Access Problem Solving (digprob)
Scope of Vera - DRAFT 040517
Policies covering the kinds of materials that are represented by records in Vera were developed by VOLT [Vera Operations Library Team] and WAG [Web Advisory Group], in consultation with public services and technical services staff. The policies were developed to balance user needs with the practical limitations of staff and resources. There have been no major changes in the scope of Vera since its launch in 1999 through 2003, but the advent of record loading in 2004 has led to some adjustments.
In general, Vera contains records for individual electronic journals and databases, as well as collection-level records for purchased aggregations such as "JSTOR" or "Factiva." Collection-level records are created for complete ejournal collections such as "American Institute of Physics (AIP) Online Journal Service" if users will have access to every title (or nearly every title) listed at the site. If we buy only a few of a publisher's titles, we do not show a collection-level record to the public (but create one to record information the staff needs.)
In general, Vera does not contain records for individual nonjournal serials (including conferences) or individual ebooks, although a record for an aggregation of such material is included if its contents is cross-searchable.
Specifics of what material is not represented in Vera:
- Ejournals that are available free-to-the-world, but which will require payment for access in less than one year, unless we have a commitment to purchase a paid subscription, or unless they are loaded in an open-access data set such as the Directory of Open Access Journals or in the SerialsSolutions data set.
- Ejournals that have very limited content available on the web, such as one or two issues, unless they are loaded in an open-access data set such as the Directory of Open Access Journals, or in the SerialsSolutions data set.
In 2004, we began loading records for the Directory of Open Access Journals, and opened the door to doing so for other open access journal listings. The policies indicated above about ejournals having to offer a certain amount of content, or having to be free for a certain period of time, do not necessarily apply to these loaded records.
- Ejournals that offer only tables of contents, no fulltext articles.
- Ejournals in article-based aggregations such as Proquest General Reference unless we can load them automatically. The treatment of article-based aggregations has evolved over time. Prior to 2004, we listed such aggregations only at the level of the collection; in early 2004, we began loading title-level records for journals within these databases into Vera on a regular basis. So the policy was originally that we would not list titles within 'fluctuating aggregators' or article-based databases, but now we will list them if we can load them automatically.
- Ebooks at the individual title level, although we list a collection of ebooks as a database if the contents is cross-searchable, such as Books24x7.
- Annuals, nonjournal serials: We do not list annual reports, annual statistical summaries, etc.
- Conferences, although we list a collection of conferences as a database if the contents is cross-searchable, like ACM Digital Library or IEEE Xplore.
- Working papers, although we list a collection of working papers as a database if the contents is cross-searchable, like the Centre for Economic Policy Research Discussion Papers [CEPR].
- Government documents: we list only those ejournals and databases specifically requested for inclusion in Vera by selectors (such as the NASA database and the Monthly Labor Review.)