Cataloging Free E‐Resources: Is It Worth the Investment?

Publication Date

8-15-2008

Document Type

Article

Organizational Units

University Libraries

Keywords

Academic libraries, Catalogues, Cataloguing, Collection management, Document delivery, United States of America

Abstract

Purpose

This paper seeks to demonstrate the value of adding links to freely available web content to the library catalog (OPAC). This aims to answer the research question: “Is there value to cataloging freely available Internet resources in the OPAC?”

Design/Methodology/Approach

Using a URL redirection system for tracking user access to freely available web publications, three years of click‐through use statistics were gathered by placing redirect URLs in the 856 field, tabulating the use data by project category, and redirecting the user to the desired resource.

Findings

Usage statistics over three years show that cataloging free resources is well worth the effort.

Originality/Value

This is the first study to track use of free resources by click‐throughs to the OPAC.

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