Newsletters for Networks

Abstract

In the previous installment of this column, Donnice Cochenour wrote about Project Muse, Johns Hopkins University Press's project to provide electronic access to its journals. This column will explore OCLC's collaboration with publishers who are making traditional print publications available electronically. Serials Review interviewed Andrea Keyhani, Manager of Electronic Publishing at OCLC, about traditional print publishers' interests in electronic distribution of journals, OCLC's solution to publishers' migration to electronic distribution, enhancements to their Guidon software, and libraries' costs and archive concerns.     

Rock is a Way of Life: The World of Rock ‘n’ Roll Fanzines and Fandom

Abstract

While advantages of electronic publications are obvious and far reaching, most electronic journals are still published also in print since libraries do not acquire electronic journals but only access them through licenses. Libraries with substantial electronic publications, however, no longer “compile” collections in a traditional sense. One consequence of electronic only access is that the permanent availability of information that implicitly used to be found in print collections is no longer guaranteed. Digital publishing dramatically alters both the roles of libraries and publishers in preserving records of science. This article discusses the contribution of national libraries, particularly the Koninklijke Bibliotheek (KB; National Library of the Netherlands), to cooperate with publishers to secure the permanent archiving of electronic publications.     

Print Magazines for American College Libraries

Abstract

This paper opens discussion about the periodicals that are left behind in the debate over the transition from print to electronic journals in academic libraries, particularly college libraries. The author annotates 100 English-language print magazines titles that support a liberal arts curriculum and the leisure reading of an American college community. These titles should be maintained in print versions for browsing and usefulness, even if online availability exists. Magazines, with their mix of articles, illustrations, sidebars, tables, charts, graphs, lists, and short features, still have an important place in college libraries.     

Connecting Print Patrons to Electronic Holdings with Shelf Dummies

Abstract

After a two-year renovation, the Kent State University Music Library reopened as the Performing Arts Library. Before the closure, some serials were sent to the depository or reclassified within the library. In order to assist patrons browsing print journals or searching for articles in the stacks, library staff created shelf dummies detailing print and electronic holdings information as well as indexing for each title. Patron feedback has been positive, and the project has helped both library staff and patrons better understand accessibility and location of journals.     

Connecting Print Patrons to Electronic Holdings with Shelf Dummies

After a two-year renovation, the Kent State University Music Library reopened as the Performing Arts Library. Before the closure, some serials were sent to the depository or reclassified within the library. In order to assist patrons browsing print journals or searching for articles in the stacks, library staff created shelf dummies detailing print and electronic holdings information as well as indexing for each title. Patron feedback has been positive, and the project has helped both library staff and patrons better understand accessibility and location of journals.     

Influencing Success: Configuring the WorldCat Knowledge Base With User Needs in Mind

The University Libraries (UL) of the University of North Carolina at Greensboro (UNCG) recently migrated to OCLC's WorldShare Management Services (WMS) and the full version of WorldCat Local (WCL). This resulted in significant changes to our display of periodicals (both print and electronic) in the public catalog and the Journal A–Z List. Serials are problematic in any migration, and ease of use by patrons was our primary concern. This article briefly reviews the migration process to WMS and WCL and describes how UNCG configured and populated the WorldCat Local knowledge base for user access to electronic (and print) journals.     

Coping with Hobgoblins: Rethinking Journals Processing in the E-Journals Environment at the University of South Florida

Many libraries grapple with how to develop new skills for processing electronic journals, while still handling the print format. Journals in a print format have always been complex, and adding the electronic component has made them more so. Few libraries are increasing staff to handle this workload. The University of South Florida Tampa Library has tried a number of workflow changes - not always successfully - to handle this transition. This paper will explore these changes, explain why some were not successful and why others have resulted in efficiencies, and will conclude with lessons learned that could benefit others.     

How Much Do Print Backfiles Matter?

Abstract

As physical collections are increasingly pressed for space, libraries continue to look at practices such as weeding and off-site storage, coupled with services like on-demand article-level document delivery, as potential space solutions. As libraries discard long runs of print journals, though, what role do journal backfiles play going forward? When many see backfiles as space hogs, is there data that provides a compelling argument for keeping backfiles of journals, and, if so, how should those backfiles be handled and by whom? Incorporating information from an interview with Glenn Jaeger, owner of Absolute Backorder Service, interlibrary loan data from the University of Prince Edward Island, and examples from the literature, this Balance Point column looks at the role that print journal backfiles play in the library landscape.     

Politics Makes Strange Webfellows

Several political commentary journals are among America's best-known print journals. This article analyzes their online editions to see how well they are making use of such elements as interactive discussion, rapid publication, and ancillary links. Political discourse has been a mainstay of journal publishing since Addison and Steele started the Spectator, the first periodical for a popular audience, in London in 1711. Some of the oldest American journals are those featuring political commentary. Such journals proliferated in the nineteenth and twentieth centuries when some of their writers and editors like William F. Buckley Jr. grew to be considered powerful political forces in their own right.     

Introduction to AACR2r Revised Chapter 12

Abstract

Several political commentary journals are among America's best-known print journals. This article analyzes their online editions to see how well they are making use of such elements as interactive discussion, rapid publication, and ancillary links. Political discourse has been a mainstay of journal publishing since Addison and Steele started the Spectator, the first periodical for a popular audience, in London in 1711. Some of the oldest American journals are those featuring political commentary. Such journals proliferated in the nineteenth and twentieth centuries when some of their writers and editors like William F. Buckley Jr. grew to be considered powerful political forces in their own right.     

Microfilm Serial Backfiles: Are They Still Cost Effective?

For the past thirty years libraries have made serials backfile decisions based on an understanding that microfilm is a more cost effective format than bound print journals. Yet with the rising cost of microfilm, is this still the case? In spring 2002, the collection development team leader at the Florida Gulf Coast University Library compared the costs of microfilm and bound print serial backfiles, and also how those two mediums compared with costs of a stable electronic backfile collection. The author presented the results in a poster session at the 17th annual conference of the North American Serials Interest Group in Williamsburg, Virginia, June 20–23, 2002, and then recalculated all statistics prior to publication in this article. Serials Review 2003; 29:282–286.     

Life in the Trenches of Print and Web Publishing

With this installment of “From Picas to Pixels,” I look at the differences (and similarities) between print publishing and Web publishing from the zine perspective and the cost differences between the two. I even speculate about why e-journals are still so expensive even though Web publishing is so much cheaper than print publishing (at least from the zine perspective). But then I remind myself that academic journals are a whole lot different than zines and so I carefully excuse myself from the discussion!     

Serials and the OCLC Acquisitions Subsystem

Abstract

Academic library consortia, faced with requirements of assessment and accountability, are increasingly pressured to measure the impact of their networked electronic services. Studies on usage of electronic library resources and electronic journals, in particular, proliferate; relatively few focus on the academic library consortium. This paper gives an overview of one assessment tool, MINES for Libraries®, as implemented in the Scholars Portal service of the Ontario Council of University Libraries (OCUL). The novel contributions of this study are twofold: firstly, the creation of peer groups within an academic consortium for comparison purposes, and secondly, the use of regression analysis to explore the correlation between usage and three separate variables outside the MINES survey — library print holdings, library acquisitions budget, and sponsored research revenue.