E-Journals - Inside and Out

Declaring Independence: A Guide to Creating Community-Controlled Science Journals

http://www.arl.org/sparc/DI

This is the mission statement for SPARC (the Scholarly Publishing and Academic Resources Coalition), which is a project started by the Association of Research Libraries to create alternatives to high- cost journals produced by commercial publishers. These journals are primarily in the sciences and are the highest-priced journals. The supporting materials document well the current crisis facing academic libraries which are faced with rising serial prices and stagnant budgets. This may help to explain why libraries are hesitant to add new journals, are canceling current print subscriptions or are shifting to alternative formats, e.g., electronic journals.

CH Working Papers

http://www.kcl.ac.uk/humanities/cch/chwp/

The CH Working Papers (Computing in the Humanities Working Papers) are an interdisciplinary series of refereed publications on computer-assisted research. They are a vehicle for an intermediary stage at which questions of computer methodology in relation to the corpus at hand are of interest to the scholar before the computer disappears into the background. It includes the following categories of publication: articles appearing for the first time; postprints, articles that were originally published in print form; preprints, articles that have been accepted for publication by print journals and that will either be withdrawn when published in print or become postprints; essays on the epistemology and sociology of computer-assisted research relevant to computing in the humanities; and non-refereed experimental papers that exploit those properties of the electronic medium that are significantly different from the properties of print.

Journal of Electronic Publishing

http://www.journalofelectronicpublishing.org/

Currently in its fifth year of publication, the Journal of Electronic Publishing (JEP) is intended as a resource for those who deal with electronic publications as authors, editors, publishers, librarians and users. In addition to serving as a platform for comments, the journal serves as a testbed for innovation in digital publication.

"White Paper on Electronic Journal Usage Statistics," by Judy Luther

[doi: 10.3998/3336451.0006.304]

This paper was originally published by the Council on Library and Information Resources in October of 2000 and has been reprinted by JEP. Luther has undertaken the formidable task of attempting to catalog the difficulties in tracking the usage of electronic serials from the both the library's and the publisher's point of view. Libraries need this information to determine if the thousands of dollars spent on electronic journals are appropriately distributed. Without good use statistics there is no way for libraries to determine who are actually using the resources which they provide to their patrons. There is no easy or simple way for a library to compile this data. Since publishers house the journals themselves, they have to compile the statistics for their customers. There are currently no standards for what data will be compiled or provided to libraries. This is an ongoing issue, the outcome of which will be important for all members of the academic community.

Computers in Libraries

http://www.infotoday.com/cilmag/ciltop.htm

This journal covers the application of technology to libraries. The full text of back issues is available online with limited coverage of current issues. The most recent issue focuses on serving library patrons who do not actually come into the physical library.

April 2001, Vol. 21, No. 4 "Our Experiment in Online, Real-Time Reference," by Kelly Broughton.

Broughton details the efforts at Bowling Green State University in Ohio to develop real online reference service. The explosion in electronic information has made distance education a real alternative to the traditional higher education experience. However, in addition to providing access to resources, librarians have been struggling with how to serve students and faculty with instruction and reference assistance. After trying a variety of methods, they settled on an interactive chat program that operates as a java applet, which means that the patron needs no software other than a browser to use the service. The article also outlines the various problems with providing this type of service. This is a good case study for institutions planning this type of program.

Information Research: An International Electronic Journal

http://www.shef.ac.uk/~is/publications/infres/ircont.html

This journal is published four times a year by Professor Tom Wilson of the Department of Information Studies, University of Sheffield, in association with Nanyang Technological University, Singapore (Regional Editor, Dr. Suliman Hawamdeh); University of Tampere, Finland (Regional Editor, Dr. Reijo Savolainen); Pennsylvania State University, USA (Regional Editor, Dr. Amanda Spink); and the University of Vilnius, Lithuania (Regional Editor, Dr. Elena Maceviciute). It addresses the importance of the international nature of electronic information, dissemination and access.

January 2001, Vol. 6, No. 2

Special Issue on Taxonomy and Classification

http://www.shef.ac.uk/~is/publications/infres/6-2/infres62.html

"Do Citation Systems Represent Theories of Truth?" by Betsy Van der Veer Martens.

This article compares the standard citation systems in science, law and technology at the micro, meso and macro levels as commodified theories of truth. The micro level of citation usage positions ideas in relation to the past knowledge of the particular group. The meso level of citation use as a concept symbol establishes relationships between various citations as a purported measure of influence. The macro level is predictive. It is used in citation analysis and the study of infometric distribution. This paper explains how the use differs by discipline and how the citation systems of science, technology and law each represent separate theories of truth.

October 6, 2000, Vol. 6, No 1

Special Issue on Web Research

Use of historical documents in a digital world: comparisons with original materials and microfiche, by Wendy M. Duff and Joan M. Cherry, (University of Toronto, Canada).

EJI(sm): A Registry of Innovative E-Journal Features, Functionalities, and Content

http://www.public.iastate.edu/~CYBERSTACKS/EJI.html

Gerry McKieran, a librarian at Iowa State University, compiles this registry and continually searches for new innovations in electronic journal publishing. While the bulk of the journals included on this list are scientific in nature, they represent some of the most innovative examples on digital publishing currently available.

Ariadne

http://www.ariadne.ac.uk/

Ariadne is published quarterly by UKOLN which is funded by Resource: the Council for Museums, Archives & Libraries; the Joint Information Systems Committee (JISC) of the Higher Education Funding Councils, as well as by project funding from the JISC and the European Union. UKOLN also receives support from the University of Bath where it is based.

Ariadne is targeted principally at information science professionals in academia, and also to interested lay people both in and beyond the Higher Education community. Its main geographic focus is the UK, but it is widely read in the US and worldwide. Ariadne has as its principal goal to report on information service developments and information networking issues worldwide, keeping the busy practitioner abreast of current digital library initiatives. It has reported in depth to the information community at large on progress and developments within the UK Electronic Libraries Programme since its inception, and now additionally reports on newer JISC-funded programmes and services.

March 23, 2001, Vol. 27

Among the main articles in this issue of Ariadne are: After the Big Bang: the forces of change and e-learning. Pete Johnston examines what recent developments in the area of "e-learning" might mean for the custodians of the information resources required to support teaching and learning.

• The Digital Preservation Coalition. Neil Beagrie reports on proposals to establish a Digital Preservation Coalition in the UK.
• Books for Students: EBONI. Ruth Wilson of the Centre for Digital Library Research on how the EBONI project will investigate the usability of e-books through user evaluations.
• Ancient World, Digital World: Excavation at Halif. Paul Jacobs reports on how field and research strategies were impacted significantly by the use of digital technology in the 1999 field season at Tell Halif, Israel (the Lahav Research Project).

"Building the Virtual Reference Desk in a 24/7 World."

http://www.loc.gov/rr/digiref/webcasts/"

The Proceedings of the Symposium on Digital Reference, co-hosted by the Library of Congress (LC) and OCLC (Online Computer Library Center) on January 12, 2001.

Agenda:

• LC and OCLC Collaborative History and Milestone Anniversaries
  • Jay Jordan, President and CEO, OCLC
  • Winston Tabb, Associate Librarian for Library Services, Library of Congress (LC)
• Introduction to the Program and Speakers
  • Diane Nester Kresh, Director for Public Service Collections, LC
• Current Status and Future Directions for Digital Reference
  • David Lankes, Syracuse University, Department of Library and Information Science
• Creating a Consortial Chat and Collaborative Browsing Service
  • Susan McGlamery, Metropolitan Cooperative Library System, Los Angeles County
• Digital Reference in a Public Library
  • Nancy O'Neill, Santa Monica Public Library
• Digital Reference in an Academic Library
  • Paul Constantine, Cornell University
• Collaborative Digital Reference Service (CDRS)
  • Diane Nester Kresh, LC
  • Linda Arret, Network Development & MARC Office, LC
  • Diane Nester Kresh, LC (additional remarks)
  • Chip Nilges, OCLC
  • Frank Hermes, OCLC
• Closing remarks, Diane Nester Kresh

Collection Management and Scholarly Electronic Publishing Resource by C. J. Armstrong.

http://www.i-a-l.co.uk/CM_SEP1.htm

April 2, 2001: This resource stems from the research project undertaken in late 1997/early 1998 which resulted in the report The Publishing of Electronic Scholarly Monographs: While remaining both selective and primarily in the area of scholarly monograph publishing (as opposed to scholarly journals), this resource contains more material than the original bibliography and has been divided into two complementary areas: Collection Management and Scholarly Electronic Publishing.

Scholarly Electronic Publishing contains general references as well as sub-sections on Authority and Digital Signatures; Charging, Licences and Copyright; and Preservation and Legal Deposit and Practical Aspects of Electronic Publishing. New additions for each calendar month are highlighted until superseded by those of the following month. Citations are added regularly during the month. The sections are now available as separate Web pages.

For example, here are sample entries:

• American Council of Learned Societies (ACLS) (2000) History E-Book Project [$3 million grant from The Andrew W Mellon Foundation]. Details available at http://www.acls.org/ex-epub2.htm
• The End of Out-of-Print: Are we entering the age of the universal availability of books? by Worlock, D. Information World Review 155 (February 2000) p. 21.

E-Books2001

http://litc.sbu.ac.uk/ebooks2001/

E-Books2001, was a conference organised by LITC, the research wing of Learning and Information Services, South Bank University drew. It attracted over 250 delegates from the UK and abroad, from university and research libraries and scholarly and commercial publishing who wanted to find out about the latest electronic publishing phenomena—electronic books aka E-Books. E-Books are likely to have a major impact on learning and teaching in the next few years, by making more student texts more easily available to more students. This is the next wave of the digital library after electronic journals.

The Project Center of the ACLS History E-Book Project officially opened its doors with a reception November 7, 2000. The opening of the Center, which is located at the offices of New York University Press, marks an important point in the development of the project as it begins to prepare books for electronic publication. Over 40 guests from libraries, university presses, the Andrew W. Mellon Foundation, NYU and ACLS attended the event. Carol Mandel, Dean of the Division of Libraries at NYU and head of NYU Press, welcomed the group and introduced John DíArms, President of ACLS, who profiled the Project and its progress to date, acknowledging the work of all the people who have contributed to it.

NOTE: The Center is currently involved in reviewing over 1300 titles in history for possible inclusion in a basic collection of between 500 and 600 titles to be published electronically next year. It is also beginning to develop templates and standards for the 85 new history titles, which will be electronically published in conjunction with the participating presses of the History E-Book Project.

This digital library of history books will be published on the website of the History E-Book Project:www.historyEbook.org.

"Managing the Digital Future of Libraries", International Conference, Moscow (17-19 April 2000)."

The original papers and their translation into English/Russian are now available on the website of the EU - Russian State Library Information Project: http://www.rsl.ru/tacis. Over 50 papers from speakers from 21 countries present a rich and valuable source of information on trends in digital library development. Non-Russian speakers in particular will be interested in gaining a comprehensive picture of library policies and activities in the Russian Federation. The website also contains the bilingual "Moscow Manifesto" with the recommendations for digital library, museum and archive development in Russia. In June 1996, the PANDORA Project (Preserving and Accessing Networked Documentary Resources of Australia) was established to build the archive. The National Library maintains a list on its homepage of all titles that have been successfully archived in PANDORA. It is located at: http://pandora.nla.gov.au/pandora Information in this list is updated weekly.

RLG DigiNews

http://www.rlg.org/preserv/diginews/(from North American, and other world sites) or http://www.rlg.ac.uk/preserv/diginews/ (from UK Janet sites) or http://www.ohio.rlg.org/preserv/diginews/ (from most European sites)

RLG DigiNews is a bimonthly newsletter conceived by the members of the Research Libraries Group's PRESERV community intended to focus on issues of particular interest and value to managers of digital initiatives with a preservation component or rationale; provide filtered guidance and pointers to relevant projects to improve our awareness of evolving practices in image conversion and digital archiving; and announce publications (in any form) that will help staff attain a deeper understanding of digital issues.

Scholarly Publishing Electronic Bibliography

http://info.lib.uh.edu/sepb/sepb.html By Charles W. Bailey, Jr.

Version 35: 2/16/2001

1 Economic Issues (Last update: 2/16/2001)

2 Electronic Books and Texts

2.1 Case Studies and History (Last update: 2/16/2001)

2.2 General Works (Last update: 2/16/2001)

2.3 Library Issues (Last update: 2/16/2001)

3 Electronic Serials

3.1 Case Studies and History (Last update: 2/16/2001)

3.2 Critiques (Last update: 12/1/2000)

3.3 Electronic Distribution of Printed Journals (Last update: 2/16/2001)

3.4 General Works (Last update: 2/16/2001)

3.5 Library Issues (Last update: 2/16/2001)

3.6 Research (Last update: 2/16/2001)

4 General Works (Last update: 2/16/2001)

5 Legal Issues

5.1 Intellectual Property Rights (Last update: 2/16/2001)

5.2 License Agreements (Last update: 2/16/2001)

5.3 Other Legal Issues (Last update: 2/16/2001)

6 Library Issues

6.1 Cataloging, Identifiers, and Metadata (Last update: 2/16/2001)

6.2 Digital Libraries (Last update: 2/16/2001)

6.3 General Works (Last update: 2/16/2001)

6.4 Information Conversion, Integrity, and Preservation (Last update: 2/16/2001)

7 New Publishing Models (Last update: 2/16/2001)

8 Publisher Issues (Last update: 2/16/2001)

8.1 Electronic Commerce/Copyright Systems (Last update: 12/1/2000)

Appendix A. Related Bibliographies

Appendix B. About the Author