Like electronic books, e‐journals have become an effective and efficient mechanism for the transfer of data, information and knowledge from an originator to a consumer population. Increasingly, many libraries are now extending their “holdings” of electronic journals. Indeed, in many organisations, e‐journals have become more popular then conventional paper‐based journal collections. This book by Curtis and Scheschy provides an up‐to‐date “manual” for creating and maintaining a collection of electronic journals. The material in the book is organised into nine chapters and a collection of five appendices. The first two chapters provide necessary background information – scene setting and basic concepts needed to understand subsequent parts of the book. Chapters 3 through 9 then address more “specialised” topics; most of these chapters can be read as “stand‐alone” essays that are directed at specialised staff involved in particular aspects of acquiring material for and providing access to electronic journals.
The opening chapter of the book discusses the evolution of and demand for electronic journals within library systems. Various types of e‐journal are described and discussed and some of the advantages (and disadvantages) of this mode of publication are debated. The future of commercial publication is questioned in the light of ongoing developments in the area of the Open Access initiative. The second chapter is devoted to “studying users”. It discusses various research studies and research techniques for obtaining behavioural data relating to online users of the Web (in general) and users of e‐journals (in particular). A range of techniques is considered – ranging from questionnaire‐based methods through to focus groups and interviews.
As was mentioned above, subsequent chapters of the book deal with specific aspects of handling electronic journal collections in libraries. The third chapter therefore considers change in library systems – in order to accommodate the growing shift in library resources from paper to those based on digital media (e‐resources). Particular emphasis is given to financial considerations, workflow and organisational issues and the changing staff roles that accompany the transition to digital electronic media. Chapter 4 then delves into the processes involved in actually developing a collection of electronic journals. Taken together with Chapter 4 (license agreements) and Chapter 5 (pricing models and negotiating deals), this section of the book provides a useful and very sound “knowledge base” for developing a collection of e‐journals.
Having considered the formulation and implementation of a collection policy for electronic journals – and the creation of the e‐library itself – the next major step to consider is the provision of access. Some of the problems of delivering e‐journals and creating access channels to them are covered in depth in Chapter 7. Of course, once the e‐library is “up and running” (and access is provided), it is necessary to make available appropriate support infrastructures for users. Fostering and encouraging the use of e‐journals by users is also an important “promotional” aspect that has to be undertaken. These issues are discussed in some length in Chapter 8. The final phase in the overall implementation process is the collection of feedback from users. This topic is addressed in the last chapter of the book. This explores some of the problems of, and need for, analysing e‐journal usage and gathering attitudinal data (from users) regarding the quality of service provision. In order to accomplish these tasks, many of the research techniques outlined in Chapter 2 could be used.
A number of appendices are provided at the end of the book (five in all). These serve to illustrate some of the important issues involved in creating and maintaining a collection of e‐journals. For example, there are some sample collection policies and an illustrative online journal evaluation form. Some of the other important practical issues covered in this section of the book include standardising titles for web lists and the creation of subject lists – and how a spreadsheet can be used to create web lists of e‐journals.
Overall, this book is quite a useful one. I was very impressed with the wealth of information that it contains and the level of detail that it goes into. However, I did find the size of the book (over 400 pages) a little daunting. But then, I realised that it is intended to be a manual rather than something to curl up in bed with! My only real reservation about this book is the fact that by far the major part of it relates almost exclusively to the North American library scene. Naturally, many of the findings could probably be “generalised” to other international communities – provided one is prepared to disregard (or accept) the underlying sources of data upon which the findings are based.
