Regarding e-journals being offered on the internet:  We are struggling with
these issues along with everyone else.  We have recently put together
several task forces to deal with the various aspects of all electronic
materials.  One group is looking at the bibliographic access issues, another
the policies and procedures.  We have an ongoing committee who deals with
the purchase of materials for the LAN, and another who is addressing menu
and homepage decisions.

Currently we are purchasing (or accessing for free) a few full-text
e-journals.  We are only making notes in our online catalog and making them
accessable through the library homepage.  We are not checking them in, nor
are checking them periodically.  I do like Donna Packer's idea of checking
quarterly.  I may set that up.  Also we are about to be audited this year,
so Donna's other point is very timely for us.  I can't address the patron
questions, since I'm in tech. serv. and have not gotten any feedback on this.

We are not cancelling print subscriptions yet and yes, one main reason is
the archiving issues.  The main problem I've come across has to do with the
information we have to send to the publishers regarding IP addresses, etc.
Some publishers allow IP address ranges, others expect that we have one
computer to access these things.  the real benefit to acquiring these
journals is to allow students and facutly access from there offices and dorm
rooms.  We need to be able to give the publishers IP addresses to allow this
access.  I'm looking forward to better forms and communication from the
publishers to allow the librarians to make ordering these items easier and
less complicated.

Hope this helps.

***************************************
Carole R. Bell
crbell@nwu.edu
Head. Serials & Acq.
Northwestern Univ. Library
1935 Sheridan Road
Evanston, IL 60208
(847) 491-8978 - Office  ****NOTE New Number****
(847) 491-7637 - Fax

--------------------------
JoAnne Griffin wrote:
>I would love to get some information from you folks on how you are
>handling full text e-journals, or see a general discussion on the subject.
>I have in mind those journals which are offered full-text on the Internet
>and for which a print copy is also being received. What has been your
>experience in getting them going? How do your patrons like them? What about
>downloading articles -- does the patron do it, or does the librarian? (I've
>heard that it can be tricky to download unless the user is a more
>sophisticated computer user) Are you cancelling your print subscription?
>Are you concerned about a lack of archival copies when you do so? Most of the
>materials I've seen are TOC's, abstracts and selected articles -- these are
>of limited use, I feel. A journal that is truly "full-text" sounds
>promising, but I wonder if the reality comes close to the promise (I
>understand that this is a rapidly-evolving field).
>
>Anyway, if you have any comments/experiences you'd like to share on
>this topic, I'd be glad to see them.
>
>Thanks in advance.
>
>JoAnne Griffin
>Tufts Health Sciences Library
>145 Harrison Ave.
>Boston, MA 02111
>
>joanne_g@library.tufts.edu