The not-very-informative latest info. on the aggregator tf is online at
http://lcweb.loc.gov/catdir/pcc/sca99a.html#5.  At least we know it's alive
and progressing.

In the meantime, we too are foolhardy.  At the request of bibliographers,
we create records in our catalog.  We use the single-record convention,
adding the AU info. to print records (regardless of whether we own the
print).  To date we've created 327 records, almost all law reviews.

Jane is absolutely right that everything changes all the time.  Last summer
they lost the rights to IAC pubs and deleted over 2000(!) publications, in
addition to the ones listed on the monthly delete lists.  I have no
illusions that we'll ever catalog them all and I'll be first in line when a
"commercial" product is available, but in the meantime we'll keep working
on creating records for titles identified by our bibiographers as essential.

Crystal Graham
Head, Digital Information & Serials Cataloging
and Serials Librarian
University of California, San Diego #0175K
La Jolla CA   92093-0175
cgraham@ucsd.edu
V: 858-619-534-1283
F: 858-832-0349
H: 858-792-1128
Tech Services Website: http://tpot@ucsd.edu

At 09:53 AM 9/15/99 , you wrote:
>Cheryl,
>
>I suppose I fit into the category of "foolhardy." Yes, I am attempting
>at present to put individual holdings in for journals listed in
>Lexis/Nexis. I've "completed" ProQuest, and EBSCO looms on the horizon.
>It is intensely frustrating as the holdings seem to change by whimsey,
>and as one of my colleagues aptly describes it: "It's like trying to
>nail jello on the wall." Will be glad to offer any help I can, but it's
>mainly perserverance and data entry manually.
>
>Jane Prokesh
>Serials Cataloger
>University of Texas at Dallas
>x2962
><jprokesh@UTDALLAS.EDU>
>
>On Wed, 15 Sep 1999 10:15:57 -0500 "Cheryl L. Conway"
><cconway@COMP.UARK.EDU> wrote:
>
>> I am forwarding this topic for my department head.  You can respond
>> directly to Jennifer at jkolmes@comp.uark.edu.  Thanks in advance for
>> your assistance.
>>
>>
>> "My subject is what they're calling "aggregator databases."  You know,
>> like EBSCO's Academic Search Elite,  Bell and Howell's ProQuest Direct,
>> and Lexis-Nexis Academic Universe.  Essentially, they are services
>> offering access to full-text versions of varying runs of serial titles.
>> The PCC Standing Committee on Automation's Task Force on Journals in
>> Aggregator Databases was working on an EBSCO demonstration project a
>> few months ago--has anyone heard anything about that lately?  As I
>> recall, they were leaning toward recommending that holdings for
>> individual titles in these aggregators be made commercially available
>> for loading into ILSs, as opposed to libraries trying to keep this kind
>> of information current and local on their own.
>>
>> Anyway, my question is:  Are there any brave (or foolhardy, as the
>> point of view dictates) souls out there attempting to integrate
>> holdings data from these behemoths MANUALLY into their catalog records?
>> By "manually," I do not mean to exclude anyone who may be utitlizing
>> macros or other automated shortcuts; I mean by simply entering the data
>> record-by-record and attempting to keep the data up to date in a
>> similar fashion."
>