Have you ever wondered if you should be able to access the online content of a specific journal but found different resources (your OPAC’s holdings or E-Journal A-Z list, etc.) provide conflicting information?  Well, wonder no more!  CDL’s ERMS Portal, an interface for campus library staff to find licensing-related information about CDL-managed electronic resources, usually has the answer and the new Troubleshooting Common E-Journal Problems guide simplifies the answer-finding process.

For example, recently we received a UC-eLinks feedback reporting that a UC faculty member was unable to access the online content of American Scientist (ISSN: 0003-0996) from 2002.  Following the steps in the e-journal troubleshooting guide, it was quickly discovered that access to the systemwide-licensed online content was available from 11/01/2002 to present in Academic Search Complete and MasterFILE Premier.  

The troubleshooting guide mentions that “aggregator databases (e.g., EBSCOhost, WilsonWeb, LexisNexis) often offer ‘selected full text’ only. So even if the article falls into the licensed dates of coverage, it may not be available.” 

If the article in American Scientist that the faculty member wanted was published before November 1, 2002, it would not be available online.  Or if the article citation for the desired article is listed in any of the EBSCOhost databases but the actual article text is not available, it is because of content embargoes or author exclusions.  This is why these databases are designated as providing ‘selected full text’ only in UC-eLinks.  In this case, it turns out that the inability to access the article full text was due to the ‘selected full text’ factor.  Fortunately, the faculty member’s campus library holds the print copy of the desired issue.

More information on CDL’s ERMS Portal is available in the ERMS Portal FAQ, Terms of Use guide, and Search Help.  Take both the “Troubleshooting Common E-Journal Problems” guide and the CDL ERMS Portal for a test drive today!

CDL is pleased to announce the launch of the CDL ERMS Portal, an interface for campus library staff to find licensing-related information about CDL managed electronic resources. The CDL ERMS Portal is part of the larger Serials Solutions 360 Resource Manager system, which has been in use by CDL staff since late 2009.

To access the CDL ERMS Portal, go to http://qc6mn3ja7m.search.serialssolutions.com/

Library staff, quickly find answers to your everyday questions, including:

• Should my campus have access to this title or database?
• Can I use this title to fulfill an ILL request?
• Can I use this article in an electronic coursepack?

What the CDL ERMS Portal is not:

• The portal is not a public access point for journals and databases. To ensure successful access to your resource content, please use the links provided through the Next Generation Melvyl Pilot and/or your local campus discovery services.
• The portal lists UC electronic resources for which CDL manages the payment or licensing processes. Campus-licensed resources and titles are not included in this interface.
• Ebook titles are not included in the portal’s title search results. However, licensing information about Ebook packages can be found under the CDL-Managed Databases & Packages.

Because this is a service hosted at Serials Solutions, there are some limitations to the design of the portal and to the information that can be included.  CDL staff have worked to adapt the portal to meet the needs of campus library staff within these constraints, and we hope to develop additional reports from the 360 Resource Manager system in the coming year.  In the meantime, we look forward to your thoughts and comments about this new tool.

Questions and feedback regarding the portal should be sent to the CDL Helpline.

For questions about the CDL ERMS project and ongoing development activities, please contact Holly Eggleston (holly.eggleston@ucop.edu), or see the project web page at http://www.cdlib.org/services/collections/erms/.

The CDL ERMS Implementation Team (iTeam) has fulfilled its charge and completed the implementation of the CDL ERMS for CDL staff use. The CDL ERMS brings together critical CDL acquisitions and licensing data in one place using Serials Solutions’ 360 Resource Manager, a hosted web product. The CDL ERMS does not include local campus holdings data. The iTeam led the effort from November 2008 to December 2009. Implementation highlights include:

• Developing workflows and defining clear ownership of tasks, which resolved ambiguities and will make it easier to identify efficiencies moving forward,
• Performing a risk assessment, which enabled the team to identify potential problems and to develop a shared understanding of project challenges,
• Saving time by convening expert subgroups to focus on specific problem areas such as loading & syncing data from multiple systems, and advising on workflow efficiencies moving forward,
• Advising Serials Solutions on the development of a report to assist in synchronization of holdings between Serials Solutions (CDL ERMS) and Ex Libris SFX (UC-eLinks) to greatly reduce manually updating in both systems,
• Loading and performing quality control on a large amount of data pertaining to resources, licenses, contacts, and acquisitions-related information.

Wrangling the data

Between August and December 2009, the iTeam undertook the Herculean task of completing data entry, reviewing the data for accuracy, and synchronizing titles and holdings with the various CDL tracking systems including shared cataloging data and UC-eLinks. These systems (the CDL ERMS, UC-eLinks, and SCP records) may continue to reflect some differences for a variety of reasons including different update schedules and different standards for recording titles and holdings.  CDL will be continuing to work on efficient synchronization of data and workflows as implementation goes forward.

Access for UC library staff is in the works

Coming soon, the CDL ERMS will include a publicly accessible interface intended for library staff, dubbed the CDL ERMS Portal. Some work remains before the Portal can be launched, likely to happen in the first quarter of 2010. The Portal will display limited CDL ERMS data, specifically, licensing terms and campus participants for all CDL-managed databases and packages. A fuller description of what is tracked in the Portal will be published in CDLINFO when the service is released.  In the coming months, the CDL ERMS Operations Team will also determine the best way to make additional relevant data and reports available to campuses.

What’s next?

The iTeam has turned over the reins to the CDL ERMS product manager, Holly Eggleston, who is convening the CDL ERMS Operations Team to manage the CDL ERMS moving forward.

A final word of appreciation

I’d like to acknowledge the tremendous efforts of the CDL ERMS iTeam. In particular, Holly Eggleston, Tony Harvell and Margery Tibbetts deserve special recognition for their leadership roles in the implementation.

CDL ERMS iTeam:
Jayne Dickson
Holly Eggleston
Kate Garvey-Clasby
Tony Harvell
Curtis Lavery
Chan Li
Wendy Parfrey
Margery Tibbetts
Adam Brin

Other major participants in implementation included Adriana Moran and Maria Figueroa from CDL Acquisitions. Finally, the iTeam is grateful for the dedication of Leslie Lapham and Jeff Aipperspach from Serials Solutions.

The iTeam was guided by the CDL ERMS Steering Group: Ivy Anderson, Ellen Meltzer, and Patricia Martin. We thank them kindly for their guidance.

Campuses should feel free to contact Holly (holly.eggleston@ucop.edu) with any questions about the CDL ERMS.

In November 2008, CDL convened a team to implement an Electronic Resources Management System (ERMS) to manage CDL’s shared licensing activities for Tier 1 and CDL-supported Tier 2 resources.  The ERMS is hosted on the Serials Solutions 360 platform.  For more information about CDL’s selection of Serials Solutions ERMS, see the CDLINFO article “Serials Solutions Chosen as Electronic Resources Management System (ERMS)” from September 22, 2008.

The ERMS implementation team (iTeam) achieved a major milestone on July 31, 2009 when they finished the initial phase of loading CDL data into Serials Solutions.  During August and September, the iTeam will complete remaining data entry, review the data, and ensure holdings and titles are in sync with the various CDL tracking systems including shared cataloging data and UC-eLinks data.  At the same time, CDL staff will begin adapting their workflow routines to adjust to the new system.

CDL staff have already started using the system to support licensing activities.  CDL Helpline staff are consulting the ERMS on a daily basis and have been pleased with the accuracy of the data loaded by the team. In the coming months, the iTeam will consult with the Collection Development Committee (CDC) to determine the best way to make relevant data available to campuses.

We’ll provide further updates as implementation progresses.  Campuses should feel free to contact Lena (lena.zentall@ucop.edu) with any questions about CDL’s implementation plans.

Interested in the progress of the CDL Electronic Resource Management System (CDL ERMS) project team?

Updated URL 2011
See: http://www.cdlib.org/services/collections/erms/index.html

As a central hub for information about the project, this page includes an overview of the project, the team, and the documents created by the project team and stakeholders.  All CDLINFO articles about the CDL ERMS are available from this page.  At this time, the following documents have been posted:

• CDL Electronic Resource Management Requirements, July 2008
• Implementation Team (iTeam) charge, November 2008

Campuses should feel free to contact Lena Zentall (lena.zentall@ucop.edu) with any questions about CDL’s implementation plans.

After a careful evaluation, CDL has selected Serials Solutions 360 Resource Manager to manage the CDL’s shared licensing activities for Tier 1 and CDL-supported Tier 2 resources.

CDL put in place a rigorous evaluation process, including a detailed set of functional and business requirements, with a goal of selecting an approach and formulating a project plan by September of this year.  Two early components of CDL’s assessment included an evaluation of whether to consider local development as an alternative to a vended solution and, for the latter option, whether to seek a hosted solution or a locally-managed system.  CDL quickly found that local development would not be a fruitful option and determined that a hosted system would be preferable for operational reasons, particularly given the extensive staff resources dedicated to the Next Generation Melvyl Pilot support by WorldCat Local.

CDL then focused its activities on a detailed assessment of the two leading vendor products, Innovative Interfaces, Inc. (III) and Serials Solutions.  The evaluation included a detailed set of functional requirements, several in-house presentations and demonstrations as well as hands-on access to a test system to the maximum extent allowed by each vendor.

While neither system provides all of the functionality CDL desires and each possesses different strengths and weaknesses, the evaluation produced a clear winner in Serials Solutions due to a variety of factors:

• its superior knowledgebase
• better workflow support
• its experience operating a hosted solution
• the ability to operate in a web-based environment without the need for dedicated client software
• a commitment to open standards and interoperability
• an agile development process
• vendor responsiveness
• significantly lower cost.

CDL anticipates the Serials Solutions system will evolve rapidly in the near term to develop improved functionality for consortial licensing activities and that Serials Solutions will be highly responsive to UC requirements.  Campuses will have read-only access to the system to look up information.

Lena Zentall will serve as ERMS Project Manager going forward and will be working on an implementation plan and timetable.  We will keep the campuses apprised as these plans unfold.  Campuses should feel free to contact Lena (lena.zentall@ucop.edu) with any questions about CDL’s implementation plans.

Ex Libris product manager Ted Koppel visited the CDL in November.  As a result of this meeting, CDL is in the process of upgrading our test environment to the beta version of Ex Libris’ ERMS product, Verde 2.0. We are aiming for this upgrade to be completed in January.

Key points

• This is a continuation of what we started last year since it is an upgrade of our test environment only. When we are done testing, we will not be saving the test data.
• This installation is planned to include a central instance (CDL) and up to 4 campus instances.  The campus instances will be determined based our need to test interoperability between Verde and SFX (which underlies our UC-eLinks service).>
• We plan to open this up to the SOPAG ERMS implementation team to use in their work.

Benefits

• Campuses will be able to interact with the latest version and experience the workflow.
• Campuses will be able to analyze their data and processes against the latest version of the software.
• CDL will be able to test the consortial functionality that has resulted from a first round of joint development with Ex Libris — functionality that is required to meet UC’s needs.
• CDL will be able to experiment with data loading, and test other specific concerns.

The systemwide EMRS Implementation team is making progress on overall project guidelines:

• Identifying policy issues that will arise and creating an overall guidelines document that will begin our best practices documentation,
• Working on defining a minimal data set that we all agree each campus should strive for,
• Identifying data elements that require authority, and charting how that authority is currently determined on each campus.  The end goal will be to have agreed-upon systemwide authority guidelines settled on ahead of time, for elements where these are necessary.

CDL is continuing discussion with other consortial institutions who are also implementing Verde 2.0 or plan to implement it.  If, after further investigations with these consortia, and after completing our own testing, we discover no major issues that would prevent us from making use of Verde 2.0, we will proceed on a path to install the Production version.

CDL will be testing early in the year, and we are hopeful that implementation of a production version can proceed mid-year 2007.

Updated URL 2011
See: http://www.cdlib.org/services/collections/erms/index.html