D R A F T 8-18-97

University at Buffalo. University Libraries
Electronic Books and Pamphlets in the UB Catalog
and on the Libraries' Web Site

GENERAL STATEMENT OF POLICY

It is the policy of the University Libraries to provide access to electronic books and pamphlets both through the University Libraries' homepage and through the UB Libraries' catalog. Electronic books and pamphlets include electronic versions of material also issued in a print version, books and pamphlets issued only as electronic publications, and books and pamphlets digitized by the University Libraries or by another library or by a commercial publisher. For the purpose of this document all of these categories will be referred to as "electronic books and pamphlets."

All electronic books and pamphlets which are made accessible through the University Libraries' homepage will also be represented in the catalog with properly formatted access information. The links to electronic books and pamphlets will be via the University Libraries' homepage and, optionally, though individual unit library homepages. All electronic books and pamphlets included on individual unit homepages must also be accessible through the University Libraries' homepage; all titles which are accessible via the University Libraries' homepage will not necessarily be accessible via any unit homepage.

It is the policy of the University Libraries to provide access to an electronic book or pamphlet through the catalog and through the Libraries' web only if the title is accessible to all members of the University community from any unit library. Requirements for passwords and registration and limitations on the number of simultaneous users will not be considered as impediments to making a title accessible to all members of the University community.

Access to electronic books and pamphlets, whether received via purchase, gift, or depository, will result from either selection decisions made by subject specialists or by technical services staff who will automatically establish access to the electronic editions of titles which are already held in print when there is no charge for the electronic edition. This includes titles for which we have purchased the print edition or for which we receive the print edition through a depository program.

A separate region in the Online Resources section of the Libraries' homepage will be maintained for electronic books and pamphlets. This region will serve all areas of the Libraries. There will be no unit or technical services area affiliation with the records in this separate region of the Online Resources section.

This section will consist of an alphabetical list of titles plus a separate title index for books and pamphlets which are government documents. Unlike the sections which are maintained for electronic journals and newspapers, there will not be any informational records for electronic books and pamphlets. Such records for books and pamphlets are not considered necessary since two of the primary purposes for the records which are essential for journals and newspapers--holdings and access information--do not relate to books and pamphlets.

In the alphabetical title index entries will identify authors and editors as well as place of publication, publisher, and date. In the alphabetical title index the government documents classification number will also be provided for those materials. The government documents classification number will be provided as an additional means of searching in the Electronic Books and Pamphlets section not as a means of locating a print copy of the document since the title may not be held in a print version.

The government documents index will be arranged first by type of government document (U.S. federal, Canadian federal, and New York State). This sub-index for U.S. federal documents will be broken down by primary issuing agency arranged in SuDocs order. As an additional means of searching this area the government documents classification number will be provided in the entry.

The electronic books and pamphlets region has keyword searching capability. In addition, questions and comments from staff and patrons can be directed via e-mail from the screens in the electronic books and pamphlets region to those technical services staff responsible for maintaining it. Technical services staff will forward messages of relevance to public services and collection development staff.

For all electronic books and pamphlets for which access is to be provided through the University Libraries' homepage, there will also be access through the UB Libraries' catalog. Although currently that access can be only bibliographic, the linkage needed for direct access from the bibliographic record to the publication itself in a web-based successor to the present BISON system will be included in the bibliographic records.

The following guidelines are to be followed:

When there is a record for the print edition, a copy statement for the electronic edition will be added. Add 538 and 856 fields to the records as described below.

A new bibliographic record will be added when there is not already one in BISON. If there is an OCLC record for the print edition only, that record will be exported to BISON. If there are records in OCLC for both the print and electronic editions, the record for the appropriate electronic edition will be preferred. Add 538 and 856 fields to the records as described below.

Create a copy statement:
1 U [pu],in |k see LONg;view NOTES;Mode of;access

Include a 538 field in the bibliographic record:
|a Mode of access: Internet. Host: [identify host]. Available at URL [provide URL] or through the Electronic Books and Pamphlets section of the Online Resources area of the University at Buffalo Libraries' Homepage.

Include logon and password information in the 538 field if either or both are required to access the item.

Also include an 856 field, 1st delimiter 7 2nd blank |u [provide the URL] |2 http (or |2 gopher or |2 ftp). If an 856 is added and the source is not specified in a |2, use delimiters as follows:

          e-mail     1st delimiter 0  2nd blank
          ftp        1st delimiter 1  2nd blank
          remote login (telnet)  1st delimiter 2nd blank   
          dial-up    1st delimiter 3  2nd blank

Subject specialists will consider priced and gratis electronic books and pamphlets for access and should forward those decisions to the appropriate technical services area. A form available via the CTS homepage can be used to communicate selection decisions. This form can be sent electronically, or it can be copied, completed, and sent through library mail. For those forms sent electronically, CTS will forward the messages for Health Sciences and Law to those areas.

If a unit wishes to provide access to an electronic book or pamphlet (or to a separate area, e.g., government documents or a subset of an area) via its homepage, it will be the unit's responsibility to establish the link from the unit homepage.

Subject specialists will review the electronic books and pamphlets section for possible deselection and should inform the appropriate technical services area of those decisions.

The e-mail account for questions and comments from staff and patrons should be read on a daily basis by CTS staff. CTS staff will also review the e-mail account to which electronic books and pamphlet selection decisions are sent.

Technical services areas will give the same priority to responding to questions and problems related to electronic books and pamphlets as they give to those relating to material in other formats.

Questions and selection/deselection decisions related to Health Sciences or Law Libraries titles should be forwarded to appropriate technical services staff in those libraries.

Specific technical services tasks related to adding a title are as follows:

1. Entering the order for priced material

2. Completing institutional registration procedures

3. Adding the title to the electronic books and pamphlets region of the University Libraries' homepage including determining the URL if that information has not been provided by the subject specialist (Technical services are strongly urged to add new titles to the electronic books and pamphlets region promptly and, when it will be necessary to add an original record to BISON, to add the title to the region first and not wait for the cataloging to be completed).

4. Establishing the link between the electronic books and pamphlets region of the Libraries' homepage and then informing the subject specialist that the work has been done.