By Jayne Dickson, CDL Information Services Analyst
Have you ever wondered if you should be able to access the online content of a specific journal but found different resources (your OPAC’s holdings or E-Journal A-Z list, etc.) provide conflicting information? Well, wonder no more! CDL’s ERMS Portal, an interface for campus library staff to find licensing-related information about CDL-managed electronic resources, usually has the answer and the new Troubleshooting Common E-Journal Problems guide simplifies the answer-finding process.
For example, recently we received a UC-eLinks feedback reporting that a UC faculty member was unable to access the online content of American Scientist (ISSN: 0003-0996) from 2002. Following the steps in the e-journal troubleshooting guide, it was quickly discovered that access to the systemwide-licensed online content was available from 11/01/2002 to present in Academic Search Complete and MasterFILE Premier.
The troubleshooting guide mentions that “aggregator databases (e.g., EBSCOhost, WilsonWeb, LexisNexis) often offer ‘selected full text’ only. So even if the article falls into the licensed dates of coverage, it may not be available.”
If the article in American Scientist that the faculty member wanted was published before November 1, 2002, it would not be available online. Or if the article citation for the desired article is listed in any of the EBSCOhost databases but the actual article text is not available, it is because of content embargoes or author exclusions. This is why these databases are designated as providing ‘selected full text’ only in UC-eLinks. In this case, it turns out that the inability to access the article full text was due to the ‘selected full text’ factor. Fortunately, the faculty member’s campus library holds the print copy of the desired issue.