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Implementing a Serial Work in an Electronic Resources Management System Kristin Antelman Presenter
Susan Davis Recorder
SUMMARY. This session describes one use of the Functional Requirements for Bibliographic Records (FRBR) concept of work for serials in an electronic resource management system, E-Matrix, developed at the North Carolina State University Libraries. Kristin Antelman talked about how the NCSU libraries use the hierarchical concepts of FRBR to create a more user-centered approach for public display of electronic resources as well as improved management tools for staff. [Article copies available for a fee from The Haworth Document Delivery Service: 1-800HAWORTH. E-mail address: Website: ]
Kristin Antelman spoke on ways that North Carolina State University libraries hope to use the hierarchical properties of Functional Requirements for Bibliographic Records (FRBR) to help manage electronic resources. Her presentation was mainly theoretical and conceptual since their system is still in development. © 2005 by the North American Serials Interest Group, Inc. All rights reserved. [Haworth co-indexing entry note]: “Implementing a Serial Work in an Electronic Resources Management System.” Davis, Susan. Co-published simultaneously in The Serials Librarian (The Haworth Information Press, an imprint of The Haworth Press, Inc.) Vol. 48, No. 3/4, 2005, pp. 285-288; and: Growth, Creativity, and Collaboration: Great Visions on a Great Lake (ed: Patricia Sheldahl French, and Margaret Mering) The Haworth Information Press, an imprint of The Haworth Press, Inc., 2005, pp. 285-288. Single or multiple copies of this article are available for a fee from The Haworth Document Delivery Service [1-800-HAWORTH, 9:00 a.m. 5:00 p.m. (EST). E-mail address:
[email protected]].
http://www.haworthpress.com/web/SER Digital Object Identifier: 10.1300/J123v48n03_09
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NCSU developed an electronic resources management system (ERMS) called E-Matrix where they hoped to create a system not constrained by the limits of the MARC Format or ILS functionality. Their goal was to use both FRBR and a user-centered approach in their design process. They arrived at this goal when they reviewed the status of their present ERMS efforts, and noticed they were managing data not supported by the ILS, generating e-journal and database lists for the Libraries’ Website, and often maintaining data in two places. As they moved to a second-generation ERMS, the NCSU Libraries wanted to have more sophisticated public displays, be able to use complex data models and tools such as Oracle, and have a single authoritative data store. Antelman described E-Matrix in more detail, outlining objectives developed by both the Acquisitions and Collection Management Departments to support specific tasks in those areas. Data elements developed as part of the Digital Library Foundation Electronic Resource Management Initiative (http://www.library.cornell.edu/cts/elicensestudy/dlfdeliverables/home. htm, accessed July 9, 2004) were used as the basis for record design. Several important principles for sustainability and data quality were noted: • Migrate legacy applications into E-Matrix • Define a single authoritative data store for each data element • Query existing data stores (such as the ILS) in real time whenever possible Antelman reviewed a diagram showing the relationships of various data stores to E-Matrix and indicated some of the elements to be retained within the system, such as holdings and usage data; and others that would reside elsewhere, such as fund codes in order records in the ILS. However, the focus of the remainder of the session was about resource discovery and display drawing on the FRBR model. Even though the IFLA publication on FRBR released in 1998 focuses on monographs and music examples, the NCSU Libraries relied on experts’ interpretation that serials are an aggregate work.1 NSCU then factored in the user perspective to develop a modified FRBR model for serial description as described in the following example. Consider American Scientist to be the work, and the NCSU Libraries has four different “manifexpressions” of the work. One is the paper copy from the publisher, another is full-text online from the publisher, another is selected articles in an Ebsco database, and the fourth is selected articles in a ProQuest database. This approach seems to work well from the acqui-
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sitions perspective, but is not helpful to the patron. Further refining the model results in displays that draw from three levels: work, expression and manifestation. American Scientist has three layers: the work, then two expressions of the work–either full-text or selected articles–and two manifestations under each expression. The next hurdle was to select a work identifier to use in E-Matrix. Generally librarians consider title as the best identifier, but users are easily confused and misled by title changes. In many cases the user treats the whole run of a serial as one continuous work; consider Atlantic and Atlantic Monthly. Other types of identifiers (including ISSN, the International Standard Textual Code, uniform titles, and DOI) are all title-level identifiers. Ultimately, they decided to create a work ID number. E-Matrix automatically assigns the work ID number when a record is created. More than one title can be associated with the same work ID. Antelman showed some mockups of E-Matrix screens to show how relationships can be displayed and managed. User displays are generated by running searches against the title index to retrieve all manifestations of the work using the work ID. Again, using the example of American Scientist as the search criteria, results might look like this: American Scientist 1995Full text
1995-
Linked to publisher’s online version
Print
1995-2002
Call number
Selected articles Selected articles
19971995-2001
Link to Ebsco product Link to ProQuest product
They plan to do more user interface testing to refine the public displays. In conclusion, Antelman shared some of the lessons learned so far. EMatrix has prompted staff from across the library to have conversations about managing bibliographic items in the electronic environment, focusing on the concrete needs of technical services and collection management, well as how to make the public displays better. NSCU considers E-Matrix a fertile test bed for experimentation and innovation. Discussion and questions continued beyond the formal end of the workshop. FRBR for serials is an intriguing concept that has been de-
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bated in many forums, and some questions focused on FRBR per se. This tactics session was not intended to argue the merits of FRBR for serials bibliographic control, but to demonstrate how the hierarchical model FRBR describes could be used to better manage the complexities in electronic resource management applications. NOTE 1. International Federation of Library Associations Study Group on the Functional Requirements for Bibliographic Records, Functional Requirements for Bibliographic Records: Final Report (Munchen, K.G. Saur, 1998). http://www.ifla.org/VII/s13/frbr/ frbr.pdf (accessed July 9, 2004)
CONTRIBUTORS’ NOTES Kristin Antelman is Associate Director for Information Technology at North Carolina State University Libraries. Susan Davis is Head of the Periodicals Section at the University at Buffalo, State University of New York.
