CAIRN
Overview
Abstract
CAIRN aggregates scholarly journal content for social science and humanities journals published in France and Belgium. Most of the content dates back only to 2001. As of early 2013, a total of 341 titles and 3.2 million pages were included. Content is updated continually, averaging five new journal issues per day.
CAIRN also offers e-book packages since 2010.
Sources
Sources for this review include information publicly posted or obtained directly from the publisher, data collected by CRL staff and members, and examination of the digital collection when possible. Other sources are noted where cited.
CAIRN was also reviewed in: Marisa Scigliano, "Cairn", The Charleston Advisor 11(4) April 2010: 36-38. Accessed September 27, 2012. ; Heather Dawson, “Review of Cairn.Info”, French Studies Library Group Annual Review, issue 8 (2011-12): 7-10. Accessed September 27, 2012.
Analysis
Collection Content
CAIRN aggregates scholarly journal content for social science and humanities journals published in France and Belgium. Most of the content dates back only to 2001. As of early 2013, a total of 341 titles and 3.2 million pages were included. Content is updated continually, averaging five new journal issues per day.
CAIRN, launched in 2005, was started as an initiative of four French language publishers to support the publication and dissemination of journals in the humanities and social sciences on the internet. The National Library of France has been associated with the project since 2006.
CAIRN organizes its collection of journals into four different ‘bouquets,’ or packages, from which subscribers may choose. Some titles are repeated in the various bouquets, which are:
- Bouquet Sciences humaines
- Bouquet Sciences économiques, sociales et politiques
- Bouquet French Studies
- Bouquet Général
Scigliano1 indicates that Cairn plans to add monograph texts as well as additional journal titles.
CAIRN also offers e-book packages since 2010.
Delivery
Technical platform & interface
The review by Scigliano notes that many titles are indexed in the French abstracting service FRANCIS as well as in English-language abstracting and indexing tools. Readers can establish an account and receive notification of content updates through RSS2.
Endnotes
1Marisa Scigliano, “Cairn”, The Charleston Advisor (April, 2010): 36-38, accessed March 16, 2011 (p. 37)
2Ibid, p. 38
Details
Direct from Publisher
Sources
Collection Content
| Subjects covered | Literature, Linguistics, Philosophy, Economics, Political Science, Sociology, Geography, Law, Psychology, Education, and History | |
| Geographic coverage | Mostly France and Belgium | |
| Chronological coverage | Varies by journal. Earliest available journal issue is 1997, but most start around 2001. | |
| Content types | Journals and e-books | |
| Source formats | Electronic files of journal and e-book content | |
| Total titles | 341 as of early 2013 | |
| Total pages | 3.2 million as of early 2013 | |
| Digital collection launch date | 2005 | |
| Update frequency | Content updated daily. On average, 5 new journal issues are added per work day. | |
| Collection ongoing | Y | |
| Completion date | N/A | |
| Available supplements | N/A | |
| Major languages | French |
Technical Platform
| Browser compatibility | Compatible with recent versions of all common browsers | |
| Authentication options | IP Authentication; Shibboleth compliant for French libraries | |
| Archiving solution – master files | N/A | |
| Archiving solution – derivative files | After a minimum of 3 years of subscription, an institution that decides to stop its subscription to Cairn.info will have the opportunity to retain a perpetual access right for content they accessed during their last year of subscription. For access to this archived material hosted on the platform Cairn.info, cancelling institutions will be charged 10% of the price paid for the last year, invoiced in January of each year, for three years only. | |
| Availability in web discovery tools | N | |
| Open URL target | N/A | |
| Federated searching, z39.50 | N/A | |
| Local host option | N | |
| Usage statistics | Y (sent to subscribers monthly) |
Interface Tools
| Full text displayed | Y | |
| Page images | Y | |
| Color images | N/A | |
| Search full text | Y | |
| Advanced search (fielded) | Y | |
| Search within results | Y | |
| Limit results by dates and/or document types | Y | |
| Display highlighted search terms | Highlights appear in HTML version not the PDF version | |
| Display snippet -- search term in context | Y | |
| Relevance sorting | Y | |
| Save searches | Y | |
| Download PDF | Y | |
| Download HTML | Y | |
| Print page | Y | |
| Print full document | Y | |
| Export citations | Y | |
| Annotation tools | N | |
| Cross-product searching | Cross searching available within each "bouquet" group | |
| ILL | Y | |
| Restrictions on use | See Participant Agreement for details. (Available to subscribing CIFNAL members.) |
Provider
| Publisher / Distributor | CAIRN France | |
| Address | 5 rue de Charonne 75011 Paris France | |
| Contact | www.cairn.info | |
| Related product(s) | CAIRN also provides an ebooks collection | |
Terms
| Terms | Options | Notes | |
|---|---|---|---|
| Subscription option | Y | For members of CIFNAL | |
| Purchase option | N | ||
| Multiple year payments option | N/A | ||
| Hosting charges | N/A | ||
| List of purchasers available | |||
| Sample license available | Y | For members of CIFNAL, it can be found on the CIFNAL Workspace. | |
| MARC records purchase fee | N/A | ||
| Price tier basis | Y | Based on FTE and collection selected. Discounts available for maintaining print subscriptions. |
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