Bell & Howell contemplate online historical periodicals

[Ann Okerson <ann.okerson@yale.edu>]

To readers of liblicense-l:

---------- Forwarded message ----------
Date: Wed, 16 May 2001 16:25:22 -0400
From: "Moorman, Marge" <marge.moorman@bellhowell.infolearning.com>
Subject: Your Input Requested

Q:  Would online historical periodicals benefit you and your patron's
research efforts?

A:  We don't know.  So we are looking for your input.

You are invited to participate in a focus group sponsored by Bell & Howell
Information and Learning (formerly UMI) while attending the North American
Serials Interest Group (NASIG) conference in San Antonio, Texas.  We are
trying to gather ideas and input from the serials community for a
web-based historical periodical database that we may develop if the
library community views it as a beneficial resource.  This is not a
current product.  We are only trying to understand you and your patron's
needs.

				Date: 	Thursday, May 24, 2001
				Time: 	4:00 p.m. to 5:00 p.m. 
				Place: 	DoubleTree Hotel

Refreshments will be available.
(Transportation to/from the conference will be provided, if needed.)

We are exploring the possibility of offering full-page imaging of historic
periodicals.  These periodicals could date back to the 18th / 19th
Centuries, while others could be ongoing titles.  We're interested in
finding out which titles your curriculum would require.  We're thinking
the periodicals would be fully indexed and searchable via the ProQuest
search engine.

Librarians have told us that these historical periodicals fall into
several subject areas.  We have identified four subject areas and some
periodicals for each. These subject areas are:

*	American Culture - Harper's, Atlantic, Dial, etc.
*	Americana - Good Housekeeping, Saturday Evening Post, Smithsonian,
	etc.
*	Political Science - Commonwealth, Nation, Puck, etc.
*	Science - Scientific American, Popular Science, Bioscience, etc.

At the gathering we will provide background information on subject areas
we are thinking about as well as possible periodical titles targeted
within these subject areas.  Your responses will help us make informed
decisions when prioritizing subject areas and ensure that we include the
most useful periodical titles.

To participate, please respond by Monday, May 21 to the email or phone
listed below.  If you are unable to attend the focus group, any comments
or suggestions are much appreciated.

We look forward to hearing from you.

Sincerely,
Jessica Duval
Marketing Coordinator
Bell & Howell Information and Learning
Jessica.duval@bellhowell.infolearning.com
(800) 521-0600 x3010
(734) 761-4700 x3010