Electronic legal deposit at the VHL: finding and accessing journals

A year and a half into the new era of Electronic Legal Deposit, and the introduction of Electronic Legal Deposit (eLD) is beginning to be seen on Bodleian Libraries’ shelves – but only among the journals. At the time of writing this post, there are no e-books accessible via eLD for history or politics, or indeed any other subject.

The impact among the journals here at the VHL is the result of some publishers, including Cambridge University Press and Wiley, being early adopters of electronic deposit for their journal titles. The consequence is that issues of Agent's websitetheir journals are now no longer arriving as physical (ie printed) items from the Copyright Agency to then be housed at the VHL. Their contents have become available to read online via Bodleian library computers. However, just as readers have always had to come to the Bodleian to read issues of journals deposited in print form, so they will still need to come to a Bodleian Reading Room and be logged into a Bodleian computer to read issues deposited via eLD; these restrictions are stipulated in the regulations.

Given the restrictions imposed on the use of eLD content, we will be maintaining our existing online journal subscriptions, and readers are encouraged to access these journals via the subscription database option. Subscription e-journals have much better functionality and are also accessible off-campus to University members with their single sign-on.

So far, our journals are relatively unaffected, particularly as we subscribe to so many American titles. However, the following six journals have now transferred to e-deposit and will only be available electronically from now on:

  • American Politics Research
  • Annals of the American Academy of Political and Social Science
  • Comparative American Studies
  • Journal of the Gilded Age and Progressive Era
  • Presidential Studies Quarterly
  • Studies in American Political Development

We have online subscriptions to all but one of these titles (Comparative American Studies). Where a subscription version exists, you are strongly advised to use it in preference to the eLD version! To identify the subscription version as opposed to the electronic legal deposit, look for the [electronic resource] record without the flag ***This copy is available via Bodleian Libraries reading room PCs only***

eld journalsThree further journal titles have also begun to be deposited electronically, but for these the print will also continue under separate arrangements:

  • Diplomatic History
  • Journal of American Studies
  •  Publius

Where journals have ceased to be deposited in print, we are putting signs on the current journals display and on the shelves to alert readers that they are now available online only.

Get automatic alerts for new issues

If you wish to be alerted when a new issue is published, electronic journal subscriptions usually allow users to also set up content alerts, ie you will receive an email each time a new issue has been published. There are also services such as ZETOC and JournalTOCs which will allow you to do this for multiple journals at once. There is a Bodleian iSkills course each term on Getting Information to Come to You, and the handouts with further guidance are available on the iSkills LibGuide.

More support

If you would like more information on how to find eLD material, the Bodleian’s SOLO Libguide includes an eLD page with detailed guidance.Should you encounter any problems when in a library, please do ask a member of staff for help – we are learning this new system too!

More about electronic Legal Deposit

If you are interested knowing more about electronic Legal Deposit in general, there is more detailed information on the central Bodleian website.

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