I'd echo what Barabara has said about the DOAJ. I'll also add a few other
things that I think everyone should be aware of.
1.) Not all titles in the DOAJ are actually open access...this is an
unfortunate fact. For some background on this, I'd strongly encourage
everyone to read this short (and Open Access) article:
http://biology.plosjournals.org/perlserv/?request=get-document&doi=10.1371%2
Fjournal.pbio.0050285&ct=1
2.) As Barbara said, there are some problematic titles in the DOAJ.
Currently, a colleague and myself are running link checks on all DOAJ titles
in two prominent knowledge bases and there are more than just a few errors.
It looks like there are quite a few dead links and various other problems
(such as out of date URL's).
3.) I'd strongly encourage anyone considering adding this collection to at
least glance at the titles they're adding. Depending upon what kind of
library you work at, you may simply be adding a bunch of noise to your
knowledge base that might confuse and mislead your users. For example,
there are quite a few journals in the DOAJ that are not in English. Now I
know not everyone speaks English, but every campus community is different
and adding a bunch of foreign language periodicals may or may not make
sense. That's just one example.
4.) Even though there is no up-front cost associated with titles in the
DOAJ, much like Open Source software, Open Access content is "free as in a
free kitten." Meaning, you do still need to maintain it just like any other
e-resource you may pay for.
Cheers!
--
Chad Hutchens
Electronic Resources Librarian
University of Wyoming Libraries
Dept 3334, 1000 E University Ave.
Laramie, WY 82071-20000
Ph: (307) 766-5560
> From: Barbara Pope <bpope@PITTSTATE.EDU>
> Reply-To: "SERIALST: Serials in Libraries Discussion Forum"
> <SERIALST@LIST.UVM.EDU>
> Date: Wed, 21 Jan 2009 15:09:11 -0600
> To: "SERIALST: Serials in Libraries Discussion Forum" <SERIALST@LIST.UVM.EDU>
> Subject: Re: [SERIALST] DOAJ titles in Serials Solutions
>
> It's funny that you ask about the stability of DOAJ. I have had to
> contact Serials Solutions about a couple of titles that ceased
> publication over the past few years, but I would say it has been
> relatively problem free. If you are a new user of Serials Solutions
> products, you may not yet realize that if you want to, you can add part
> of the titles in a database instead of the whole thing. For example, if
> a database contained a lot of junk newsletters or titles that you have
> no indexes for, you can indicate which ones you want when you are adding
> the product. Before I add a product like this, I do research on the
> titles like where they are indexed and if we already have access to
> them. If you need to know more, email me and I can talk you through it.
>
> Sincerely,
>
> Barbara Pope, MALS
> Periodicals/Reference Librarian
> Axe Library
> Pittsburg State University
> Pittsburg KS 66762
> bpope@pittstate.edu
> 620-235-4884
>
> Stokes, Judith wrote:
>> Hi,
>>
>> We find DOAJ to be more stable than other free journal sources, but none of
>> them cause us much trouble because there are so many of us accessing them
>> through Serials Solutions, that changes get reported pretty quickly.
>> Occasionally, we discover we have lost free access to something -- rarely
>> anything in DOAJ -- and we report it. Serials Solutions confirms the change
>> and follows up pretty quickly.
>>
>> Regards,
>>
>> Judith E. Stokes
>> Serials/E-resources Librarian
>> Rhode Island College
>> 600 Mount Pleasant Avenue
>> Providence, RI 02908-1991
>> 401.456.8165
>>
>>
>>
>> -----Original Message-----
>> From: SERIALST: Serials in Libraries Discussion Forum
>> [mailto:SERIALST@list.uvm.edu] On Behalf Of jianxin9
>> Sent: Tuesday, January 20, 2009 2:01 PM
>> To: SERIALST@LIST.UVM.EDU
>> Subject: [SERIALST] DOAJ titles in Serials Solutions
>>
>> Hello,
>>
>>
>>
>> I was hoping to hear from some folks who have chosen to add DOAJ to their
>> Serials Solutions profile. We are currently considering adding MARC
>> updates, etc. Our main concern is that some of the content might be
>> unstable. For those who have chosen to do this, how has your experience
>> been? Thanks!
>>
>>
>>
>> Brandy Klug, M.L.S., M.S.Ed.
>>
>> E-Resources Librarian
>>
>> Texas Woman's University Library
>>
>> P.O. Box 425528
>>
>> Denton, TX 76204
>>
>> Phone: 940-898-3776
>>
>> Cell: 940-391-3972
>>
>> Fax: 940-898-3809
>>
>> *http://twulibraryhelp.blogspot.com/*
>>
>>
>>
