Thanks to all who related their experiences, suggestions and concerns both on and off-list after my posting of last week regarding titles disappearing without notice from the Serials Solutions databases.  I received 18 responses.  Nearly all respondents have experienced similar issues with a wide variety of resources (both e-books and serials) and mentioned that recently this has been happening with disturbing frequency.  One of our own two problems was quickly settled and the other is being investigated through the joint efforts of both Serials Solutions and the publisher, but they demonstrate how the process can break at either end.  Unfortunately libraries are caught in the middle.

 

Inconsistent, missing or inaccurate publisher-provided data is often the root of the predicament.  The KBART initiative (http://www.uksg.org/kbart) is very exciting and as it gains momentum we can hope to see great progress.  But meanwhile, the underlying obstacle appears to boil down to old-fashioned lack of human communication.   The most serious annoyance for subscribing libraries is that we are not promptly informed of any changes, regardless of where it occurred, despite paying both publisher and knowledge-base provider for expensive and often mission-critical service. 

 

It is reassuring to know that Serials Solutions is actively looking for process and system improvements and is making this task a priority.  My respondents generally retain a very positive opinion of Serials Solutions but the spike in access issues has led to some festering dissatisfaction.  If automated updates were carefully reviewed and compared to a backed up version, any unusual change such as a noticeable decrease in titles should be immediately obvious.   Then it should be possible, at least in many cases, to regain access through temporary reversion while the problem is sorted out.

 

We appreciate list members’ willingness to share their perspective.   I am confident that things will get better!

 

Marysue

 

 

Marysue J. Schaffer

Associate Director, Collection Management

Bernard Becker Medical Library

Washington University in St. Louis School of Medicine

660 S. Euclid Ave., St. Louis MO 63110

(314) 362-0997

fax (314) 454-6606

schaffem@wusm.wustl.edu

 


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