[Yulpub] MetaLib subject categories

[Denise Hersey]

Hello everyone,
   I am sure that many of you have been taking a look at 
MetaLib.  Liaisons here at the Medical Library have been particularly 
interested in the way the e-journals have been categorized by subject 
area via MetaLib.  When we look at the subject areas we are 
responsible for, we have been surprised by the journals listed.  Many 
very important journals within our subject areas are missing from the 
lists in the MetaLib subject areas.  For instance, when I looked at 
the top ten journals by impact factor in Anesthesiology, the top five 
journals  were not even listed in the Anesthesiology subject list 
within MetaLib.  Other liaisons here did similar comparisons for 
their subject areas and found the same discrepancies.
     Many of us feel that it would be a disservice to our patrons to 
point them to these lists via the subject areas of MetaLib.  However, 
we are wondering if this is something that is only apparent within 
the medical subject lists or if similar problems exist in other 
subject fields in MetaLib as well.
    We are asking that if you are a liaison to a department, or a 
subject specialists, to take a few minutes to at least compare the 
top journals in your subjects (using JCR for example in addition to 
your experience with your departments) to those listed in 
MetaLib.  Perhaps we can get a discussion going via yulpub regarding 
the quality of the MetaLib subject lists.
    Thank you for your help!
Denise Hersey

Denise P. Hersey
Liaison Activities Librarian
Cushing/Whitney Medical Library
Yale University
203-785-6251