ACRL announces enhanced access to College & Research Libraries

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

Of interest to librarian members of ALA?

---------- Forwarded message ----------
Date: Fri, 11 Nov 2005 12:42:37 -0500
Reply-To: GSLIS Adjunct Faculty <ADJFAC@LISTSERV.URI.EDU>
Subject: ACRL announces enhanced access to College & Research Libraries

For Immediate Release
November 8, 2005
Contact: Dawn Mueller 312-280-2516

ACRL announces enhanced access to College & Research Libraries

CHICAGO - The Association of College and Research Libraries (ACRL) is
pleased to announce that its scholarly research journal College & Research
Libraries is available free of charge in PDF format on the ACRL website
six months after publication. Retrospective issues now are available
through volume 58 (1997).

"The editorial board is delighted that the journal is freely available in
its electronic form," said William Gray Potter, editor of College &
Research Libraries. "This new arrangement will benefit both the authors
and the readers by making the articles more widely available.

Exposing the content to Internet search engines will also make it easier
to find and read the articles. At the same time, we are committed to
preserving the rigorous review process that has served ACRL and the
profession well over the past sixty-six years."

ACRL supports open access to scholarship as a principle for reform in the
system of scholarly communication. In addition to this new access to
College & Research Libraries, ACRL encourages author self-archiving of its
published articles in both institutional and disciplinary repositories.

"College & Research Libraries is a premier journal for research related to
academic libraries," said ACRL Scholarly Communication Committee Chair Ray
English. "Making the contents of the journal openly accessible, following
a six-month delay, will be of great benefit to practicing academic
librarians and researchers, and it will also help authors increase the
impact of their work. This move underscores ACRL's strong commitment to
access to scholarly research."

ACRL is a division of the American Library Association (ALA), representing
more than 13,000 academic and research librarians and interested
individuals. ACRL is the only individual membership organization in North
America that develops programs, products and services to meet the unique
needs of academic and research librarians.

Its initiatives enable the higher education community to understand the
role that academic libraries play in the teaching, learning and research
environments.

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