What is SFX?

SFX allows you to link seamlessly between electronic resources within the CSULB Library's digital collection.  When you find a journal citation in a database, you will be able to click on the SFX link to bring up links to all places the article is available. If the CSULB Library has no electronic subscription, you will be directed to search COAST, the CSULB Library Catalog, or to order the item via Interlibrary Services.

SFX is under continuous revision.  If you would like to make any comments or suggestions regarding SFX, please let us know.

SFX links may look different from database to database.  Here are some different ways it might display:

"Link to full text via SFX"

"Click to locate item"

Clicking the SFX link (or logo) will open a new window with direct links to various online sources for the article. 

Notes on Known Issues:

These known issues regarding SFX may interfere with its accuracy and/or functionality.  If you have any difficulties using SFX, please let us know.  Not all our our research databases can be implemented with SFX. 

• MS IE URL length restrictions.  MS IE can not accommodate URLs that are over 2083 characters long. Though this is in infrequent occurrence, you may see it when attempting to launch the feedback form from the SFX menu.  This is not an issue in Firefox. 
• Seasonal issues.  Specifically regarding citations from EBSCO (e.g. Academic Search Elite) that resolve to any Proquest full text database (e.g. ABI Inform, Newspapers), but may occur with other databases.  "Seasonal issue" designations (e.g. Summer, Fall, Winter, Spring) will NOT resolve correctly to the article level.  Until EBSCO chooses to fix this problem, your best bet to verify availability is to launch Citation Linker and use it to find the article.
• Supplements, Dual or combined volumes/issues, special issues.  Any time a publisher changes the sequencing of the issues/volumes (and sometimes even page numbers) there will be a failure to find the information via SFX.  If the vendor is sending this supplemental "info" in the url string that it submits to SFX, SFX has no way to resolve what that "supplement" is.  The good news is that SFX will still generally get you to the database (even with that "page not found" message) so that you can persist and repeat your search there.
• Newspaper Dates to Proquest.  If the SFX source includes volume and issue on a newspaper article, and the SFX target is Proquest (Newspapers), you may have a failure to match because Proquest does NOT use the volume/issue numbers.  The simplest workaround is to search for the article in Proquest.
• Missing page numbers.  If a citation in an SFX database does not include pagination for the article, SFX will not resolve to the article level, but will offer a table of contents list for that issue.
• Missing ISSN.  If a citation in an SFX database does not include an ISSN for the journal, SFX can not correctly find this item.  This known issue is expected to be resolved in the next SFX upgrade (spring 2005).  Until the upgrade occurs, your best bet is to launch  Citation Linker and use it to find the article.
• COAST number search retrieves a book instead of the journal. If an article cited in an SFX database is available in our local collections via COAST, when you click on the link in the SFX menu, it will search COAST for the ISSN for that journal.  Note that the COAST number search retrieves both ISSN and ISBN and the number search is automatically truncated, so instead of retrieving a result matching the 8 digit ISSN, you could retrieve a result that includes a 10 digit ISBN which begins with those 8 digits.
• RILM record types.  SFX does not recognize all non-standard records types which may be used in a database.  RILM has a multitude of unusual record types that do not match up in SFX. Since these record types might be either serial or monographic, you should try the Citation Linker to find articles or COAST to find monographic materials if you get no match via SFX.  
• Readers' Guide Abstracts from FirstSearch.  If the individual record in RGA does not identify "record type: article", the SFX link will not even display, although it is possible that the article is available either electronically or in our local collections.  Until Readers' Guide Abstracts (data is supplied to FirstSearch by Wilson) chooses to fix this problem, your best bet is to launch Citation Linker and use it to find the article.
• Embargoed issues. Since SFX functions by matching against the ISSN, it will correctly identify those full text aggregators which supply that journal.  However, if the journal publisher does not allow the aggregator to distribute the latest issue(s), there is no way for SFX to identify that.  If you are not sure whether the issue you need is embargoed, consult the detailed publication information at the full text aggregator's web site.
• Factiva and Lexis Nexis.  Two of our largest full text providers do not resolve to the article level.  This is not an "SFX issue" per se, but is a result of the way both of these providers structure their own databases.  We have assurances from Factiva that this is an issue they are addressing in the future.
• Selected full text.  This issue occurs particularly with Factiva and Lexis Nexis, but can occur with ANY VENDOR. It occurs when the aggregator chooses to (or contracts for) only selected content from any given issue/volume of a specific journal.  It also may apply when an aggregator is unable (for any reason) to acquire an individual issue of a specific journal volume.  SFX can correctly identify that the ISSN is available from that aggregator, but can't verify availability at the individual article level or issue level.  If you don't seem to be able to find the specific article by "searching" within Factiva or Lexis Nexis, you will need to consult the detailed publication information at the aggregator's web site to determine whether or not this is an issue with "selected full text".
• Newspaper editions (e.g. WSJ) and multiple ISSNs.  Several newspapers make available multiple editions (notably the Wall Street Journal, New York Times, and Advertising Age, but there are others!).  Different editions of newspapers may be indexed by our databases and made available full text from our aggregators.  It may not be clear which edition is being indexed! but if what is being indexed has an ISSN other than the ISSN used by our full text aggregators, you may get the "no full text available" message.  In order to doublecheck on availability in these instances, launch Citation Linker and use it to find the article.
  
  
  

   

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