Everything You Always Wanted To
Know About SFX …
LRC Helpdesk Training
June 2012

What is ‘SFX’
• Link resolver and knowledge base for e-
journals and e-books, from ExLibris
• Links into iCat through regular harvesting of
basic metadata
• Generates A-Z list of e-journals and SFX menu
• Allows linking out from databases to full-text
• Doesn’t stand for anything now but was
originally ‘special effects’ and originated at
Ghent University in the late 1990s

What does this mean in practice?
• One-stop list of e-journals (and eventually, e-
books) from every provider, in one place
• As this is the oldest link resolver on the
market, it is very technical compared to
competitors such as SerialsSolutions
• Allows a range of linking (to full text, abstract,
TOC) if we wished to set this up
• From databases and iCat full-text articles can
be accessed within two clicks

Behind the scenes …

Where most of the work happens

First, what about that terminology?!
• Source = where the search process begins
• Target = database or provider
• Object = journal or book
• Object portfolio = journal or book within a
target
• Linking parameters = authentication
• Institutes = different sites (not used)

Sources include …
• iCat
• Databases with the ‘Find it!’ button
• COPAC
• Google Scholar
• SFX Citation List and A-Z list of e-journals
• Zetoc

Targets include …
• All the usual databases – but at the moment
with standard system generated names so
‘Science Direct’ is ‘NESLI2 Elsevier Science
Direct Freedom Collection’
• Some miscellaneous groups such as ‘Free e-
journals’ which are lists from different
providers, brought together
• Services such as Amazon (for book reviews)

Target list – a tick means ‘active’

Understanding what the buttons mean

Investigating an active target

Investigating an active target service -
1

Investigating an active target service -
2

Investigating active object portfolios

Behind the scenes of object portfolios

Terminology again!
• Target Service Parser – system generated,
otherwise we use BULK:BULK and link to
journal homepage URL only
• Parser – only used if a target service one does
not exist
• Parse Param – identifying code for the journal,
usually taken from the URL
• Threshold – dates the journal is available to us

An example …
• We would like to activate the journal “Test for
SFX” in the database “ADISONLINE”
• First, we need to search the knowledge base
to see if this journal (object) already exists –
we can search by title and/or ISSN

Searching for an object

If no results, we need to add the
object

Adding an object

Title added with system generated
identifier (no ISSN)

Now to create a portfolio (linking the
object to a target)

Find your target …

Add link through to the journal (parse
param)

Adding thresholds (dates)

Finished! Now to check that it works

Generated SFX menu

Harvesting into A-Z list/iCat
• Usually takes 24 hours after setting up a new
object portfolio, or making any changes, for it
to appear in the A-Z list or iCat
• Titles can be searched in various ways and we
have tried to add all previous titles where they
are available to us
• E-books are available in iCat only, by title and
author

The e-journals A-Z – labels are
customizable if we wish

E-journals A-Z, title search

E-journals A-Z, the information button

E-journals A-Z, category browse

E-journals A-Z, locate search (publisher
or provider)