Re: Is it time to stop printing journals?

[Nicola Cecchino <ncecchi1@jhmi.edu>]

I don't think it's a matter of an older or newer machine.  It's a 
matter of how compressed the scan is when converting to PDF. 
There's a remote possibility that the person scanning the 
document many not pay close enough attention to the scan itself 
and the file is not compressed enough thus causing the file 
itself to be enormous.  I used to work at home on a much older 
machine than probably the both of your's - and scanning would 
open adequately fast enough when I compressed the file.

I somehow am getting back to the original subject of this string 
of listserv stuff.  "Is it time to stop printing journals?" 
That question doesn't seem to have anything to do with libraries 
themselves doing any scanning, but with publishers simply ending 
the print resource and continuing with the electronic.  In 
addition to the continuance - going back in years and making 
those issues as well available in PDF. Publishers have been doing 
this for a long time now and are experienced enough at scanning 
their documents such that the issue of transmission shouldn't be 
in question.  I think the real issue is those people that like 
the article from the journal itself.

We need to ask - why would they want the actual article?  One 
answer that I"ve heard regarding the imaging process vs print is 
that in most imaging processes, the publishers omit 
advertisements!  I'm in a medical library so this may be 
different for another library - but they like the pharmaceutical 
adds, they like the various tools they use adds, etc. Another 
reason would be the difference of color vs. black and white. Some 
don't have printers capable of color printing...just black and 
white...and the printed version isn't clear.

As you can see, the issues can go on and on with the concept of 
ending print.  Nonetheless, the common direction is to eventually 
license all resources for access online and potentially stopping 
the printing.  The stipulations that we build into the agreements 
are what will decide whether or not a resources has served it's 
population adequately enough.  The kind of computers that we own, 
IMHO, don't really factor into the equation.  I think it's more 
how the publishers do what the publisher do and hopefully they 
will do it correctly.

Nic

Pikas, Christina K. wrote:
> We don't have old machines, we're a research lab for heaven's
> sake!  My machine is 2 months old and is one spec'd for
> engineering software (m/s, MATLAB, Labview, etc) instead of just
> office productivity products.
>
> I have e-mailed Mr. McSean off list with specifics.  We also
> immediately contact the help desk of the vendor when we find
> these issues.  Even if the vendor immediately goes and re-scans
> the article, it is frequently too late for our customers' needs.
>
> Christina PIKAS
>
> ________________________________
>
> From: owner-liblicense-l@lists.yale.edu on behalf of Erwin, Patricia J.
> Sent: Tue 4/3/2007 5:06 PM
> To: liblicense-l@lists.yale.edu
> Subject: RE: Is it time to stop printing journals?
>
> We have been analyzing this extensively. What we have discovered
> is that even with exemplary scanning, older machines with older
> video cards do make an enormous difference.
>
> We have done comparisons - it does make a huge difference.
>
> Patricia J. Erwin
> Erwin.patricia@mayo.edu
> Lead Reference Librarian
> Mayo Clinic Libraries
> Rochester MN 55905
>
> -----Original Message-----
> [mailto:owner-liblicense-l@lists.yale.edu] On Behalf Of Mcsean, Tony
> Sent: Monday, April 02, 2007 5:25 PM
> To: liblicense-l@lists.yale.edu
> Subject: RE: Is it time to stop printing journals?
>
> Dear Christina,
>
> Do you have the specific details of the unsatisfactory scans?
> When we are notified of something like this we rescan it and
> ensure it is usable, and if you can send me details I will set
> this in motion.
>
> Tony McSean
> Director of Library Relations
> Elsevier
> 32 Jamestown Road
> London NW1 7BY
>
> -----Original Message-----
> [mailto:owner-liblicense-l@lists.yale.edu] On Behalf Of Pikas, Christina K.
> Sent: 31 March 2007 20:19
> To: liblicense-l@lists.yale.edu
> Subject: RE: Is it time to stop printing journals?
>
> No.  My users have had us ILL for copies from things we've
> recycled because we have online.  Some of the SD scans are
> horrible and the scientist can't make out the table figures. In
> fact, we've had to ILL twice for one article because the first
> came from a microfilm which was worse.  We had to track down a
> library that would photocopy the print and send it snail mail.
>
> We have at least two generations we have to serve here so we
> still need to serve both.  My users want to scan the print
> (browse, that is), then save the electronic, and print from the
> electronic and read that copy so they can mark it.
>
> This is all in my opinion and does not reflect the policy of my
> place of work or our management.
>
> Christina K. Pikas, MLS
> R.E. Gibson Library & Information Center The Johns Hopkins University
> Applied Physics Laboratory