The out-of-the-box option in SFX for
local print holdings is simply to provide
a static link to your catalog. Wouldn’t
it be nice, though, if your SFX menu
only showed your catalog link when you
in fact owned the article in print?
The key here is to let SFX know what
you have. If SFX knows what you own
in print, either at the journal level
or, even better, at the volume and issue
level, it can show or hide the link
to your catalog based on your holdings.
There are four different options, each
with its own pluses and minuses. There
are several factors to consider before
pursuing one of these options, including
whether you want to get down to the
journal level (easy) or try for the
issue level (much harder).
Journal
level — ISSN Load
Download from your catalog all of
your ISSN numbers — or some
predefined subset of those —
upload the numbers to SFX
[
+ ] Tells user what
you have & don’t have
[
+ ] Allows you to
include notes, such as call numbers,
to display on the menu
[
– ] Only journal
level
[
– ] Does not
include books (ISBNs)
[
– ] Manually
maintain; must upload new ISSNs
Journal
level — Z39.50 Lookup
ExLibris developed plug-in; does a
real-time search of your catalog
[
+ ] Tells user what
you have & don’t have
[
+ ] Does include
books (ISBNs)
[
+ ] Real-time, no
need to maintain
[
– ] Can send
user in “infinite loop”
with e-journals
[
– ] Only journal
level
Article
level — Conversion Tool
Write an application that can parse
your journal holdings and convert
them into a syntax SFX recognizes;
upload those to SFX with ISSNs
[
+ ] Tells user what
you have & don’t have
[
+ ] Journals and
holdings show-up in Metalib e-journal
module
[
– ] Very tricky;
prone to errors
[
– ] Catalog
holding statements should be consistent
to begin with
[
– ] 255 character
limit forces truncation of holdings
[
– ] Manually
maintain; must upload new journal
holdings and any changes to holdings
of existing journals (except open-ended
statements)
Article
level — Z39.50 Plug-In
Plug-In does a real-time search of
your catalog, parses holdings, makes
determination of your holdings right
on the server.
[
+ ] Tells user what
you have & don’t have
[
+ ] No character
limits
[
+ ] Real-time, no
need to maintain
[
– ] Catalog
holding statements should be consistent
to begin with
