March issue of _Serials_: Table of contents and abstracts

["Rick Anderson" <rickand@unr.edu>]

Volume 19 Number 1/March 2006 of Serials: The Journal for the=20
Serials Community is now available on the uksg.metapress.com web=20
site at http://uksg.metapress.com.

This issue contains:

Editorial (p. 1)

Mini-profile: a day in the life of a journal publisher
Andrew Wray (p. 3)

Mini-profile: a day in the life of a publishing director
Alice Meadows (p. 6)

E-book: the new serial?
Steve Sharp (p. 8)

20/20 vision? E-books in practice and theory
Andrew Wheatcroft (p. 10)

In the United States '20/20' means normal vision, being=20
clear-sighted. In the digital book community, '2020' now has a=20
different meaning - the British Library's prescient understanding=20
of 'the book' 15 years from now, in the year 2020. It is based on=20
first-rate research, the best that we have. But it is a partial=20
view. This paper suggests where we have come from, where we are=20
now, and where - perhaps - we might be going. It highlights the=20
importance to publishers of product life cycle management and all=20
that entails, and explains the concept of the publisher-producer.=20
The short history of the e-book has embraced both vision and the=20
visionary but we need to be sceptical of technology's wilder=20
promises for the period up to 2020. Yet the future prospect is=20
positive: there should be every confidence that the new=20
generation joining the industry will rise to the publishing=20
challenges outlined.

E-books - reinventing the wheel?
Warren Holder (p. 15)

To quote Carole Moore, the Chief Librarian at the University of=20
Toronto Libraries (UTL): "One solution we have decided on is to=20
invest in a pilot project in electronic books."1 At UTL, we=20
believe that our users do not care whether the information they=20
are looking for is in a journal article, a section of a reference=20
work, or a chapter of a book; they want the information online=20
24/7/365. To that end, we intend to undertake a pilot project=20
with a critical mass of e-books, from as many publishers as we=20
can afford, with the purpose of ascertaining how users discover=20
the e-books, how they use the e-books and what they do after they=20
get the information they were looking for. This article will=20
discuss the current thinking of one large research-intensive=20
university library as it pertains to current academic e-books.

Infinite riches in a little room: how can we manage, market and=20
modernize the e-books phenomenon?
Linda Bennett (p. 18)

E-books are not new but they are part of a sea-change in academic=20
delivery that is altering both publishing and the way that=20
teaching and learning are carried out. Publishers appear alarmed=20
by this and have tended to cling to print as if producing=20
publications in one format were their main purpose. This paper=20
argues strongly that it is not. E-resources have migrated from=20
being on the fringe of academia to establishing themselves as=20
mainstream, and publishers seem barely aware of the resulting=20
shift in resource requirements. If they do not become more alert=20
to this, they are in grave danger of being by-passed. At the same=20
time, librarians and academics should acknowledge that there is a=20
very important role for publishers to play, that academia would=20
be much the poorer without their services, and that, inevitably,=20
there is a fair price to be attached to these.

The COUNTER Code of Practice for books and reference works
Peter T Shepherd (p. 23)

The draft of the new COUNTER Code of Practice for online books=20
and reference works was published in January 2005. Its overall=20
format and structure are consistent with the existing COUNTER=20
Code of Practice for journals and databases. Only the content of=20
the usage reports has been changed and the set of definitions of=20
terms expanded. One of the main challenges we faced in developing=20
the new Code of Practice was the lack of consistency among=20
publishers in the ways in which they define, structure and=20
distribute online books. Some publishers make online books=20
available only as a single file that can be downloaded in its=20
entirety. Other publishers allow the downloading of individual=20
chapters or entries, such as dictionary definitions. The COUNTER=20
Code of Practice has to cover these and other scenarios.

Innovative models for procuring e-books
David Ball (p. 28)

This paper gives some background on e-books and UK library=20
purchasing consortia, before discussing in detail an innovative=20
tender for e-books undertaken for higher education in the UK. The=20
main aims of the tender were to provide members with agreements=20
that were innovative in terms of business models giving value for=20
money; were flexible, offering those with differing requirements=20
appropriate options; exploited the electronic medium in terms of=20
granularity and multi-user access; focused on users' needs rather=20
than libraries' requirements; and encouraged the addition of=20
library-defined content. The success of the tender demonstrated=20
that libraries are not prepared to accept the restrictive and=20
expensive business models, often based on hard-copy practice,=20
which some aggregators seem to be forcing on us. In terms of=20
content, it also showed libraries taking the lead in influencing=20
what aggregators are making available.

EThOS: progress towards an electronic thesis service for the UK
Jill Russell (p. 32)

The EThOS (Electronic Theses Online Service) project is building=20
on previous e-thesis initiatives, and co-ordinating the work of=20
some of the key players in the UK to develop a service for=20
finding, accessing and archiving digital copies of doctoral=20
theses produced in UK higher education institutions.  Key issues=20
for the project are the development of a sound financial basis=20
for a successful service, the provision of advice needed by=20
authors and university staff on handling intellectual property=20
rights, and the protection of legitimate needs for=20
confidentiality. EThOS will also establish workable and=20
standards-based procedures for populating e-thesis repositories=20
with current and retrospectively acquired digital versions of=20
theses and associated metadata. These developments must also fit=20
with universities' own internal administrative arrangements and=20
regulations.  The project aims to deliver an e-thesis=20
infrastructure that is both technically and financially=20
sustainable, toget! her with a full supporting toolkit of=20
guidance, standards and procedures.

Making the invisible visible: bringing e-resources to a wide audience
Louise Cole (p. 37)

This paper considers the various opportunities that might be=20
available to promote the e-resources held within an institution.=20
In the current decade an ever increasing percentage of tightly=20
stretched library budgets is spent on e-resources (databases,=20
back-file packages, current e-journals, textbooks, image=20
databanks and reference works). As these are part of a virtual=20
library they are not always noticed or fully exploited by their=20
target audience. This paper looks at some possibilities to=20
publicize e-resources, making these important collections more=20
visible, and considers how these resources, in particular=20
electronic journals, can be made accessible, useful, relevant and=20
obvious to the library customer. Topics discussed include=20
information literacy sessions, library branding, 'spreading the=20
word', ensuring value for money and 'making it fun'.

Proposals for quality standards for electronic STM journals
Matthias Gottwald, Henning Nielsen, Roger Brown, Oliver Renn (p. 42)

Over the last few years electronic versions of scholarly journals=20
have become the predominant access route to scientific articles=20
for scientists in the academic and corporate environments. While=20
the format of the basic content, the 'paper', still remains the=20
same, the access and functionality of the electronic version can=20
be highly variable. This is a continuous problem for users and=20
librarians and more standardization is necessary in this field. A=20
working group under the Pharma Documentation Ring (P-D-R) formed=20
by information managers from pharmaceutical companies has=20
produced a list of quality standards for electronic scientific,=20
technical and medical (STM) journals that may meet the needs of=20
all e-content customers.

Establishing a UK LOCKSS Pilot Programme
Helen Hockx-Yu (p. 47)

This article describes the UK LOCKSS Pilot Programme, an=20
initiative funded by the Joint Information Systems Committee=20
(JISC) in partnership with the Consortium of Research Libraries=20
in the British Isles (CURL). The pilot directly engages a number=20
of selected UK HE institutions in trialling the LOCKSS technology=20
for e-journal archiving and preservation. LOCKSS (for Lots Of=20
Copies Keep Stuff Safe) is an initiative that has been developed=20
by Stanford University Libraries. It involves an alliance of over=20
80 libraries and 60 publishers worldwide, working together to=20
preserve persistent access to licensed e-journal content from=20
publishers to libraries. The pilot is funded under JISC's=20
development programme area 'digital preservation and records=20
management'. This article describes the rationale to establish=20
the pilot programme, the aims and objectives and, in detail, the=20
individual components of the programme.

Economics of open access publishing
Magaly B=E1scones Dominguez (p. 52)

This article is based on a study undertaken at CERN Library.=20
After a short introduction to the open access movement, an=20
analysis of some CERN Library open access journals from a number=20
of publishers is presented. Open access publishing models are=20
then applied to some of the most important journal titles in=20
particle physics. The results give a picture of the possible=20
implications and the cost of open access in the current=20
environment. Publishers' open access offerings, CERN authors'=20
reactions to open access and the probable impact for CERN as a=20
research institution are then examined.

The e-Depot at the National Library of the Netherlands
Erik Oltmans, Adriaan Lemmen (p. 61)

Electronic journals have come to dominate the field of academic=20
literature, and it is of great importance to the international=20
scientific community that this electronic intellectual output is=20
preserved well and that it remains accessible in perpetuity. The=20
traditional principles for the archiving of printed academic=20
literature no longer suffice in the digital world. These are=20
based on national frontiers: each national deposit library=20
preserves its own national academic heritage. Regarding=20
electronic publications, however, the geographical criterion is=20
not very useful and the geographical provenance of material is=20
irrelevant, since electronic data can exist independently of a=20
geographic location. Most current journals of multinational=20
publishers no longer have a fatherland that can be easily=20
identified. New ways of co-operation in the field of long-term=20
digital archiving of electronic publications and its metadata=20
will emerge. This paper looks at the policy and ambitions of t!=20
he National Library of the Netherlands (KB) regarding digital=20
archiving of electronic publications.

Key issue

Adam Chandler, Tim Jewell (p. 68)

Profile: Katina Strauch (p. 71)

On the circuit (p. 73)

People

John Jardine (p. 7)

----
Rick Anderson
Dir. of Resource Acquisition
University of Nevada, Reno Libraries
(775) 784-6500 x273
rickand@unr.edu
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