Most of the Modern Language Association members and other scholars surveyed in this study see an ongoing need for collections of primary records. Respondents note that photocopies and digital records cannot satisfy the needs of bibliographers, textual editors, and literary scholars. Interest in print and the materiality of texts is also growing.…

Discussion of electronic texts in the humanities highlights the major electronic editions of Shakespeare's work. Published versus unpublished texts are explained; other electronic texts currently available in English and American literature are described; and the effect of electronic texts on libraries is discussed. (17 references) (LRW)

Explores the information market in the United States from the perspective of information scientists from the Netherlands Council for Libraries and Information Services (RABIN). Highlights include empowering the end user; the new information infrastructure; facilitating access; document delivery; electronic journals; new markets; pricing; and…

Examines perceptions of faculty and promotion and tenure-committee members regarding the perceived prestige and legitimacy of electronic journals as an outlet for scholarly communication. Respondents gave the greatest importance to the role of peer-reviewed publications to the tenure, promotion, and merit-review process; therefore, the long-term…

Addresses questions of intellectual property rights when faculty, staff, or students at higher education institutions place material on the Internet, noting that educational institutions frequently lack the necessary permission or own rights for such online usage. Suggests that institutions audit materials before putting them online and develop…

Discussion of digital library projects at Rutgers University focuses on publishing bibliographic databases on the Web to provide access to information sources not likely to be published elsewhere. Describes the reusable technology platform concept, bibliographic platform architecture, metadata approach, data entry, and managing the process.…

The four basic criteria for the selection of library materials--quality, library relevancy, aesthetic and technical aspects, and cost--remain the same in the electronic era of information. What they mean and how they are used has changed. But even quality and cost, the two most controversial criteria, carry great importance for the responsible…

Outlines prevalent electronic information pricing models along with their strengths and weaknesses. Highlights include full-time equivalent (FTE) student counts; pure head counts; print plus fee; concurrent users; IP (information provider) classes; by transaction, connect time or retrieval; other factors, e.g., total budget and materials budget;…

Discusses differences between the World Wide Web and CD-ROMs, and future trends in usage of both technologies. Highlights include Web competition; a conceptual model of CD-ROMs; the CD-ROM marketplace; the Internet; speed of use; hybrid titles; the publisher; and DVD-ROM (Digital Videodisc). Concludes that the Web has certain advantages over…

Examines the entry of the major academic publishing houses into World Wide Web publishing. Suggests that early experimentation in Web publishing began unevenly with areas that needed improvement. Concludes with a discussion about the implications of the traditional academic publisher's presence on the Web. (Author/AEF)

Surveys the recent literature on scholarly publishing and its conversion to the electronic medium. Presents results of a questionnaire survey of the United Kingdom-based scholarly publishing industry. Results suggest publishers are moving quickly towards use of the Internet as a major medium for distribution, though they do not expect an early…

Incorporated in the National Library of Canada's (NLC) digital library initiatives are projects relating to digitization, collecting Canadian networked electronic publications, development of virtual catalogs, metadata creation, and preservation of digital resources. Issues relating to collaboration, access to digital collections and databases,…

The European Commission and several national libraries in Europe have initiated the project Nedlib (Networked European Deposit Library) to address problems of accessibility, authenticity, control and preservation of electronic publications. Describes the tasks of Nedlib, the basic functional model for deposit archives (OAIS) and proposes…

Focuses on electronic scholarly-journal publishing. Discusses characteristics of current academic electronic publishing; effects of the World Wide Web; user needs and positions of academic libraries; costs; and decisions of research librarians that drive the industry. (AEF)

Reports results of a study analyzing link density of 200 highly cited documents appearing in ResearchIndex, an autonomous citation index of literature published on the Web. Analysis focuses on the relationship between citations and hypertext links at the publicly available document level. No significant relationship between Web-based citation…