The Directory of Electronic Journals, Newsletters and Academic Discussion Lists web site is maintained by the Association of Research Libraries (ARL). It has a traditional sedate appearance: white background and few graphics. This site provides ordering information on the latest print and online edition, full‐text articles featured in previous directories, past directory archives, and archives for the ARL‐EJOURNAL electronic discussion list. Access is provided to an updated online version of the Directory of Scholarly and Professional E‐Conferences as well as the Scholarly Electronic Publishing Bibliography. Links to various ARL sites are provided on a sidebar. Forms for customer comments and recommended additions to the directory are available.
The directory is organized into two main sections: E‐Journals and Newsletters; and Scholarly and Professional E‐Conferences. The electronic journals and newsletters section is maintained by ARL, while the electronic conferences entries are edited by Diane Kovacs. The complete directory is available only to subscribers. Ordering information explains that the electronic version of the directory is available as a stand‐alone product, while purchasers of print copies will automatically receive access to the online version. However, free access is provided on the web site to the current version of the Scholarly and Professional E‐Conferences section. Visitors can also access previous web editions of the electronic journals and newsletters section, although they have not been updated since their original publication.
The complete directory includes over 7,000 listings of journals, newsletters, webzines, and professional electronic conferences accessible via the Internet. The electronic journals section has over 3,400 titles with scientific journals constituting the greatest number of entries followed by social sciences. The online directory offers users the ability to browse through individual entries or to search for specific items. Search options include searching by title, description, publisher, peer review basis, or subject. Also included is the thesaurus used to classify the entries, thereby allowing users to search by specific keywords. All web‐accessible electronic journals have a link from their entry to the journal’s actual site. Entries provide title, description, URL/subscription information, ISSN, costs, first issue date, frequency and contact information.
Free access via the World Wide Web is provided for the latest revision of the Directory of Scholarly and Professional E‐Conferences. This directory screens, evaluates, and organizes discussion lists, news groups, mailing lists, and interactive Web chat groups on topics of interest to scholars and professionals for use in their scholarly, pedagogical, and professional activities. The directory may be browsed or searched, although searching is not as sophisticated as in the online version of the complete directory. Entries are placed into one of sixty‐three categories according to the dominant academic subject.
Keyword searching provides an enhancement over the annual print edition which does not offer cross‐listings. Search results are alphabetically arranged by the discussion names with links to the full description. Entries provide description, contact addresses, archives information, moderator, and subject keywords. Generic subscription instructions are available since no e‐mail forms are offered for subscribing to the list directly from the site.
Researchers of scholarly electronic publishing efforts on the Internet will find the Scholarly Electronic Publishing Bibliography useful. Compiled by Charles W. Bailey, Jr., this regularly updated bibliography presents selected articles, books, electronic documents, and other sources, the majority of which were published after 1990. Librarians will be particularly interested in the many articles on library issues. Links are provided to sources that are available via the Internet. The bibliography may be browsed or searched using Boolean operators. Printing capabilities are enhanced by the options to download the bibliography into an Acrobat or Word file. Useful links to other web sites related to scholarly electronic publishing are included.
The highly textual nature of the site allows quick navigation. Because the site is updated regularly, the online directories provide more current information than their print counterparts. The site’s great value is its concentration on academically oriented electronic communication. Serious users of Internet publications find the directory to be one of the most respected reference sources for this type of information. Subscribers will find the complete, fully searchable online version a treat to use. The free offerings will enable casual browsers to search for the best electronic discussion groups available. Researchers will find a wealth of information in the extensive bibliography on scholarly electronic publishing. The indexing of the Internet from the academic’s point of view and the high standards of accuracy and currency make this a recommended site.
