Link Resolvers: Serials Solutions Aine Finucane Acquisitions Librarian University of Limerick LIR Annual Seminar 2005

Why Serials Solutions? Purchased A to Z list - the summer of 2002 HTML file of journals available through database aggregators Rationale: –Lack of staff and time –Cost effectiveness They seemed to know what we needed before we did!

E Journal AMS An easy to use web based service Limited technical expertise required Facility to add print holdings Excellent technical support Next day updating Facility to download MARC records E Journal portal

What is an OpenURL? Standardized way of constructing a URL to describe a specific item, usually an article or journal A means for transporting data consistently for processing by an OpenURL link resolver (Serials Solutions) Several OpenURL Resolvers: –Ex Libris – SFX –Ebsco – LinkSource –Serials Solutions - Article Linker

What is Article Linker? “Serials Solution Article Linker is a full-feature OpenURL link resolver that seamlessly links all of your library resources. When a user finds a citation or reference to a specific article, Article Linker supplies the best available path to the content, anywhere in your collection. Users no longer need to search between databases or repeat searches using different search engines and search methods.” © Serials Solutions, Inc.

Why Article Linker? Happy with Serials Solutions experience and eager to try new services Cost effective Limited technical expertise required We were encouraged by such quotes as: “Article Linker revolutionized our library service in about 15 minutes.” Susan Scheiburg, Assistant Library Director, RAND Corporation

Implementation Cost Initial cost - €4,400 for 7,001-10,000 titles Maintenance of A-Z list & Article Linker Ownership changes: Serials Solutions, Bowker, Proquest No change in the quality of the service 10,001-15,000 title pricing tier this year

Implementation We implemented Article Linker in Autumn 2003 A set-up form, telephone call and from Serials Solutions Two types of set-up: –Do it yourself on the administrator page, e.g. Ebsco. –Contact the provider, e.g. Science Direct Items required in both cases: –Base URL - points OpenURL to Serials Solutions: –Text or Hyperlink information e.g “Find Full Text”

In Action … Examples of Article Linker: ISI Web of Knowledge CINAHL

Usage Statistics Serials Solutions delivers comprehensive usage statistics which allow us to: Discover how often users search for e-journals Recognise when they are searching Identify the tools they are using Discover what they are searching for Overlap analysis

Future Developments Inhouse Z39.50 Search - involving Talis and Serials Solution Central Search - Serials Solutions are working on a federated search engine Further customisation of e-journal portal and results page Serials Solutions ILL form Addition of further services as a result of IReL initiative