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Beth Salzwedel, Editor
Alexia Estabrook, Web Master
Table of Contents
Electronic Journals
Mercy Musings
Slate of Candidates
Announcements
Electronic Journals
- WHAT ARE THEY?
Electronic
journals are electronic serial publications available on the Internet.
Electronic journals fall into two categories, those that are electronic
format only and those that are available in electronic format with corresponding
paper format.
Publishers
take license as to what they describe as an electronic journal.
The e-journal may consist of a number of formats.
·
Citation
- abstract - full text with full download capabilities for each article.
·
Citation
- abstract of an article with download capabilities.
·
Citation
of an article only with download capabilities.
·
Table of
contents of the journal only.
Where do you get
access to Electronic Journals?
·
Access
through the publisher is the most direct route. This requires a contract for the
e-journal negotiated between the library and the publisher.
The e-journal contract may require acquisition of the paper journal as
well as the electronic journal. Some
publishers will allow electronic access to a journal without buying paper copy,
unfortunately this usually implies a one year
contract. It is up to the
discretion of the individual publisher as to whether your contract with them
will allow access to archived information.
·
Access
through subscription agencies who will negotiate e-journal contracts with the
publisher for their customer is becoming popular. The use of subscription
agency services is less time
consuming for librarians as the transition to e-journals continues.
·
One may
access electronic journals through university libraries via the internet.
·
Some
electronic journal publications are free on the internet.
If
one looks at the internet
it is difficult to believe as far back as 1992 the main users of the
internet were Scientists. The internet was
invented to create a vehicle for scientists to practice science.
Scientists still use the internet to
practice their trade but they have dropped out of sight using private discussion
groups to conduct their business. The
old adage of publish or perish does not carry the dread once felt by the
academic of the past.
In pre-internet days an author would be at the mercy of the publisher.
Not only would it take months to have an article accepted, pass peer
review, and come out in print, the author would be required to sign over
copyright privileges to the publisher and in many cases was required to pay the
publisher to print the article. Now an author can post their findings on the
internet without going to publishers or may submit their paper to an
electronic journal and have it posted on the internet straight away.
Researchers at the Los Alamos National Laboratory in New Mexico set up a
service to store and distribute electronic copies of preprint (or e-prints) over
the internet, not because it was faster but because it was more democratic.
No more missing the latest breakthrough because one was not considered
worthy of being on a distribution list. Since
1992 the number of e-prints handled by the Los Alamos National
Laboratory service has grown
to 40,000 requests a day from 20,000 researchers.
As a result the physics preprint is dying and the paper journals
themselves have become mere archives. The transition from paper to the
electronic journals will continue because digital information can convey sound,
color, and movement. Paper journals
are restricted to words and figures with some colored photos
which are kept to a minimum due
to the cost of colored printing. Producing
electronic journals is cost effective, about half the cost of printing and
distributing a paper journal. This
reason alone has seen leading journals i.e. Lancet, British Medical Journal, New
England Journal of Medicine providing fulltext access to their journals online.
Peer-reviewed
journals are designed to protect readers from influences that impinge of the
accuracy of the articles themselves. Many
journals are owned by professional organizations whose reputation depends on the
success and integrity of their journals. How the electronic journal is going to
ensure the editing process is of the same standard as the print versions remains
to be seen. Electronic journals
must maintain the same standards as the print version otherwise their readership
will not subscribe to a publication they lose respect for. Fairness in editorial
decisions seems greater than ever. Publishers must find a way to manage research
- peer review - authors - readers - quality issues - integrity of
journal articles-plus meet the challenge of the electronic age. Publishers
should recognize the importance of peer-review journals to the medical
profession and make every effort to preserve the credibility of each journal
through the transition from paper to electronic format.
Young readers accept electronic media more readily
than older readers who are not as familiar or comfortable with computers.
Physicians have gown up with paper journals and it will be difficult for
them to break the habit of carrying their favorite journal to breakfast, to work
or to a favorite reading snug. Hand
held computers, which simulate the feel of a book/journal are on the market.
With this new product the change to electronic format may escalate at a
faster rate than anticipated. Journals
with small circulation's will be
forced to move quickly to electronic form because the print form is too
expensive for individual subscribers. If
readers prefer paper journals they will remain available, if not,
paper journals will always be found in a museum for people to view and
reminisce over.
Medical
Librarians will have their work cut
out for them for the next decade or two. The
librarian's main concern will be serving the needs of their customers in a
format they are comfortable with. Library customers will dictate how, when and what pace the
need for electronic information is required.
The librarian's job is to listen and to implement the changes with the
least amount of stress for the customer.
References:
Anne
Farwell - Canebsco Subscription Agency - 24 November 1999 interview.
McLeod,
S.D Knowledge or noise. Scientific publication and the electronic journal. Arch
Opthalmol; 1996 Oct. Vol. 114 Issue 10 p1269-70.
Shaffer,
Richard A. Multimedianet. Forbes, 5/22/95, Vol. 155 Issue 11, p248.
Hyoyok
O. Scientific communications. History, electronic journals and impact factors.
Scand J Rehabil Med; 199 Mar. Vol. 31 Issue 1 p3-7.
Sacharow,
Anya. Electronic journals -- United States. MediaWeek, 10/27/97, Vol.7 Issue 40,
p42,2p,1c.
Huth
E.J. Is the medical world ready for electronic journals?[editorial]. Online J
Curr Clin Trials; 1992 Jul 1. Vol. Doc No7P[1559 words; 11 paragraphs].
Joyce
Jewer
Windsor Regional Hospital
Health Sciences Library
Mercy Musings
During
the last several months, many of you have undoubtedly read about the closing of
Mercy Hospital of Detroit. Did you at the same time think about what is involved
with the closing of the library? Here are some of the activities in the library
during this time.
Disposal.
First of
all, I made some attempt to dispose of my holdings, most of which were old
journals from the 1940’s through the 1980’s. Some of these journals have
gone to Lansing where Judy Barnes hopes to digitize some of the older journals.
Some 4-5 boxes went to POH to be used by Diana Balint, and five boxes went to a
Mercy library in Iowa.
History.
The reason for the existence of all these old periodicals was that the
collection had its roots in the days when the two predecessor hospitals had
nursing schools. Mercy Hospital was the name of a health care entity formed in
the late 1970’s by the merger of two hospitals: St Joseph Mercy Hospital (St
Joe’s on the Boulevard) and Evangelical Deaconess Hospital, located on
Jefferson Avenue in Detroit. At the time of the merger it was widely discussed
as being the first merger in the U.S. of a Roman Catholic institution and a
Protestant (United Church of Christ) one. The first name was Samaritan Health
Center, and that name lasted until 1991, at which time it was named Mercy
Hospital.
Book
Sale. As the
weeks went by I held a book sale in the library, charging the impressive prices
of $1 for hard bound books, 50 cents for soft bound, and $10 for a multi-volume
set. I also charged $1 for pamphlet boxes or for bookends. Patient education
materials were FREE! Periodicals were FREE! The sets of clinics went quite
quickly. I acquired more than $1600 for a neighborhood community group near
Mercy. But of course, eventually I ran out of time and any books that were
desirable, so a large number of dumpsters were filled.
Reference
continues.
Of course at the same time, some of the departments were still functioning, so I
did some continuing reference work for a few of the hospital personnel.
But I also began a proactive project of showing people where to find help
for their resumes, how to search for jobs, how to go on interviews, etc. As
often as I could I reminded people to “think outside the box” as the saying
goes, as they tried to figure out how their healthcare skills could be used in
other companies. Given the large number of layoffs in the metro Detroit
healthcare scene during the last several years, many people will need to find
jobs in other industries. Some
folks also needed information on how to set up ambulatory clinics and other
healthcare ventures to continue to help the eastside community. So I did not run
out of reference requests.
Organizations.
I also made lots of lists about groups which needed
to be informed of the demise of the Mercy library: MDMLG, MHSLA, the Greater
Midwest Region, DOCLINE, NTIS, NLM etc. Our OCLC code is EVQ and our old DOCLINE
LIBID was 48211A. You may wish to adjust some of your interlibrary loan lists.
Since this closure is taking place at the beginning of the year, we just did not
renew the journals for 2000. So periodical cancellation was a project I was able
to avoid!
Next?
Last week I turned my badge and my keys in at Mercy, and I have started working
full-time at the Sladen Library at Henry Ford Hospital. After eight years of
alternating days between locations (formerly Mercy and Metro Medical Group), I
now have no excuse for being confused or going around in circles. I am at Sladen
every day. My coworkers here have been very kind and helpful, especially during
these last several months.
Maureen
W. LeLacheur
Henry Ford Hospital
Sladen Library
Slate of Candidates
The Nominating Committee is pleased to present the
following slate of candidates for the upcoming election.
Our thanks to all of the candidates for their continued commitment to
MDMLG.
PRESIDENT-ELECT
Audrey
Bondar
Jill VanBuskirk
EXECUTIVE BOARD
Agnes
Bongero
Karin Werner
Wendy Wu
NOMINATING COMMITTEE
Nancy
Bulgarelli
Margaret Carpenter
Dina Mein
Ellen O’Donnell
Sandra Studebaker
NOMINATING BY PETITION
Nominations
for the Board and the Nominating Committee may be made from the membership at
large by petitions signed by not fewer than ten regular members providing they
are submitted in writing to the chairman of the Nominating Committee at least
twenty-one days before the election. The
deadline for submitting petitions to Gayle Williams is February 25, 2000.
Announcements
At the next General Membership Meeting please come
prepared to comment on methods of distributing the MDMLG Directory. Currently,
all members
receive a hard copy of the directory. The
cost of printing the
directory is $1200 per year. At the last board meeting, it was suggested that the directory be made available in PDF
format on the MDMLG website. The
cost for the PDF software would be around $400.
Gina Hug,
Membership Services
Henry Ford Hospital
Sladen Library
Gay Brynes has retired from Providence.
Barbara Finn has retired Sinai-Grace. We wish them the best!!
Get well soon to Joyce Jewer who suffered a broken leg.
We know nothing will keep you sidelined for long.
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