Hi all
Re: the changes to journal searching…
When searching for a journal from either the catalogue under journal/ejournal search, or using the blue navigation bar – now labelled JOURNALS instead of EJOURNALS – the results go directly to the Serials Solutions page with title and UBC Print Holdings or online versions available. There is no intermediary screen that allows you to choose Print or Electronic. Because our print and microform collections have been loaded into the Serials Solution database, it was felt that the intermediary screen was redundant. HOWEVER, there are cases where the search brings up no results, or may be missing some of the print/microform collections, when in fact we do have the title. So it’s important to follow up on all search options if you don’t find what you want. This means also searching the “check catalogue” search box if you don’t find results, or the format you want.
Now that some of the bugs and problems have been exposed, we are working on some changes to give us more complete and accurate results from the first search. In the meantime, remember to follow up with a catalogue search if you don’t find any results.
Try searching for the journal “Times Literary Supplement” as an example. You get no results. Yet a catalogue search finds this title. This one is missing I think because it has no ISSN.
Variant titles are also a problem. Try Reference Services Review. It finds the online, but not print – because in our print catalogue it is catalogued as RSR Reference Services Review. Then try it as a title in the catalogue (not journal, but title). It is there.
So, while we (the Serials Solution Working Group) feel this move to eliminating the intermediary screen is a good one, there are some problems, which we are working on. In the meantime, follow up on all options when searching for a journal title.