I'm forwarding this email but it's totally relevant. Please reply to
Lauris separately ( [log in to unmask] ) but it would be nice to see
comments here (at Maps-L) too.
Thanks.
Angie
-------- Original Message --------
Subject: Serial Set digital maps lost in LexisNexis-ProQuest migration?
Date: Mon, 1 Oct 2012 15:28:36 -0400
From: Lauris Olson <[log in to unmask]>
Reply-To: Discussion of Government Document Issues <[log in to unmask]>
To: [log in to unmask]
Dear GOVDOC-L colleagues -
During the ongoing LexisNexis Congressional-to-ProQuest Congressional
Publications migration, we seem to have lost 35 years or more of
material in the Serial Set Digital Maps Collection.
When the LexisNexis Serial Set Digital Maps Collection was announced
through GOVDOC-L on 20 June 2007, it was promoted as offering "easy
access to over 56,000 maps from the 18th Century to Today." See the
announcement at URL:
http://lists.psu.edu/cgi-bin/wa?A2=ind0706C&L=GOVDOC-L&P=R2764
Although the LexisNexis announcement and other promotional literature,
such as this brochure, URL:
http://www.lexisnexis.com/documents/pdf/20080722032748_large.pdf
indicate that indexing coverage for the map collection ends with 1969,
LexisNexis Congressional's advanced search page still offers searchable
access to "Serial Set Maps (1789-present)", and the most recent maps I
can find in the collection are from H.doc.110-13, dated 9 February 2007.
[I should point out that the LexisNexis records for H.doc.110-13 appear
to have a major error. The document describes flood control in
Bloomsburgy, PA. Ten of the document's maps are misidentified as
appearing in H.doc.112-13 with a publication date as 9 February 2011;
these bad records helpfully link the ten maps to a document titled
"Continuation of the National Emergency with Respect to Iran". Oh dear.]
The recently-released ProQuestion Congressional Publications advanced
search page now lists "Serial Set Maps 1789-1969". The new ProQuest
Congressional Publications platform has removed all post-1969 LexisNexis
Serial Set Digital Maps Collection images and records. The Bloomsburg
maps are not available from ProQuest, for example.
Our ProQuest Congressional rep tells us that the maps after 1969 were
always considered bonus gratis additions, an additional group of maps at
no extra charge ... and that after the US Corps of Engineers stopped
contributing Rivers and Harbor Series reports in 1980, there are very
few maps, anyway. When we purchased the collection, we did not know that
part of the collection was rescindable.
[I should point out that the ProQuest Congressional content coverage
charge at URL:
http://help.lexisnexis.com/tabula-rasa/congressional/coverage_ref-reference?lbu=US&locale=en_US&audience=all
says, "Serial Set Maps (High Resolution), 1789-1969". The only Wayback
Machine-archived version of this page I can find, from 2 March 2009,
does not include the Serial Set Digital maps Collection - it predates
the more recent LexisNexis Serial Set modules, too. See URL:
http://web.archive.org/web/20090302043921/http://help.lexisnexis.com/tabula-rasa/congressional/coverage_ref-reference?lbu=US&locale=en_US&audience=all
If you're at a library that purchased the LexisNexis Serial Set Digital
Maps Collection, would you please share with me your observations about
this loss and the gist of the communications you've had with ProQuest
about the matter. We're hosting a ProQuest vice president tomorrow (!)
and, although this was brought to my attention only recently, I'd like
to put the question with some support or at least with more information.
Thanks very much. Lauris
Lauris Olson
Social Sciences Bibliographer
Van Pelt Library/6206 e: [log in to unmask]
University of Pennsylvania p: 215 / 898-0119
Philadelphia, PA 19104-6206 f: 215 / 898-0559
U.S.A.
----------------------------------------------------------------
|
