. Sadly, in fact, only a few of the old problems seem to have disappeared with the advent of electronic serials, and many new challenges have already begun to plague us: licensing, access, missing content, and more. Electronic serials play an increasingly vital role in library collections, so these challenges will have to be met. Mostly case studies, the chapters in this volume present the experience of librarians who have met and mastered the electronic serials beast. E-reserves and e-books rate a section each. Librarians already dealing with the virtual world of information will recognize many of the difficulties highlighted in these studies. Finding a new solution or two along the way makes the whole thing worth reading. Recommended for academic libraries.-Margaret Sylvia, St. Mary's Univ. Lib., San Antonio Copyright 2003 Reed Business Information.