Electronic resources

Depending on the resource, decisions pertaining to the selection, retention, and deselection of electronic resources are made by liaison librarians who have designated responsibility for relevant subject areas, the Collections Team, the Coordinator, Collections Management, and the Associate University Librarian, Collections, or a combination thereof.

Selection

The following categories of electronic resources may be selected for inclusion in the UML catalogue:

• full text electronic resources, including monographs, serials, etc.
• multimedia resources
• and databases, including abstract and index databases and data repositories

The following categories of electronic resources may be selected for inclusion in the A-Z Databases list:

• databases, including subscription-based databases and open access databases
• platforms for accessing multiple full-text journals, books, or multimedia content, such as SpringerLink, ScienceDirect, EBSCOhost, and Alexander Street Press
• and other library catalogues, such as WorldCat and Federal Science Library

The following categories of electronic resources will, in general, be excluded from the A-Z Databases list: individual journals, books, e-reference works, web sites and web pages. The UML catalogue and A-Z Databases list is not intended to replicate a search engine. General websites will not be added to the UML catalogue or A-Z Databases list. Resources that are not being included in the UML catalogue or on the A-Z Databases list can be added by liaison librarians/unit heads directly in their subject guides.

In exceptional circumstances, and if copyright allows, printed copies of documents from electronic resources can be added to the physical collection when a liaison librarian or unit head determines that the material should be permanently retained, online access is at risk, and the additional cost of printing, storing and binding the document is warranted.

Accessibility: in addition to quality of content, accessibility of content and platform must be taken into consideration. (See Accessibility of Collections.)

Retention/maintenance of URLs

Deselection of electronic resources will in general follow the same guidelines applicable to deselection of other materials. (See Discarding of Library Materials).

Functionality of URLs in catalogue records is maintained through vendor notifications and vendor updates in our LMS. URLs will not be monitored manually. For those URLs that cannot be maintained automatically Libraries will rely on user-reporting of malfunctioning links.

Questions regarding malfunctioning URLs should be directed to Electronic Resource Management staff.

If you have any questions, contact the Associate University Librarian, Collections.