[Yulpub] SFX e-journal subject categories

[Denise Hersey]

Hello everyone,
   I mistakenly referred to Metalib in my earlier message when I 
really meant SFX, so here is the corrected email:

I am sure that many of you have been taking a look at the SFX subject 
categorization of e-journals.
http://sfx.library.yale.edu/sfx_local/azlist?perform=searchCategories

Liaisons here at the Medical Library have been particularly 
interested in the way the e-journals have been categorized by subject 
area via SFX.  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 SFX 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 SFX.  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 SFX.  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 SFX 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 
SFX.  Perhaps we can get a discussion going via yulpub regarding the 
quality of the SFX subject lists.
    Thank you for your help!
Denise Hersey


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