Catalog records

Updated Dec. 2021

Catalog records for remote access e-serials

The majority of Princeton's catalog records for remote access serials come from the Alma Community Zone (CZ). Activation in Alma enables discovery of these e-serials, and their constituent articles, in a variety of online tools in addition to the catalog, most notably in the Articles+ search tool.

CZ bibliographic records (also called descriptive records) may be full or brief, as available. They originate from various sources and may not always conform to normal cataloging standards. Some may contain only a few basic fields and use non-standard constructions or codings.

No systematic local review is performed on these records. However, some may be reviewed at the time of activation, or during troubleshooting. It is possible to de-link them permanently from the CZ in cases where they need improvement or replacement. Any records left linked to the CZ will have local updates overwritten if the global CZ record is updated. The procedure for replacing an e-serial bib can be found here.

In Alma, URL and coverage information are not part of the descriptive record but are stored in associated records called portfolios. An e-serial that has holdings available at multiple websites will have multiple portfolios linked to the same bib. Consequently, when creating or editing e-serial catalog records, guidelines for provider-neutral cataloging are followed; details that apply only to one specific provider's instance of the serial are omitted.

New serial records appear in the public catalog within a day of activation.

For more information, consult the Serials and E-Resources Team (SeERs).