LIBRES: Library and Information Science Research
ISSN 1058-6768
1995 Volume 5 Issue 3-4; December 31.
Quarterly LIBRE5N3 SINGH
Electronic Journals on Library and Information Studies Available Via
the Internet
Jagtar Singh
Department of Library and Information Science
Punjabi University, Patiala-147002 (India)
Fytton Rowland and Jack Meadows
Department of Information and Library Studies
Loughborough University of Technology
Loughborough, Leics. LE11 3TU (UK)
Abstract
Librarians and information workers are obviously interested in
electronic journals in their role as providers of information to their
customers. At the same time, members of the profession are
becoming increasingly interested in accessing electronic journals that
relate to their specialist concerns. The purpose of the present article
is to look at the second aspect, by examining what specialist library
and information titles are currently available online. The nature and
content of these electronic journals is then considered in the context
of major library and information journals available in printed form.
This gives rise to a query regarding future journal publishing in
library and information studies.
Introduction
What constitutes a _journal_ is ill-defined even for the printed
medium. Trying to define an _electronic journal_ is even more
difficult, since electronic handling lends itself to transmutation of
information into various forms to fit different types of presentation.
Thus electronic journals, electronic newsletters, bulletin boards,
discussion groups and computer conferences can quite easily blur
into each other. In distinguishing electronic journals, it is probably
best not to rely on the type of contributions they contain (which may
be a mix of articles, abstracts, news, etc). If they are to be regarded
as in some sense a scholarly journal, they should possess two
properties. The first is that at least some of their contents should be
based on original work and thought. The second is that this material
should normally have been subject to some kind of peer-review
process.
A systematic search of Internet resources indicates that a number of
electronic journals touching on the library and information field is
now available. Those which appear to be most important (in the
sense that they seem to receive more mention online and in
discussion) are examined here. One question at issue is that whether
it is possible to discern any characteristics that they have in common.
This is studied here via an analysis of their expressed intentions and
the information they provide for potential authors. The results are
outlined in the next section.
For comparison purposes, a number of well-established printed
journals in the library and information field is examined in the same
terms. This provides a baseline against which the electronic journals
can be measured.
Electronic Journals and their Characteristics
The following electronic journals are examined below:
EJournal;
EJC/REC: Electronic Journal of Communication/La Revue
Electronique de Communication;
Electronic Journal on Virtual Culture;
Interpersonal Computing and Technology Journal;
LIBRES: Library and Information Science Research Electronic
Journal;
MC: The Journal of Academic Media Librarianship;
The Olive Tree;
The Public-Access Computer Systems Review.
All these journals were started in North America during the past five
years. All have quality control procedures in place, all are network-
based, and all are _free_ (in the sense of not being priced
publications). The EJournal is produced from the State University of
New York. In terms of its focus, the editors note:
_We are particularly interested in theory and practice surrounding
the creation, transmission, storage, interpretation, alteration and
replication of electronic _text_ - broadly defined. We are also
interested in the broader social, psychological, literary, economic and
pedagogical implications of computer- mediated networks._
There are no guidelines regarding style, but essays of around 5000
words are stated to fit the format best. The editors also note that
they are experimenting with _ways of revising, responding to,
reworking, or even retracting the texts we publish_. The background
to the establishment of the journal has been described at some length
by Jennings (1991) in another electronic journal.
Electronic Journal of Communication/La Revue Electronique de
Communication (EJC/REC) appears in both English and French
versions - hence its dual title. (It is the only one of the electronic
journals considered here that does not have English as its only
official language.) It focuses on _the study of communication theory,
research, practice, and policy. Manuscripts reporting original
research, methodologies relevant to the study of human
communication, critical syntheses of research, and theoretical and
philosophical perspectives are welcome_. Articles are typically
grouped together into special issues. Detailed guidelines are given
for the preparation of manuscripts; in other matters, authors are
instructed to follow either the Publication Manual of the APA, or the
MLA Handbook.
The Electronic Journal on Virtual Culture (abbreviated to EJVC) was
until recently called the Arachnet Electronic Journal on Virtual
Culture. It is _dedicated to scholarly research and discussion of all
aspects of computer-mediated human experience, behaviour, action
and interaction. EJVC publishes articles on such topics as computer-
mediated activities as electronic mail, e-conferences, e-journals,
information distribution and retrieval, the construction and
utilization of images/representations/models of reality and/or
worlds, and global connectivity_. The journal has three sections: the
main section is for peer-reviewed single/multiple articles (including
special issues), the next for essays and opinions, and the third
publishes comments, reviews, announcements and news.
Brief guidelines are given for authors, but, for the most part, they are
asked to follow any recognized standard form and style, preferably
those laid down in the Publication Manual of the APA. The
information about the journal also provides more detail of the
reviewing process than usual. The editors promise to acknowledge
receipt of an article within 24 hours, and to notify acceptance or
rejection within 30 days. All submissions for the main section
receive at least three blind reviews by a jury of referees.
IPCT: Interpersonal Computing and Technology Journal is published
from Georgetown University. The main areas of concern include,
but are not limited to, the following topics: use of electronic methods
in the classroom, electronic publishing, use of electronic networks
and information exchange, library application of electronic
communication, professional relationships carried on via electronic
communication, use of electronic communication in higher
education, business, industry and government and related topics.
Articles may have a humanistic or social science cast. Technological
articles are considered to the extent that they are intelligible to the
bulk of the readers and are not specific to any particular hardware
configuration_. The instructions to authors are essentially limited to
the statement that articles should be full length and submitted in
APA format.
LIBRES: Library and Information Research Electronic Journal has a
wide brief both in terms of coverage and types of communication.
So far as the former is concerned, it is interested in any kind of
scholarly thought on library and information science. It contains a
number of different sections. The Research and Applications section
contains the peer-reviewed articles, but there is also a Preprints and
Abstracts section for articles submitted for general review and
discussion. Another section deals with Essays and Opinions and a
final one with News, Reviews and Discussion. This extensive, and to
some extent overlapping coverage by the different sections reflects
the original objectives of the journal, which were explained in the
following way.
LIBRES will be a platform for initiating, developing and refining
research projects and ideas useful for both librarians and other
information professionals. It can both present and review research
as a journal, and it can stimulate dialogue on emerging research
agendas and ideas.
MC: The Journal of Academic Media Librarianship encompasses all
aspects of academic media librarianship. It is published at irregular
intervals. Articles are limited in length, and authors are instructed to
follow the Chicago Manual of Style.
The Olive Tree, subtitled A Library and Information Science
Electronic Journal, is published from the University of Arizona. Its
prime concern is with library science and information management,
and it is intended to be a cumulative collection of articles, rather than
a series of journal issues. Rather brief author guidelines are
provided.
Finally, The Public-Access Computer Systems Review (PACS
Review) is specifically concerned with end-user computer systems in
libraries. It is published from the University of Houston. Refereed
articles form one section of the journal. Authors are provided with
brief instructions, but are then asked to consult the Chicago Manual
of Style.
All these journals provide information on how to access back issues,
and most have ISSNs. The copyright is assigned to authors, though
the journals make various provisos concerning further use of
materials. Apart from The Olive Tree, which started quite recently
and is hypertext-based, the journals are in ASCII format, and
available via electronic mail, ftp, gopher and WWW. It appears that
some at least are now reconsidering their technical approach, but
most currently expect to receive articles as ASCII files online (though
a couple allow floppy disks as an alternative).
Two other library and information science electronic journals with
specific aims and audiences should be mentioned here. The
Katherine Sharp Review is a peer-reviewed, US-based electronic
journal. However, its authors and referees are restricted to
undergraduate and postgraduate students. It can therefore be seen
as providing students with an introduction to electronic journal
publication. Infotrain, a UK and Australia-based electronic
publication, takes this idea further. Its contents can be manipulated
by students to provide practice in the design of an electronic journal,
as well as in its editing.
Printed Journals and their Characteristics
The printed journals, considered here, have been selected on the
basis that they are leading English-language publications involving a
range of commercial, learned society and professional association
publishers. The journals concerned are: Information Processing &
Management (IP&M); Journal of the American Society for
Information Science (JASIS); Journal of Documentation; Journal of
Information Science; The Library Quarterly; Journal of Librarianship
and Information Science; RQ (Research Quarterly).
These journals not only have a much longer history than the
electronic journals; they are also priced journals (though with
reduced charges for personal or society subscribers). They are
similar to the electronic journals in the sense that they are
particularly concerned with the publication of peer-reviewed
scholarly articles.
Information Processing & Management is produced by a commercial
publisher. It has a lengthy statement of aims and scope which can be
summarized as follows. It is devoted to reporting on: _basic and
applied research in information science, computer science,
communication, cognitive science and related areas; experimental
and advanced procedures, and their evaluation in information
retrieval and related areas; management of information resources,
libraries, etc._ There are quite detailed instructions to authors, who
are asked to refer to the Publication Manual of the APA for further
information.
The Journal of the American Society for Information Science, though
emanating from the Society, is produced by a commercial publisher.
It has a broad remit covering all fields of documentation and
information science. Instructions are quite detailed, and emphasize
that submission on disk is strongly encouraged, though this must be
accompanied by a paper copy. For further style information, authors
are referred to the Publication Manual of the APA.
The Journal of Documentation is produced by Aslib, a research
association in the information and special libraries field. The journal
publishes articles _based on research or practice relating to the
recording, organization, retrieval, dissemination and use of
information in systems of all kinds_. Brief guidance is given to
authors.
The Journal of Information Science is a society publication, but is
produced by a commercial publisher. The information to authors
says that the Journal of Information Science _will report on
developments in, and thinking about, mechanized (and manual)
information systems, particularly as they affect and support research
communication, technology transfer, and innovation; and the
activity range of policy formation, decision making and problem
solving_. Moderately detailed guidelines are provided for authors,
who are encouraged to submit articles on disk as well as on paper.
The Library Quarterly is produced by a university press, and simply
says that it welcomes research and discussion articles in the library
field. Guidelines for authors are provided, and they are asked to
supplement these by reference to the Chicago Manual of Style.
The Journal of Librarianship and Information Science has a
commercial publisher. It is concerned with _all aspects of
librarianship and information science focusing on the results of
research, reports of significant developments in working practice
and discussions of concerns central to the information profession_.
Moderately detailed guidelines are provided for authors, who are
encouraged to submit on disk as well as paper.
RQ (Research Quarterly) is the journal of the Reference and Adult
Services Division of the American Library Association. _The scope
of the journal includes all aspects of library service to adults, and
reference service and collection development at every level and for
all types of library_. Instructions to authors are printed in detail at
intervals, rather than in every issue.
All these printed journals are published at regular intervals, and all
have ISSNs. In almost all cases the publishers retain the control of
copyright. A minority of journals accept articles only on paper: none
suggests online input. Most consist of a mix of items (especially
letters and book reviews) along with refereed articles.
Discussion
A comparison of the aims and interests of the electronic and printed
journals examined here shows that both are generally broad in
subject coverage, but typically more specific in terms of the
orientation and emphasis they expect to find in submitted articles.
One difference between the two groups is that the electronic journals
are rather more concerned with basic understanding of the influence
of electronic channels of communication, whereas the printed
journals concentrate more on their immediate efforts or applications.
Hardly surprisingly, the electronic journals are more exclusively
concerned with the role of electronic communication than are the
printed journals. This does not mean that the former are more
technologically or mathematically inclined in their approach, on the
contrary, the typical stance in these electronic journals derives from
the social sciences or the humanities.
In terms of presentation and organization there is considerable
similarity between the two types of journal. Both usually have title
pages with ISSNs and similar identifiers; both provide refereed
articles laid out along similar lines; for the most part both are
produced as a series of issues (with most of electronic journals
aiming at, if not necessarily achieving, regular publication schedules,
like those of the printed journals). There is no consensus for either
group concerning guidelines for authors, though the APA and
Chicago manuals are mentioned by some in each group. The
electronic journals seem to be somewhat worse off, in the sense that
the style guides mentioned have actually been developed for print
production, and so are not wholly applicable to the electronic
medium.
The aims and activities that have been listed for the electronic
journals indicate that some experimentation is going on. It is,
however, limited by two factors. The first is that readers tend to
prefer a familiar format when they are experimenting with a new
medium (Schauder, 1994). The second is that experimentation can be
hard work to implement. In this connection, it is worth quoting a
recent letter from the Editor-in-Chief of the Electronic Journal on
Virtual Culture (1995).
_It has become apparent that the publish-when-ready cycle that we
have been trying to work with is difficult to implement in the real
world [presumably as compared with in a virtual culture]. It takes
substantial time to recruit, review and revise articles. Many of you
have noticed the long gaps of time between issues. After discussing
the options the Board decided to go with a regular quarterly
publication cycle. This will give us time to review and revise
articles, time to plan future articles and will give the editors fixed
times when they can schedule work on EJVC. Several authors have
asked for clearer deadlines and the new cycle can make deadlines
more defined as well._
Electronic journals clearly have potential advantages in terms of
flexibility over printed journals, but adherence to the precedence set
by print can diminish these. For example, they should be better at
providing up-to-date news, but this may be less evident if the
electronic journal is only published at intervals. Similarly, though
interaction with authors can be handled more rapidly, the traditional
peer-review process limits the speed of actual publication. The
electronic journals considered here tend to be speedier in their
overall publication rate, but this seems to stem in part from the
dedication of the people involved. It is noticeable, for example, that
the Editorial Boards listed for the electronic journals generally
appear to be more involved in activities than those listed for printed
journals. The examples of the Katherine Sharp Review and Infotrain
illustrate the fact that electronic journals have a flexibility in terms
both of audience and use that the printed journals lack. Thus the
ability in Infotrain for students to experiment with different designs
of journal would hardly be feasible for a printed journal.
The most obvious difference between the printed and electronic
journals is that the former are produced by major institutions
primarily on a commercial basis, whereas the latter are produced by
groups of enthusiasts on a non-commercial basis. At present the two
types of journal can be considered separately. This is not only due to
the difference in the medium: it also relates to the differing aims of
the journals and motivations of the authors. However, a majority of
the publishers involved in producing the set of printed library and
information journals discussed here are examining the scope for
parallel publication in print and electronic form. At the same time,
various pressures are affecting forward planning for private-venture
electronic journals: for example, the possibility of charges being
introduced for use of the Internet, the need to develop new hypertext
interfaces. The question for the immediate future will be whether
the two types of library and information science publisher can
continue to occupy separate niches, or whether developments will
force them closer together. In the latter case, how will the basic
dichotomies - such as who owns the copyright - be resolved?
References
Electronic Journal on Virtual Culture, 3(2), May 1, 1995.
Jennings, Edward M. (1991). EJournal: an account of the first two
years.
The Public-Access Computer Systems Review, 2(1), 99-110. (To
retrieve this article, send an e-mail message that says "GET
JENNINGS PRV2N1 F=Mail" to LISTSERV@UHUPVM1.UH.EDU).
Schauder, D. (1994). Electronic publishing of professional articles.
Journal of the American Society for Information Science, 45(2), 73-
100.
NB: All other quoted material is taken from "Instructions to
Authors" which are usually available in each issue of the journal
concerned.
This document may be circulated freely
with the following statement included in its entirety:
Copyright Jagtar Singh, Fytton Rowland and Jack Meadows 1995.
This article was originally published in
_LIBRES: Library and Information Science
Electronic Journal_ (ISSN 1058-6768) December 31, 1995
Volume 5 Issue 3-4.
For any commercial use, or publication
(including electronic journals), you must obtain
the permission of the authors:
Jagtar Singh
Department of Library and Information Science
Punjabi University, Patiala-147002 (India)
Fytton Rowland and Jack Meadows
Department of Information and Library Studies
Loughborough University of Technology
Loughborough, Leics. LE11 3TU (UK)
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