Electronic journal distribution: a prototype study

This paper discusses issues relating to the electronic distribution of journals, in the context of the Electronic Library Project of the Institute for Scientific Information (ISI). The aim of the Project is to investigate a number of variables relating to electronic journal distribution, including not merely technical but also non‐technical issues such as financial, copyright and social aspects. ISI, together with IBM, has begun to develop a prototype electronic document storage management and distribution system for the electronic library. The prototype will be installed at test sites in the USA and Europe starting in August 1995. Test sites will include both academic and corporate users. IBM's client/server design will enable ISI to manage a very large database (both bibliographic and full‐text), while allowing users to view the information on PCs running widely‐used operating systems. The interface used during the test will be Lotus Notes. The paper describes how users will search the Current Contents database, and the system will deliver full images of journal articles direct to the researcher's desktop over the subscriber's LAN. The images will be available for viewing or printing immediately, if the library has purchased an electronic subscription to the journal in question; otherwise, the article may be obtained from the site's library or a document delivery supplier.