Electronic mailing lists help librarians stay up to date with issues and activities in the profession. The number of mailing lists focusing on library-related topics is staggering -- there are 185 entries in the library and information science section of {The Directory of Scholarly and Professional E-Conferences}. (Kovacs, 1995). In order to look at how useful some of these lists are, what types of topics they cover, and the general nature of these mailing lists, we subscribed to the mailing lists below for a period of one month in the late spring of 1997.
Few libraries have remained unaffected by the serials pricing crisis of the past several years. The University of California, Santa Barbara (UCSB) Library has conducted five serials cancellations projects since 1987 -- 1987, 1989, 1991, 1994, and 1996. Each round of cancellations cut closer to the core journals in all of the disciplines. This paper uses almost ten years of interlibrary loan data for statistical and comparative analyses documenting the impact of these cuts.
Scholars in the sciences depend on current information. In an effort to fulfill the need for science journal literature in an environment of serials cancellations, several science and engineering libraries in the University of California system began an experimental pilot project dubbed the "Fax Project."
Many science and technology journal publishers are starting web-based publishing programs. In some cases publishers are making all or most of their journals available; in others, one or two titles are being published on the web as pilot projects. This article summarizes information about programs from several science and technology publishers in a "snapshot" from November 1996. Since many of these publishing programs are currently in development, visit the publishers' web sites for the latest information.
The author reflects on the 15th and 20th anniversaries of "Issues in Science and Technology Librarianship" (ISTL). The first issue of ISTL was released in December 1991 by Harry Llull of the University of Mexico. Considered one of ISTL's best moves was adding the refereed articles section to the journal, which provided a place for people to publish the article they needed for promotion and tenure.
At first glance, the proliferation of Web journal publishing, particularly from the commercial sector recently, may seem like manna from heaven -- librarians can now offer users searchable full-text of important scientific journals, as well as enhancements found only in the electronic versions. When it comes to electronic publications, however, librarians must consider a host of details.
scite is a Brooklyn-based organization that helps researchers better discover and understand research articles through Smart Citations–citations that display the context of the citation and describe whether the article provides supporting or contrasting evidence. scite is used by students and researchers from around the world and is funded in part by the National Science Foundation and the National Institute on Drug Abuse of the National Institutes of Health.