Date: Mon, 04 Aug 2003 10:28:41 -0500
From: alan may <amay@bama.ua.edu>
Subject: 856 links

All,

We're having a problem with some of our 856 links, and I was hoping I
could get suggestions from the list. My understanding is that, in some
resources (like First Search), we have limited access, depending on our
subscription. Some of our copy catalogers bring in records and then check
the links. However, unless we spend a fair amount of time looking around
in databases, it's often hard to figure out exactly what we have access
to, and how much access we have. We thought about deleting the 856 field
for resources to which we have zero or limited access (like a brief
description, summary, or a table of contents), but here's the crux: we
figure that in some cases, patrons might want information provided by the
links, and other patrons might click on a link we provide and find the
page they're taken to confusing and/or frustrating.

How are other libraries dealing with this? Any suggestions are welcome.

Alan May