INTRODUCTION TO

e-JOURNALS

Kusturie MoodleyJune 2015

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eThekwini Municipality Libraries

What is an e-journal Electronic journals are scholarly

publications that are published online. e-Journals are also called:

• Online journals• Virtual journals• Digital journals• Zines or e-zines

Advantages of e-journals Simultaneous access Links to related items Ease of downloading (PDF/HTML) Wider dissemination of journal/research Alerting services

Advantages of e-journals Eliminates physical processing Saves shelve space Access anytime, anywhere First published online – available

quicker than print publications Access to archive issues

Disadvantages of e-journals Technical barriers – hardware and software,

network connection, etc. Infrastructure snags - bandwidth and load

shedding issues, etc. Require skills and training to use Costs to acquire e-resources can be high -

technology and content User unfriendliness depends on platform

Why use e-journals?• Up-to-date information• Convenient: information at your fingertips• Value-added features: search facilities,

other links ,video, graphics, audio, dictionary, etc

• Export, email, cite, print, save, make notes

How do you access e-journals?

Individual e-journals or package of journals called a database

Pay per view Open access

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Individual e-journals Individual e-journals can be purchased

from a subscription service/agent or directly via the publisher

Format can be Print + E or E-only Some print journals include free e-access

Individual e-journalsActivateRegister

Databases Databases are packages of e-journals ProQuest, SAe Publications, Taylor &

Francis, Art Source Multidisciplinary or subject specific Full-text or Abstract and citation Publishers & Aggregators

Pay per view Pay for individual articles Mainly available on publisher websites

Open access initiatives• Significant movement in academic

community that information should be “free” to all

• Green, blue, yellow, white and gold route• Author pays versus user pays• Article processing charge (APC’s)• Pre-prints, post-prints, self archiving,

institutional repositorieshttps://tenthmedieval.wordpress.com/2014/08/04/open-access-done-wrong/

Open access examples• Directory of Open Access Journals• All subjects

Open access examples• PubMed Central• Hard sciences

Open access examples• Publisher sites• Multidisciplinary or subject specific

Evaluating e-journals• Statistics to evaluate • From aggregator and publisher websites• Use COUNTER compliant statistics

Questions?

Thanks…

kmoodley@dut.ac.za

Acquisitions & Electronic Resources LibrarianDurban University of Technology Library@KusturieM