ACRL News Issue (B) of College & Research Libraries 720 / C &RL News Publishers and librarians examine scholarly communication Information encounters, personal libraries, on­ line journals, publisher-written abstracts, and natu­ ral concept query language are some o f the high­ lights o f the Society for Scholarly Publishing’s Top Management Roundtable held October 3 and 4, 1991, in Cambridge, Massachusetts. The theme o f the meeting— Scholarly Communication at Work— produced a stimulating framework in which schol­ ars and researchers spoke candidly about their information needs, communication patterns with colleagues, and their expectations o f publishers and libraries. The roundtable meeting involved the 57 partici­ pants in three half-day segments: the Scholars’ Needs; the Money Flows; and Setting the Course for the Future. The meeting is an occasion for scholarly publishers to come together in a small group to grapple with an issue that is of interest and concern to the varied membership of the society. The results o f a study of the information acquisi­ tion and usage needs of scientists, commissioned by the Faxon Institute, opened the first segment. “In­ formation encounters” is the term coined to define the activities and behaviors .of scientists seeking information in published material and by verbal and electronic information. Journals, colleagues, and books are the top three content sources reported in the survey that scientists use for work-related infor­ mation. The study also revealed that libraries are perceived to have a high degree o f usefulness but are not frequently used, a paradox in the current system. The development o f personal libraries by schol­ ars is a trend touched on by a number of panelists. The personal library satisfies scholars’ needs for controlling the information they use, for making discriminating choices from the increasing amount o f material available, and for covering interdiscipli­ nary areas. Librarians do not always play a role in the development o f these personal libraries. Scholars have expressed a need to find informa­ tion quickly and online databases and computer­ ized indexes help to satisfy this need. However, most of today’s databases provide access to current material only. Older information in monographs, journal articles, and proceedings, etc., can be as important as the new developments whose litera­ ture is under machine control. Publishers were asked to consider providing access to older material as new information products are configured. There are risks and concerns that scholars face dealing with computerized information and its rapid transmission. The human ability to sift and sort vast amounts o f data can lead to research distortion, information overload, and anxiety. Librarians will play an important role in the scholar’s future as they deal with the changing nature o f wisdom, intelli­ gence, and knowledge in a real-time environment. They will not only be guides for scholars but "infor­ mation sifters.” Paraphrasing Alvin Toffler in P ow er Shift‚ the person who will have power in the future will be the one who knows how to find information. The participants agreed that this is a challenging and important time for librarians. Scholars recognize that technology has aided the increase in published material. However, the exist­ ence o f more journals does not necessarily incre­ mentally advance a discipline. Mediocre papers still get published. Peer review works well as a gate- keeping and quality system within a journal, but it does not work well between journals. The changing economic base o f research and its dissemination is strain in g scholarly com m u n ication . Bob Bovenschulte, New E ngland Jo u rn a l o f M edicine, outlined a number o f trends that are affecting scholars, librarians, and publishers. A few of his major points are that technology will expedite the delivery o f information, although the innovations will not prove significantly better until the prices drop; that libraries, driven to economize, will create products and services that will compete with pub­ lishers; that scholars will have more of the burden of scholarly communication placed on them and will pay a greater share o f the cost or forego some­ thing; and that document delivery will develop as a substitute for books and journals, with delivery charges decreasing almost to the cost of printing. In this environment the government may emerge as a greater player, coordinating and subsidizing access and delivery services, an idea that did not sit well with a number o f the publishers, society or commercial, participating in the meeting. It is clear that publishers will try to protect their copyright as an ownership issue and as a source of revenue. As rights shift to the users, traditional revenue models will change as well. The concept of shifting property rights stirred much discussion among publishers and librarians at the meeting. While there is much interest in elec­ tronic publishing and network access and dissemi­ nation, there is also a great deal of uncertainty as to whether this distribution channel will work effec­ tively to the benefit o f the scholarly triumvirate— publishers, scholars, and libraries. (Cont. on p age 729) December 1991 / 729 (Standards cont. from page 727) to reimburse the institution for such use under the guidance o f institutional policy. II.E.3.b. No staff member should use at home any object or item that is a part of the library’s collections or under the guardianship of the library, or use any other property, supplies, or resources of the library except for the official business of the institution. To the extent that circumstance or special policies warrant exceptions, the circum­ stances or policies should be a matter of written record. II .F . Confidentiality Special collections librarians, whose work in­ volves intimate knowledge of the work of research­ ers, the library’s relations with donors and booksell­ ers, and other material of a confidential nature, must be scrupulous in keeping this information confidential. II.F . 1. Special collections librarians must keep con­ fidential information about the activities and re­ search of their readers which they gain in perfor­ mance of their professional duties. I I.F .1.a. Exceptions may be made to this provi­ sion in cases where, for the advancement o f schol­ arship, the reader has signed a written agreement to waive any claim to confidentiality in general or in specific instances. ■ ■ (Scholars cont. fr o m page 720) The roundtable meeting ended with a discussion on how the future may be influenced. A number of scholars presented plans for projects that would create electronic publications available for shared access. Among these are the American Association for the Advancement of Science’s online medical journal, a computerized dictionary of American literary terms, and a database of astronomy litera­ ture with natural language indexing. Common to these projects are the post-publication issues of storage, physical copies made at some point in time, and archival and preservation issues. Academic librarians are already facing these access and archival issues with established pro­ grams at a number of large research institutions. They are positioned to play a key advisoiy role, guiding publishers and scholars in the design of electronic products that take into consideration the information needs of future generations who will use the scholarly information we are recording and distributing today.— Patricia E. Sabosik, E ditor & Publisher, Choice ■ ■ (IASSIST cont. fr o m previous page) In the session on text file issues, John Price- Wilkins, University of Michigan, gave a paper on “Text Files in Libraries: Present Foundations and Future Directions.” He stressed that users of text need generalized data suitable for use with a variety of software tools, as well as access to these resources in a networked environment. Research libraries have a responsibility to build electronic collections conformant with evolving standards for text encod­ ing and to facilitate access to these resources out­ side the libraiy. The session closed with an impres­ sive demonstration of a system developed at UM to provide access to text files. “Electronic Products and Depository Library Programs” was another session where academic librarians presented views on providing data ser­ vices within a library context. Ray Jones, University of Florida, a long-time advocate of library involve­ ment with providing access to census data regard­ less of format, shared his experiences with provid­ ing services over a period of two decades. Juri Stratford, University of California at Davis, high­ lighted the advantages and disadvantages of U.S. depository libraries receiving a deluge of electronic products, largely numeric, on CD-ROM. Another hallmark of IASSIST conferences is the workshops .Fourhalf-day sessions were offered and included “Starting a Data Library,” “Living with UNIX,” “Financial Time Series,” and “Using Inter­ active Graphics and Statistical Data in the Class­ room.” Led by Ilona Einowski, University of Cali­ fornia at Berkeley, and Jean Stratford, University of California at Davis, the workshop on “Starting a Data Library” raised many questions for those attending. While there is no one solution or organi­ zational structure for data libraries, the various activities involved in organizing and operating a data library were debated by participants. I attended the conference with the support of the ACRL Professional Liaison Committee and my home institution. As a member of the IASSIST Program Committee I worked to promote aca­ demic libraries as partners in providing access to computer-readable text and social data. The aca­ demic librarians who attended the conference and presented papers assisted in reaching that goal.— Diane Geraci, social science an d data librarian, State University o f New York at Binghamton ■ ■ 720.pdf continue.pdf