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May/June 2003
Electronic Publications and AccessLouise Tousignant, Acquisitions and Bibliographic Services For several years, the Library and Archives of Canada has been actively collecting Canadian electronic publication to preserve, promote and make them directly accessible to users. During 2002-2003, more than 3 000 new Canadian works and more than 6 000 new periodical issues were added to the Electronic Collection. Open access is available for most of these publications, making it possible for anyone connected to the Internet to read them from anywhere in the world. Ninety per cent of the Electronic Collection is subject to open access, while access to the remaining 10 per cent of the titles is restricted to "onsite consultation." Publications for which access is restricted can only be consulted onsite at the Library and Archives of Canada, using the computers that are available in the Reference Room at 395 Wellington Street in Ottawa. Access is restricted in order to protect the commercial interest of the publishers, as most of these publications are sold by the publishers. Access to electronic publications was significantly improved last year with the addition of the Acquisitions module in AMICUS, the Library's bibliographic database. Acquisition records have, in fact, appeared in AMICUS since May 2002. As soon as an electronic publication is acquired, archived and entered into the Acquisitions module, it is accessible in AMICUS. To include acquisition records in search results when using AMICUS Web (amicus.nlc-bnc.ca/aaweb/amilogine.htm), simply select the option "Any AMICUS database" from the "Database" field. The search results will then contain both catalogued documents and acquisition records, i.e., new titles that have been acquired and archived but not yet catalogued. With the wealth of Canadian publications to be catalogued, a system of priorities relating to subject and date of publication is in place, which can result in delays in cataloguing of certain publications. Unlike their printed counterparts, electronic publications are accessible immediately upon acquisition. Acquisition records for electronic publications can be used both for bibliographic searching and for accessing the content of an electronic publication. Of course, acquisition records offer several access points: core bibliographic information such as name, title and imprint, and also ISBN, ISSN, the series name and a generous notes section. The URL address appearing in the "E-Locations" field provides direct access to the electronic publication archived at the Library. Acquisition records are later enhanced by the cataloguing service. Based on the level of cataloguing attributed to the publication in question (full, core, minimal or abbreviated), certain access points will be added. For example, subject headings and LC and Dewey classification numbers will complete an acquisition record for a title catalogued as "full." A description of the various levels of cataloguing can be found in The Collection Management Policy of the National Library of Canada (www.nlc-bnc.ca/publications/9/index-e.html#bibliographic). The following is an example of an acquisition record. The term "In process," appearing in the upper left hand corner, identifies it as an acquisition record.
The following is the same title after it has been catalogued. The term "In process" does not appear, and the "NLC COPIES" field indicates "NLC Electronic –"
By providing access to acquisition records for electronic publications using AMICUS, the National Library of Canada's online catalogue, users are able to find the information they are looking for more quickly than ever. For more information, contact: Electronic Publications Acquisitions Section Telephone: (819) 997-9565 or 1-877-896-9481 (toll free in Canada) |
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