Re: If electronic is to replace paper

["Peter Picerno" <ppicerno@choctaw.astate.edu>]

I agree that some very good ideas have been expressed, and the idea of
libraries archiving electronic journals opens a 55-gallon drum of worms.
For example, publishers would have to relinquish some of their copyright
issues in order to permit libraries to store, refresh, and migrate the
"intellectual property" of the journals. Would it be okay for us to store
them on CD-ROMs, servers, diskettes, in paper format, etc., and what about
when new storage/retireval media become available could we transfer the
information to another medium without violating copyright, or what about
merging that data with data from a similar e-journal and whipping up a
search-type of software ... obviously the legal implications could get
quite complex for archiving. In the past it has been simple -- we paid for
one copy, bound it, and warehoused it. Now situations are far from simple!

P V Picerno
Dr. Peter V. Picerno
Collection Development Team Leader
Dean B. Ellis Library
Arkansas State University
State University, AR 72467
(870) 972-3078
Fax: (870) 972-3199
> Some very good ideas have been expressed.  However, why are libraries now
> advocating publishers or disinterested third parties archive electronic
> journals?  Libraries need to, in my opinion, archive and maintain access
> to the electronic journals they have subscribed to.  If we consider the
> electronic version optimal choice for our users, then we must learn how to
> manage them in perpetuity.  Personally, I do not believe libraries need to
> pay vendors, publishers, or others a fee to refresh the data or the
> technology.  Again, once libraries have paid for the subscription, the
> artifact should be ours.
>
> Sorry to be ornery, but an electronic version does not have to be an
> equivalent of the print version.  Advertisements, certain types of
> announcements such as calls for papers, conference dates, etc. and other
> parts of a print journal do not need to be included in the electronic
> version.  I do not think it is necessary to continue the same paradigm in
> the electronic versions as have been used in the print.  Certainly, links
> and enriched contents need to be continued and promoted, but more
> importantly are the need for helpful navigation tools and the ability to
> quickly return to one's starting point, without having to backtrack
> endlessly.