CDLINFO Newsletter, December 9, 2004 Vol. 7, No. 21
CONTENTS
- MLA Via Ovid: Access Extended Through June 2005
- New Resource Available
- Early American Newspapers (1690-1876)
- CDL Database Transition Procedures
- OAC Update: Finding Aid Submission Requirements Post-January 2005
- For More Information
- News and Publications
- Contacts for Questions or Problems
- About CDLINFO
1. MLA Via Ovid: Access Extended Through June 2005
MLA is removing their database (MLA International Bibliography) from Ovid. Their intent was to not renew any MLA accounts with Ovid if the account expired after July 2004. UC's contract was up for renewal in fall 2004 and this meant we would need to transition to a new vendor on January 1, 2005.
However, Rob Melton (UC San Diego), our MLA Resource Liaison, was able to prevent this hurried transition by communicating directly with MLA's Director of Bibliographic Information Services and describing the impact this would have on UC's faculty, students, and staff. Rob's email saved the day! UC will be allowed to continue accessing MLA via Ovid through June 2005.
This illustrates the value of our Resource Liaisons. Thanks, Rob, for making the transition easier for everyone!
In the meantime, Rob and John Novak (UC Irvine), the head of the Literature bibliographers group, have formed an MLA transition evaluation group that is working on selecting a new MLA vendor. So far, the group has looked at the Gale InfoTrac and Literature Resource Center versions and the ProQuest presentation and is now looking at the CSA presentation. Look for more information about the MLA transition in a future issue of CDLINFO.
2. New Resource Available
a. Early American Newspapers (1690-1876)
The CDL has acquired Early American Newspapers (1690-1876), a historical collection of American newspapers from Readex/Newsbank.
The Early American Newspapers (EAN) collection was formed by Isaiah Thomas' collection of colonial and early national period newspapers. Later, the American Antiquarian Society supplemented the collection by nearly two million issues. Numerous other institutions and historical societies have also contributed to the collection, including the Boston Athenaeum, the Connecticut Historical Society, the Library Company of Philadelphia, the Library of Congress, the libraries of universities, and private collections.
Among its many titles are the Boston Gazette, Massachusetts Spy, Connecticut Journal, and Farmers Repository. EAN is easy to search via Readex's Archive of Americana interface, which also includes Early American Imprints Series I (Evans, 1639-1800) and Early American Imprints-Series II (Shaw-Shoemaker, 1801-1819).
This resource was recommended by a wide variety of UC selector groups, endorsed by the Joint Steering Committee on Shared Collections (JSC), and approved by the Collection Development Committee (CDC). The license provides perpetual access to the databases for future generations of UC researchers.
Sheila OHare (UC Santa Cruz) is the Resource Liaison.
3. CDL Database Transition Procedures
The CDL only reluctantly makes changes in systemwide databases or database platforms so as to minimize change for users and minimize the work for the campuses and the CDL. At the same time, due to deselections, marketplace challenges and opportunities, and recommendations from Resource Liaisons, bibliographer groups, or the Collection Development Committee (CDC), these transitions do occur with increasing frequency.
Database transitions will be handled in as "routine" a fashion as possible, utilizing existing all-campus groups and CDL liaisons, with no special appointment of "transition teams". Processes, checklists and other tools developed by the CDL and campus groups for previous transitions will also aid in making these transitions as smooth as possible.
To that end, CDL staff will consult with and inform groups appropriate to particular database decisions and transitions and will assure that all campuses are involved in and informed of transitions. Resource Liaisons, relevant bibliographer groups, the Users Council representatives (responsible for assuring that all campus library staff are informed), the CDC, and the Heads of Public Services will also be involved.
The CDL will coordinate these transitions with public services staff and will also assure that the technical work occasioned by database transitions (such as shared cataloging records, UC-eLinks adjustments, etc.) will be instigated.
For a fuller description of transition activities, see the database overlapping principles at: http://www.cdlib.org/inside/resources/licensed/overlapping.html. The CDL will attempt to adhere to all of these principles.
4. OAC Update: Finding Aid Submission Requirements Post-January 2005
Institutions contributing EAD finding aids to the Online Archive of California (OAC) should note the following upcoming dates pertaining to the release of OAC 3.0 in January 2005. For more details, see the project web page at: http://www.cdlib.org/inside/projects/oac/news/
EAD Version 1.0 finding aids will no longer be accepted this December. From December 10, 2004 through mid-January 2005, the voroEAD system used by contributing institutions to submit EAD finding aids will be frozen. The OAC will use this time to run a final batch upgrade of all finding aids from EAD Version 1.0 to EAD Version 2002.
EAD Version 2002 is currently the official EAD Document Type Definition (DTD) maintained by the Network Development and MARC Standards Office of the Library of Congress in partnership with the Society of American Archivists.
After mid-January 2005, only EAD Version 2002 finding aids conforming to the OAC Best Practice Guidelines for EAD, Version 2.0 will be accepted. See the OAC BPG EAD at: http://www.cdlib.org/inside/diglib/guidelines/bpgead/
The specific date for resuming voroEAD services will be announced via the OAC listserv and Inside CDL web pages, and through CDLINFO. Please note that there will be no lapse in OAC public services during this transition.
5. For More Information
a. News and Publications
News and events, press releases, reports and guidelines, and articles published by CDL staff are posted on the CDL web site. Please share news of this resource with your colleagues!
In addition, status information about CDL resources, reports, and working documents of particular interest to library staff are available on the Inside CDL web site.
b. Contacts for Questions or Problems
If you have problems accessing CDL resources or have questions, including questions about the status of electronic journal collections and Internet resources, contact the CDL:- For immediate assistance, call the CDL Helpline at 510-987-0555. Callers with TDD equipment, please call 1-800-735-2929 in California for the telephone relay operator.
- Or, send an email to cdl@www.cdlib.org.
For information about whether your UC campus has access to a particular electronic journal or Internet resource, contact your local collection development officer.
c. About CDLINFO
CDLINFO informs UC librarians and the UC community about the progress of the CDL, policy issues under discussion, and newly available electronic resources. Please share selected information from this newsletter with faculty, staff, and students on the campuses.
Eligible subscribers: UC library employees
Subscriptions: To subscribe for email distribution, send an email to listserv@listserv.ucop.edu with the following line as the body of the message, where FirstName LastName is your name: SUBSCRIBE CDLINFO-L FirstName LastName.
Frequency of publication: Biweekly, or as new information warrants. CDLINFO is also published on the Inside CDL news and events page.
Submissions: For information about submitting to CDLINFO, see the submission deadlines. Email articles to jennifer.colvin@ucop.edu.
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