LIBRARY UPDATE

Published by the WSU Libraries for the WSU Faculty

April 1997, No. 15

Contents

From the Director

Over the course of the past decade, journal prices have risen at far above the rate of general inflation, averaging more than 10% per year. Although WSU has directed considerable funds throughout this period toward this problem, it has been impossible for this university library, or any other research library in the country, to keep pace with these increases. Journals in the sciences, technology, and medicine have been particularly hard hit, with average prices more than 4 times that of other disciplines. Last year was particularly devastating with journal inflation in the sciences averaging about 20%. While inflation for books has been considerably more tolerable, averaging about 5% a year, it has still been higher than increases in the cost of living. The book collections have suffered as well. This crisis in scholarly communication is a result of a number of complex combinations of factors including:
  • The explosion in the number of pages published each year.
  • Recovery of lost income resulting from cancellations. We expect to pay an average of 5% more for many journals because other libraries no longer subscribe to them.
  • Weak exchange rates. Many scientific, technical, medical, and economics journals are published in Europe. The exchange rate was especially unfavorable last year.
  • The proliferation of academic journal publishing by commercial publishing. The average commercial chemistry journal is more than twice the cost of the average society publication.
  • Markets for academic journals outside of academe - many commercial companies do research and subscribe to these journals. They have been better able to absorb these prices.
What can faculty do to help address this growing crisis in scholarly communications? Here are just a few suggestions:
  • Assist the University Libraries in exploring alternatives to very expensive, more specialized journal subscriptions such as direct, electronic document delivery. The Libraries are currently conducting a pilot project with faculty in about 12 departments with subsidized, unmediated document delivery. Through this service faculty can request articles from commercial document delivery services from their desktop computer and have these articles faxed or, in some cases, delivered electronically directly to their departments/offices.
  • Work closely with your library subject specialists who serve as liaisons to your department to guarantee that we continue to purchase the most appropriate books and journals in your discipline.
  • Consider whether you play a role in the journal crisis: Do you submit articles to publications with exorbitant prices or serve on their editorial boards?
  • Discuss pricing issues with the editors/publishers of journals in your field, encouraging them to limit the number of pages published each year and to make their acceptance standards more stringent.
  • Support professional societies, associations, and university publishers by submitting articles to their publications. These are the publishers who have sustained the most reasonable prices during this decade. Encourage them to take some leadership in the publication of electronic journals.
  • Recognize that research libraries can no long afford to build comprehensive collections that may be used at some point in the future. Throughout this decade we have had to become extremely selective, basing our subscription decisions on an assessment of quality and actual use by faculty and students.
Most importantly, you can support the short-term recommendations of the Steering Committee on Libraries. These recommendations were recently submitted to the Interim Provost. Bob Speth (VCAPP), Chair of the Steering Committee, or I would be happy to share a copy of them with any of you who are interested. These recommendations address these issues, calling on the university to stabilize/strengthen the university library resources and provide the funding needed to take advantage of new initiatives that might offer alternative methods of scholarly communication. I am very grateful to all the members of the Steering Committee on Libraries who have worked very hard all semester to consider these very difficult problems and compile these recommendations.
--Nancy L. Baker, Director of Libraries
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Document Delivery Pilot Project

Although the Libraries' budget for collections has increased during the last decade, the cost of journals has far exceeded the additional funding. At the same time, the number of new serial publications has continued to increase, particularly in specialized areas. The volume of interlibrary loan transactions has also increased throughout the country, making it difficult to ensure the speedy delivery of materials. There is a continuing need to identify additional ways of successfully providing the access to scholarly publications so important to the teaching and research activities of WSU faculty. With this need in mind, the WSU Libraries has undertaken a study to evaluate the cost/benefits of access to journals available through commercial on-line document retrieval services. WSU has awarded the Libraries $30,000 to conduct this pilot project during the 1997 calendar year.

A test group of WSU faculty is being offered free, direct ordering and rapid delivery of journal articles from several commercial document delivery services. Participating departments were identified based on their dependence on journal literature for research, the high cost of journals in their respective fields, the impact of recent journal cancellation projects on the availability of their literature within the WSU Libraries, their extensive usage of our interlibrary loan service and/or the need for representation from a cross section of colleges. For this project, all faculty from selected departments are encouraged to participate regardless of location within the WSU community. Participation requires that faculty keep brief records of their successful and unsuccessful usage of the service. There will also be a follow-up written survey for each participating faculty member to complete.

The Libraries have several specific objectives for this project. One is to determine the feasibility of using direct document delivery services as an alternative to costly library subscriptions to specialized journals which are of interest to only a limited group of scholars. We will also analyze the ability of various commercial document delivery services to deliver readable copies of requested materials in a timely fashion. There will be an assessment of the likely costs/benefits of implementing such a service for the entire faculty. Additionally, we hope to identify some of the most effective ways to deliver scholarly publications to WSU faculty.

Summary findings of the follow-up survey will be submitted to the Faculty Senate Library Committee and the Steering Committee on Libraries for discussion and possible recommendations to the Director of Libraries and the provost regarding future direct document ordering and delivery. The summary will be available to any interested faculty or staff member. For more information, contact project coordinator Rita Fisher at 335-8000 or fisher@wsu.edu, or contact Director of Libraries Nancy Baker at 335-4558 or bakern@wsu.edu.

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Government Online Databases

The WSU Libraries provide access to two government online databases. GPO Access is a primary U.S. government Internet source of federal information. It allows full-text searching of a number of federal databases including the Federal Register, Congressional Register, Code of the Federal Regulations, the U.S. Code, and many more. GPO Access is available at several Holland/New Library Reference workstations. Another government Internet source for up-to-date business, economic, and international trade information is STAT-USA/Internet. It allows full-text searching for databases such as the entire National Trade Data Bank (NTDB) and Economic Bulletin Board (EBB), Global Business Procurement Opportunities (GLOBUS), Bureau of Economic Analysis (BEA), and others. STAT-USA/Internet is available at a workstation in Holland/New Library Reference through single user access.

The Libraries also provide access to Washington State government materials and the current Washington state legislative session through Leginfo, which is available via the World Wide Web and Gopher at Holland/New Library workstations. Leginfo is also available at the Quick Info stations in the Holland/New Library and via Netscape at the other libraries. For more information, contact Joy Suh at 335-8859 or email suh@wsu.edu.

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Changes at the Owen-Library

Because Owen Science and Engineering Library staff are on duty by 7:30 a.m., it has been arranged to open the Library at 7:30 on week days. This early opening does not "cost" the Libraries more money, and may help those who need pre-class access. If you haven't visited the Owen Library recently, you might want to come in and check us out. A new Circulation Desk with an ergonomic design has been installed. The new design meets the needs of our staff and hides unsightly computer terminal wires. The area is more attractive and safer for both staff and patrons.
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Gift to Brain Education Library

In January, the Brain Education Library received a substantial donation of up-to-date materials for the teaching of various foreign languages from Dr. Warren Roby of the Department of Foreign Languages and Literatures. Dr. Roby had collected the texts, tapes, and supplementary materials from several major publishers for a class he teaches, and gave them to the Library so they could be made more available and accessible to students. Included are materials on teaching French, Spanish, Japanese, and German. The materials are being cataloged and will become part of the texts collection in the Brain Education Library. For more information, contact Cindy Kaag at 335-5579 or kaag@wsu.edu.
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Current Contents Available

The online citation and abstract index, Current Contents, has been available at the WSU Libraries and through remote access for affiliated users since January. The index covers more than 7,000 journals and 1,700 books annually in a wide range of subjects, including Life Sciences, Clinical Medicine, Agriculture and the Environment, Physical Sciences, Engineering and Technology, Social and Behavioral Sciences, and Arts and Humanities. Coverage begins with 1996, and is updated weekly.

A favorite feature of Current Contents is the capability of browsing the table of contents of a selected journal, issue by issue. Users may then select a title and retrieve the citation, and in some cases, the abstract.

The WSU Libraries provide access to Current Contents through a cooperative acquisitions project with the UW Libraries. To connect to Current Contents within a WSU library, select the WinWillow icon at a CD-ROM workstation; or select 'Other Libraries' and then 'Wash. St. Cooperative Library Project' at a Griffin terminal.

The index is available through two formats for users outside the WSU Libraries. Users running Windows 3.11, Windows NT, or Windows 95 on their computers, may retrieve WinWillow Software from the WSU Libraries Systems Web Page. Please check this site frequently for updates. Others may access Current Contents by telnetting to wsclp.washington.edu from a recognized WSU computer account or IP address. Search guides are available at the Holland/New Library, Owen Science & Engineering Library, and Veterinary Medical/Pharmacy Library. For more information about Current Contents, contact Adonna Fleming at 335-7601 or afleming@wsu.edu.

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Celebrating National Library Week

National Library Week, April 13-19, is being celebrated with a variety of activities in the WSU Libraries, including the renewal of one of our finer traditions -- the recognition of an exemplary non-library WSU faculty member who has supported and contributed to the success of WSU Libraries' services, programs, and/or collections. A reception will follow the Faculty Award ceremony. Banners will be displayed in each of the libraries, awards will be given to our "30,000th" reference question of the year, and special computer "wallpaper" and Web pages will be designed to commemorate this special week. For more information about the festivities, contact Marilyn Von Seggern at 335-8217 or m_seggern@wsu.edu.
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Tracking CD-ROM Usage

The Libraries' Systems Office has created a program to document how often students and faculty are using the many CD-ROMs available to them within the Pullman campus libraries. This effort will help librarians make collection development and equipment decisions which more accurately reflect which electronic resources our library users need and want. The tracking system began in December 1996. From January to mid-March, 1997 library users accessed our 34 networked CD-ROM titles a total of 6,778 times. The most heavily used titles were Biological Abstracts, PsycLit, Vet CD, and Sociofile. These four accounted for over 60% of total usage. If you would like a list of CD-ROM titles and other electronic resources available at the Pullman campus libraries, access the list on the World Wide Web or visit one of the libraries.
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PsycLit: New & Improved

In 1996, the Holland/New Library changed its subscription to PsycLit. PsycLit is the electronic version of Psychological Abstracts, which provides an index and abstracts to journals and books in psychology. The new vendor, NISC, presents a search engine that is easy for beginners to use, while still allowing for the sophisticated search strategies needed by experienced users. The new licensing agreement between NISC and the WSU Libraries allows for increased access to PsycLit. Multiple people can be logged onto the PsycLit database at the same time. Currently we have six workstations in Holland/New Library available for researchers wanting to search this index. The WSU Libraries are exploring the possibility of even greater network access through consortial agreements with the WSU extended campus libraries and other university libraries in the state of Washington. For more information about PsycLit, please contact Elizabeth Felt at 335-8957 or felt@wsu.edu.
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Copies of Dissertations Available

Need a copy of a dissertation to help you in your research? A new service available through the Interlibrary Loan Office may be just what you're looking for!

UMI, the company that provides copies of most dissertations written in the US, has developed a new service called Dissertation Express. The service, available only through the ILL Office, provides academic researchers with rapid delivery of unbound, shrink-wrapped copies of any dissertation listed as available in Dissertation Abstracts. Our experience with this service so far has been very good. Copies of dissertations arrived within 3-4 working days of order. In addition to the benefit of rapid delivery, the service provides copies at a price of about $10 less than UMI's usual academic rate for bound or microfilm copies. To order a copy of a dissertation or for more information, please contact the ILL Office at Holland/New Library at 335-5517 or check with a reference librarian.

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Rich Research Resource

Did you know that the WSU Libraries is a member of the Center for Research Libraries, an organization that provides its membership with access to a wide range of research materials in many subject areas?

The Center for Research Libraries (CRL) is a rich repository of many unique or hard-to-find information resources. As a CRL member, the WSU Libraries may borrow items from their collections that support your research. Many types of materials are available such as foreign dissertations, newspapers (both national and international), and foreign documents. CRL also has ongoing programs to collection materials in support of area studies. Some of the areas covered by these programs include Vietnam, South and Southeast Asia, Japan, Korea, and Latin America. CRL has an extensive collection of Russian publications including titles dating as early as 1724 and currently published Russian journals.

In addition to the materials already held within CRL's collections, we can ask that specific items be purchased "on demand." In the past we have requested and received loan of many specific foreign dissertations and many reels of microfilmed items such as newspapers, foreign gazettes, and archival materials.

To find out more about what is available from CRL and whether its collections might be useful to you in your area of research, contact a reference librarian to obtain a copy of the CRL Handbook, a complete description of their services and collections, or search CRL's catalog now.


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Library Update is edited by Bob Matuozzi, MASC, Holland/New Library-5610, 335-6693, matuozzi@wsu.edu and Eileen Brady, Owen Science and Engineering Library-3200, 335-4080, brady@wsu.edu