ERM FAQ
What is ERM and why has Cornell University Library purchased III’s ERM product? The Innovative Interfaces, Inc. Electronic Resource Management system (III ERM) is a tool for digital resource and license management and can be used as a stand-alone product with any library management system, including our Voyager LMS. Cornell’s existing system (a few key individuals, assorted paper files, e-mail archives, and loose data in Voyager acquisitions records) is not sustainable over the long term and makes CUL vulnerable to permanent loss of information and interruption of service to e-resources that are important to its users and for which the Library has committed significant financial resources. In fact, much of this information needs to be shared beyond those few key individuals. The existing system does not promote the sharing of this information. The ERM tracks access restrictions, registered IP addresses, negotiation details, contract data and permissions for resources. When coupled with a Web OPAC, the ERM can display some of this information to end-users as well as staff, giving details about system availability, restrictions on access, holdings data, or printing permissions. How does the ERM relate to ENCompass? The systems are completely separate, physically. They are installed on two different servers. They are written and supported by two different companies. In terms of functionality, though, there are many similarities. In the near term, the library's current Find e-Journals service is being moved from ENCompass to the III ERM. In the medium term, we expect to move the Find Databases service from ENCompass to the III ERM. The advantage to using III ERM instead of ENCompass is the superior ability of the ERM to manage the metadata required to maintain and manage the license for the resource, and to associate the license terms with a particular title or provider. In the long term, one could envision the functionality of each being built into a single integrated system; or perhaps they will remain separate, but there will be hooks built for them to talk back and forth. For example, it would make sense to manage all the administrative metadata in III ERM required for the connections to the various external repositories needed for Find Articles in ENCompass. Another point of overlap is the coverage database that underpins link resolvers. At present, Find Articles uses the LinkFinderPlus product from Endeavor. The same coverage database will also be maintained in the III ERM. We can expect to see some interesting developments and maneuvers from the vendors competing in this space. How do I use the ERM to find out information about an e-journal’s license? The III ERM provides an opportunity to record, organize and display information on the licenses and use agreements in place for CUL’s large and growing e-resource collections. Staff and library users will be able to get more resource and title-level license information than currently available through either ENCompass or Voyager. After a review of the licenses currently in place, more detailed information for each agreement will be recorded online. For staff and patrons using the Find E-journals WebOPAC, permissions and restrictions will be more accessible, including details on such rights as use in interlibrary loan and e-reserves. For those who maintain the subscriptions and troubleshooting problems with our ongoing access to these resources, the staff view of the records will collect more information together in one place than previously possible. Currently much of this information is available in many files and folders held by staff throughout CUL. Better access to and organization of this information has been an elusive goal owing to the limitations of existing systems not designed for this purpose. Does the system handle e-reserves? The ERM will provide a fast search for e-journals, holdings information, and a link to the journal itself. In addition, the license information provided in the ERM will indicate whether the e-journal contents may be used for e-reserve and what requirements and/or procedures there are for doing so (i.e. directly linking to articles, copy pdfs to a local server, …). In an effort to comply better with copyright policies and to make the most use of our electronic holdings, reserve staff can search the ERM, determine proper use for the materials, quickly get to the relevant articles, and post them to a reserve list in accordance with the agreements in place with the vendors. Does the system help interlibrary loan? The ERM will give CUL the potential to begin lending material from the Cornell collections where we only hold electronic versions. It will provide a fast search for e-journals, holdings information, and a link to the journal itself. In addition, the license information provided in the ERM will indicate whether the e-journal contents may be used for interlibrary lending and what requirements and/or procedures there are for doing so (i.e. copy pdfs to a local server, print then scan, …). Before ERM, it was difficult to determine whether lending the electronic format of the material was allowed by the terms of our license agreements. In an effort to make the most use of our electronic holdings, ILL staff can search the ERM, determine proper use for the materials, quickly get to the relevant articles, and send them to borrowers in accordance with the agreements in place with the vendors. How will Find e-Journals in ERM differ from the current system supported through ENCompass? While we will strive to integrate Find e-Journals through ERM into the “look and feel” of the current Endeavor-based system, the new III-based system will provide some desired improvements.
What is the timeline for the implementation? The ERM Implementation Committee is working hard to bring the Find e-Journals part of ERM into production as soon as possible. The III platform is much superior to our existing one in terms of response time and general ease of use. It allows us to manage updates to our records on a more regular schedule. While the Committee continues its work, there will be several opportunities and requests for feedback on the content and format of our new interface to Find e-Journals. Be looking for this improved service sometime in early March 2005.
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