This is the response that I got from JSTOR. I am thoroughly satisfied with this response! I think it's great news that they'll be including enumeration data in the next release. Yay!   No more cutting and pasting of that.  I suggested that they include former and successive title information in the following release, and they said they'd be contacting me later to talk about what we would need.

All in all, a good response.

-Melissa Farley

-------- Original Message --------
Subject: RE:Incorrect Coverage Dates
Date: Thu, 10 Mar 2011 08:30:34 -0500
From: JSTOR User Support <support@jstor.org>
Reply-To: `JSTOR=001-203-013` <support@jstor.org>
To: Melissa Farley <mfarley@westga.edu>


Email: mfarley@westga.edu
Date: 10 Mar 2011
Department: JSTOR User Support
Interaction ID: 1203013

Dear Melissa,

Thank you for your email and I am sorry that you are experiencing this frustration. JSTOR previously offered institution-specific .csv files, but we had to temporarily suspend this feature with the launch of the Current Scholarship Program due to technical difficulties in calculating the actual coverage dates on an institution by institution basis across current and backfile licenses. In the interim we have been creating custom holdings files for libraries upon request.

We fully understand that institutions, partners and individuals have been using these customized lists for various purposes and we do recognize the practical value these lists provide. We have been working to address this issue and intend to return the actual subscription coverage elements to the live site and exportable .csv file in our forthcoming release, currently scheduled for next week.

For those that have written in concerning this issue, we are also providing a link to a survey (http://questionpro.com/t/AByAeZIqiS) to gather additional information about how these lists are being used by various librarians, end-users, linking partners and researchers to better understand how we can improve the delivery and content of these lists.

There are three date elements to be included in the .csv files in this pending release...
 
Coverage - A description of the coverage at the institution.  It reflects what is licensed and includes year range, volume range, and in some cases, descriptive text.

Coverage Start Date - The beginning date that the license covers.  This will either be the start date of the back-file content or the start date of the front-file content, depending on what is licensed.

Coverage End Date - The last date covered by the license.

We are hopeful that this addresses the recognized gap in this particular file and allows for input into future development of holdings, linking, indexing, cataloging and deaccession resources.

Please do let me know if I can be of additional assistance and thank you for your patience as we work to return this functionality to our exportable, customized title lists.
 
Best,
 
Brian Larsen
User Services Manager
JSTOR
 
 
JSTOR is a not–for–profit service that helps scholars, researchers, and students discover, use, and build upon a wide range of content in a trusted digital archive. We use information technology and tools to increase productivity and facilitate new forms of scholarship. JSTOR is part of ITHAKA, a not-for-profit organization that helps the academic community use digital technologies to preserve the scholarly record and to advance research and teaching in sustainable ways.
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
-----Original Message-----
From:   Melissa Farley (mfarley@westga.edu)
Date:   Wednesday, March 09, 2011  08:22 AM
To:   JSTOR (support@jstor.org)
Cc:   Miriam Nauenburg (nauen@westga.edu); Pat Pollard (ppollard@westga.edu); Charles Sicignano (charlie@westga.edu)
Subject:  Incorrect Coverage Dates
 
To JSTOR Support Team,

I downloaded the title list for our library records, and the coverage dates are incorrect.   They are often listing dates of coverage when JSTOR only offers citation access.  I use the downloaded JSTOR list as a basis to know what we can discard in our paper and microfilm collections, and also as a basis for how our cataloging department updates our JSTOR holdings.  In the past, coverage dates only included issues that JSTOR actually was hosting.  We have other ways to keep track of and catalog our holdings outside of JSTOR, so we really need a way to track and update our actual JSTOR holdings.  

In our last JSTOR update, I added 220 entries for new JSTOR titles.  Before our transition to an internal database, we would have had to enter each one of those 220 titles by hand, but the downloaded JSTOR list makes the process much faster and more efficient.  If the downloaded list is unreliable, our processing time increases substantially.  For instance, Publications of the Astronomical Society of the Pacific has full text from v.110:no.743 (1998:Jan.), but citations only from v.1:no.1 (1889:Nov.30) to v.109:no.742 (1997:Dec.). The downloaded list, and also the page for this title, lists coverage as 1889-2011.  I am sure we are not the only library that relies on the accuracy of the title information that is available for download on the JSTOR site. 

I understand that new features at JSTOR have included links to external content and citation entries, but libraries really need a way to easily update their records so that they can adjust their physical holdings and catalog records.

Please let me know if there is a way that I can get a downloaded list that includes actual coverage dates for our JSTOR holdings, as soon as you can.  If there is not such a list available, please create one.

Thank you,
Melissa Farley
 
--
Melissa Farley
Library Departmental Associate
Irvine Sullivan Ingram Library
University of West Georgia
678-839-6460
mfarley@westga.edu

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