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The Serials Librarian: Fromthe Printed Page to theDigital AgePublication details, including instructions forauthors and subscription information:http://www.tandfonline.com/loi/wser20

The Impact of ElectronicJournals on TraditionalLibrary ServicesMary Beth Fecko a , Linda Langschied a & LindaHulbert ba Workshop Leaderb Recorder; and Assistant Director forTechnical Services, Medical Center Library, St.Louis University, St. Louis, MO, 63104Published online: 22 Oct 2010.

To cite this article: Mary Beth Fecko , Linda Langschied & Linda Hulbert (1991)The Impact of Electronic Journals on Traditional Library Services, The SerialsLibrarian: From the Printed Page to the Digital Age, 21:2-3, 185-187, DOI:10.1300/J123v21n02_25

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The Impact of Electronic Journals on Traditional Library Services

Mary Beth Fccko Linda Langschied

Workshop Leaders

Linda Hulbert Recorder

Linda Langschied is Coordinator of Non-bibliographic Database and PC Services and Mary Beth Fecko is Special Formats Catalog Librarian, both of Rutgers University Libraries. Langschictl began the workshop by comrncnting that their feelings range from fecling smug because they are familiar with non-traditional formats, to fcclhg responsible for the orphanagc, to feeling like the garbage people-in all three cases getting what no one else wants to deal with. Shc defined e-journals, for the purposes of the workshop, as thosc without a print countcrpart.

As to the value of e-journals, Langschied presented several con- flicting predictions: (1) E-journals will reduce the proliferation of superfluous publishing; or they will enable scholars to publish more, faster. (2) E-journals will offset the costs of subscription fees; or they will break the back of libraries, because they will rcquire new sub- scriptions rather than maintenance of existing subscriptions; (3) E- journals will be more widely available to users than print journals: or they will be inaccessible to most users and will l~ccomc an "un- dcrclass" of journals.

Journals in print format have a number of disadvantages. Publi- cation is slow. Restrictions on the length of articles limit thc mate-

Linda Hulberl is Assislaill Direclor for Technical Services, St. Louis Univcr- sicy Mcdical Ccnlcr Library, 1402 So i~ t l~ Grand, St. Louis MO 63104.

0 1991 by The l-laworlh Prcss, Ilic. All rigtils r c s c ~ e d . 185

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I86 A CHANCING WORLD

rial (especially graphics) that can be included. The currcnt prolifer- ation of journals increases the scattering of related papers. And libraries and individual subscribers face ever-escalating subscrip- tion costs. E-journals might minimize some of these disadvantages.

Lengschied discussed failed experiments with e-journals, includ- ing BLEND and EIES. The reasons for their failure included: com- putcr illiteracy among authors and editors, unfriendly software, lack of standards, computer access and connect problems, unsatis- factory displays, unclear or nonexistent manuals, and readers unac- customed to rcading articles online. Articles were not published more quickly in the clectronic format than in the print format; just thc opposite proved to be true. Editors did not feel as pressured by invisible articles resting on their hard drives as they did by hard- copy articles sitting on their desks. Authors, editors, and readers preferred the print format, bccause i t was familiar.

While many of the technical problems have been solved and the electronic format is becoming more familiar, standardization is still a problem. Some formal c-journals follow print conventions includ- ing ISSNs, volumes, issues, pages and dates, but any or all of thesc may be missing, which makes standard citation methods problem- atic.

Can e-journals solve print problems? The answer is still in dis- pute. Clearly, paper, distribution, and marketing costs are reduccd or eliminated. Transmission of e-journals is very rapid. However, the peer revicw process will remain a bottleneck, no matter what the format. Other electronic communications such as e-mail, electronic newsletters, and pre-publication review systems have become pop- ular; their success bodes well for the ultimate succcss of e-journals.

Langschicd offered her own prediction. The younger rcscarchers will lead the way until there is a critical mass of "e-publications" and the chicken/egg dilemma is solved. That is, no one will write for e-journals unt i l thcy are a valued method of communication and they won't be valued until many people write for them.

Langschied pointed out that refcrcnce departments need to teach users how to use the new electronic formats, but ended her presen- tation with a difficult question: Is standard refercnce service a lux- ury libraries can no longer afford as wc bring ourselves and our uscrs into the clectronic age?

Mary Bcth Fccko discussed the librarian's rcsponsibilities and

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Workshop Srssioti Neporv I87

suggcstcd a coopcrative effort hctwccn public and tcchnical scr- vices to assure access to c-journals. She first discusscd intcllcctual acccss to c-journals. How docs thc library pcrccive its rcsponsibility lo promotc awarcncss of thc c-journals? Will e-journal titlcs bc in- cludcd in the OPAC? Will thcy havc full bibliographic info~mation like print journals? Will thcy be included in the library's union list? Next she adtlrcssed technical acccss. What kinds of cquipmcnt are ncccssary? Will c-journals be available onlinc? Training issues for patrons antl staff will affcct both intellectual antl tcchnical acccss.

Fccko also talkcd about thc importance of archiving thcsc jour- nals. Who will be rcsponsible for archiving? In what format will e- journal bc prcserved-paper, tapc, CD-ROM? Ilow will acccss be maintained as software and file formats become obsolctc? Who will archive out-dated software to use with the journals or convert ar- chivcd filcs to formats that can bc used with current soflwarc.

Fecko rccommendcd that catalogers handlc e-journals as they would any other serial. She suggests using the 265 field for sourcc of acquisition and for providing citation information. The 500 ficlds can bc usctl for acccss notes and a 590 note can provide dctailctl commands and instructions for accessing the journal. Subject ac- ccss should bc providcd and holdings information needs to bc in- cluded in the union list.

The discussion at the end of the workshop includcd the follow- ing. Wc must provide access to c-journals and instructions on how to use thcm, just as wc do with CD-ROMs. But in timcs of shrink- ing rcsourccs and increased demands libraries must carefully prioritize what typc of intcllcctual and technical acccss thcy can provide. Some librarics are printing the e-journals lo paper and han- dling them like other paper journals. In other libraries the e-journal is Iransmittcd directly to the acquisitions ctcpartment, transfcrrcd to a mainframe, and accesscd by the patron through thc OPAC. At prcsent most publishers considcr c-journals a financial risk, but as dcmantl and technical capabilities incrcase publishing electronically will becomc more acccptetl. Librarians can't ignore c-journals just bccause electronic formats arc unfamiliar; to do so will put librarics outside of the information loop.

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