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Enhancing Access to Electronic Resources: Serials Solutions and the State Library of Tasmania

The State Library of Tasmania provides enhanced access to electronic resources utilising the full MARC (Machine Readable Code) record service offered by Serials Solutions through a deal brokered by the National Library of Australia. Since April 2005, full bibliographic records for electronic journals with full text content have been included in TALIS, the catalogue of the State Library of Tasmania.

The State Library of Tasmania subscribes to 26 electronic database products and, through Serials Solutions, is able to provide over 3787 MARC records for titles within 10 products: A + Education, AGIS Plus Text, Australia and New Zealand Reference Centre, Australian Public Affairs Full Text, Family and Society Plus, Health and Wellness Resource Center, Informit e-Library, MasterFILE Premier, Meditext, and Times Digital Archive.

On average, some 5770 MARC record searches were recorded each month during June to August 2006, suggesting that clients continue to view the library catalogue as the single access point for all collections. Serial Solutions also facilitates an E-Journal Portal, which is accessible on the explore! website and provides an A–Z listing of journal titles. This access method generates approximately 130 searches per month.

Due to the software restrictions of the existing library management program at this stage, it is not possible to provide direct journal access through the MARC records. Clients are referred to a hosted page that details access conditions for the product and patrons are required to login and repeat the search. Work is continuing on streamlining this process.

Before starting the Serials Solutions record service, the State Library of Tasmania customised the default MARC records to suit local requirements. The changes included a 830 series entry giving the name of the database followed by ‘electronic journal collection’, a local format tag 590 of ‘online serial’, and automatic deletion of a number of non-essential fields.

Update files of new and changed records and deletions are provided monthly. This work has been easily incorporated into routine workflows for cataloguing and systems staff. The Serials Solution Client Centre allows for easy online management of bibliographic data, database addition or deletion, and provides access to a range of usage statistics.

The State Library of Tasmania is currently investigating extending the use of Serials Solutions products and will be looking closely at the electronic resource management system as part of the continued strategy to effectively manage electronic resources.

Anita Brown
Manager (Resources and Access), State Library of Tasmania