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Yearly Archives: 2015
New in OneSearch: Journal Issue Filtering
Problem
Years of journal issues can be impossible to wade through when trying to locate specific issues.
Solution
Filters on Location, Year, and Volume.
This tool was already available in the CUNY Catalog and has now been added to OneSearch, too.
Now, when there are sufficient issues to make filtering useful, filters will be offered above the issue list, as seen below (to view issues, open the “Locations” tab):
Source
This filtering, both in the OPAC and in OneSearch, is based on three Aleph item fields:
- sub-library
- volume, aka Enum.Level.1(A)(Vol.) or
enumeration-a - year, aka Chron.Level.1(I)(Year) or
chronological-i
Missing Filters?
There are two situations in which filtering may appear incomplete.
- missing volumes and/or years
- missing filter selection boxes
1. Missing Volumes and/or Years
If you select volume 181 in the example above, it appears that Baruch does not own the issues. However, if you select the year 2008, the result clearly shows that Baruch does own volume 181 and the issues are listed.
This problem is caused by an empty Enumeration Level 1 (Volume) field in Aleph:
This is an example of how enhanced software and search capabilities make consistent cataloging more important than ever.
2. Missing Filter Selection Boxes
This is not actually a problem. Filters do not display for all periodical results.
Filters appear when there are sufficient issues to make filtering useful. The exact threshold (number of issues) at which filters are offered is not documented, but testing shows that the lower limit is definitely greater than four. In one example we found during testing, there are two locations – one with two issues and one with five issues. In this case (two locations, total of seven issues), the filters do display.
Also, if there is only one location or one volume or one year in a record, then that individual type of filter (location, volume, or year) does not display.
Behind the Scenes
The metadata cataloged in Aleph gets communicated to OneSearch in XML format. This is the item record for the record mentioned above, showing the underlying data structure (note the empty enumeration-a field):
<item>
<rec-key>000637362006890</rec-key>
<barcode>31716004953919</barcode>
<sub-library>Baruch Periodicals</sub-library>
<collection>PER</collection>
<item-status>02</item-status>
<note/>
<call-no-1>$$hShelved$$iby title.</call-no-1>
<call-no-2/>
<description>v.181 (2008:May-June)</description>
<chronological-i>2008</chronological-i>
<chronological-j/>
<chronological-k/>
<enumeration-a/>
<enumeration-b/>
<enumeration-c/>
<library>CUN50</library>
<on-hold>N</on-hold>
<requested>N</requested>
<expected>N</expected>
</item>
Open Trails
Back in November of 2011, the CUNY University Faculty Senate passed a Statement and Resolution on Open Access – a resolution which supported the establishment of a CUNY-wide open access institutional repository and which has been a guiding document in the development of that repository, from its collections policies to its mission and goals:
CUNY Academic Works is a service of the CUNY Libraries dedicated to collecting and providing access to the research, scholarship and creative work of the City University of New York. In service to CUNY’s mission as a public university, content in Academic Works is freely available to all.
CUNY Academic Works aims to:
- Provide centralized, public access to the scholarly and creative output of the students, faculty, and staff of the City University of New York.
- Promote research and collaboration within and between the twenty-four campuses that make up the City University of New York, as well as the larger public.
- Preserve the history and development of the City University of New York.
While the mission and goals of Academic Works are clearly stated, it’s understandable that the first steps to meeting them can feel a little uncertain. Therefore, in order to support the Libraries as we embark on the trail to a more open CUNY, the Office of Library Services communicated three actionable goals for our first 18 months:
- In 6 months, 50% of institutions will have at least one collection in the repository
- In 12 months, 100% of institutions will have at least one collection in the repository
- In 18 months, CUNY Academic Works will have 15,000 items representing diverse content types and disciplines
Sound familiar? OLS has been busy getting the word out about Academic Works since the kick-off this March, and, less than four months later, CUNY Libraries has met its first goal. In fact, we passed it. Thanks to the commitment and hard work of CUNY librarians, eighteen (count ’em, 18!) of twenty-four institutions have their first collections in the repository within four months. And these initial collections have us well on our way to meeting the 18 month goal; they include 2,500+ items spanning from traditional journal publications and monographs to data sets, student work, open educational resources, and archival collections that capture the history of the University.
CUNY enters the scholarly communication landscape at an exciting time. It’s a time that some find reminiscent of the wild west (and it certainly has its good, its bad, and its ugly), but it’s also a time in which CUNY has the opportunity to pioneer the way.
Useful Information regarding Fiscal Year End (FYE)
Are you new to acquisition’s Fiscal Year End process? At a loss for what to do in Aleph to make sure you’ve got everything set up correctly? Check out the checklist on the OLS Support Site:
http://support.cunylibraries.org/systems/aleph/fiscal-year-end
Also included on this page are related Aleph reports that you may want to check out.
