MLA Via Ovid: Access Extended Through June 2005

MLA is removing their database (MLA International Bibliography) from Ovid.  Their intent was to not renew any MLA accounts with Ovid if the account expired after July 2004.  UC’s contract was up for renewal in fall 2004 and this meant we would need to transition to a new vendor on January 1, 2005.

However, Rob Melton (UC San Diego), our MLA Resource Liaison, was able to prevent this hurried transition by communicating directly with MLA’s Director of Bibliographic Information Services and describing the impact this would have on UC’s faculty, students, and staff.  Rob’s email saved the day! UC will be allowed to continue accessing MLA via Ovid through June 2005.

This illustrates the value of our Resource Liaisons. Thanks, Rob, for making the transition easier for everyone!

In the meantime, Rob and John Novak (UC Irvine), the head of the Literature bibliographers group, have formed an MLA transition evaluation group that is working on selecting a new MLA vendor.  So far, the group has looked at the Gale InfoTrac and Literature Resource Center versions and the ProQuest presentation and is now looking at the CSA presentation. Look for more information about the MLA transition in a future issue of CDLINFO.