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Librarian, Lumka Ludwaba discusses the pros and cons of the Museum’s move toward e-journal subscription.
MOVING WITH THE TIMES
GOING ELECTRONIC
The Museum staff will be using the terms download, IP address and PDF when they access journals in future as subscriptions to e-journals become a reality this year. Previously, the Museum subscribed to one electronic journal, although some of the print journals were coupled with online access.
The majority of the journals will be electronic this year.
What does going electronic mean for the staff? They can access the journals from their desktops. Library staff will be saved a lot of shelving space and they will not need to claim or replace the journals that have been damaged or lost in the post.
Library staff will be saved a lot of shelving space and they will not need to claim or replace the journals that have been damaged or lost in the post.
However, there are challenges to e-journal subscription. One major concern is archiving. Currently, e-journals are downloaded and stored in folders. This method is not ideal
as only the person who downloaded the journal has access to it. The ideal situation will be where staff can search for these e-journals using the library system rather than searching through a folder.
Another disadvantage is that vendors and suppliers are not accommodating of the needs of different organisations. For example, titles cannot be chosen according to the needs of the Museum, allowing us to pay only for what we want and need.
Our internal publications are now available electronically. Durban Natural Science Museum Novitates and Thola are available on the Durban website. The following link can be used to access the publications: http://www.durban. gov.za/City_Services/ParksRecreation/ museums/nsm/Pages/Publications.aspx
All earlier editions of the Durban Museum Novitates and the Annals of the Durban Museum can be accessed online through SABINET. These publications can be accessed through the following link:
http://reference.sabinet.co.za/ sa_epublication/admn
PARTNERSHIP
The partnership that the Museum has with the Libraries Department has assisted in eliminating duplication of resources regarding subscriptions. The Museum’s journals will be advertised as part of the Libraries Department tender process, meaning that there will be no need for the Museum staff to also go through the same process.
The Museum has also benefitted through the partnership as the Libraries Department subscribes to South African publications via Sabinet. The Museum has therefore been able to cancel the print subscription to two South African journals available on this site, and have thus saved money. Another saving will be when the Museum is included in the tender process for books.
PROVINCIAL MUSEUM
SUBSIDY
Books have been re-classed as capital items. This means that the operational budget cannot be used to buy books. Thanks to the provincial museum subsidy, however, the library was able to acquire 58 titles for the Museum.
thola: VOLUME 17. 2014/15