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A need to manage and preserve indigenous knowledge is widely recognised. This is because it is understood to have the potential to promote sustainable development while also preserving indigenous peoples' rights, interests, and cultural identity. To understand the challenges of preserving and integrating digitized indigenous knowledge into open science platforms, a qualitative study was carried out. The study's theoretical underpinnings were based on the ideas that data must be discoverable, accessible, interoperable, and usable (FAIR) and that indigenous people have the power to control their data and the duty to disclose how it is used to advance and defend their rights and general well-being (CARE). The data were analysed thematically. The results demonstrate that indigenous knowledge is stored in separate databases at institutions in various countries. Additionally, there was no standardization in the organizations that were collecting the metadata. Because of a lack of metadata, the digital divide, and poor digital and indigenous librarian abilities, indigenous knowledge and data were practically inaccessible and unfindable. In the aftermath of the digital revolution and open research, this article brings a new viewpoint to the conversation about maintaining indigenous knowledge in sub-Saharan Africa. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Neutrality in librarianship is a nonsensical concept that libraries of all kinds (e.g., public, academic, special, etc.) should not strive to embody in any shape or form. The following paper investigates the intricate relationships between neutrality and racism as they are demonstrated by tangible and intangible forms in library and information science (LIS) spaces. Ian Williams' book chapter, "More Than Half of Americans Can't Swim", from his book, Disorientation: Being Black in the World (2021), is utilized to critically reflect on Blackness as identity and some ways in which antiracist practices clash with neutrality within LIS spaces. I conclude with urgent reminders of how detrimental neutrality can be if it is not thoroughly rooted out and supplanted with antiracist practices that the LIS field is in dire need of. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The paper aims to analyze the quality characteristics of Open Access Journals (OAJs) in Library and Information Science (LIS) published in India. The study assesses three OA journals, namely. International Journal of Information Dissemination and Technology (IJIDT), International Journal of Library and Information Studies (IJLIS), and International Research: Journal of Library and Information Science (IRJLIS). The analysis is performed in two parts. The first part is qualitative. The researchers measured parameters like basic information pertaining to the selected journals, publication trends, composition of the editorial board, and quality measures such as peer review and indexing. The second part of the analysis deals with citing journal sources, where the researchers evaluates the quality of citations received by the selected journals. The finding of the study reveals that all three OAJs established themselves as preferred sources to publish LIS research articles. The analysis of citing sources reveals that 73% of the citing journals are OAJs only. The results also show that only 50% of journals are from the core LIS subject, and the majority of the citing journals are from India. The study also revealed that there are many citing OA journals in the domain of LIS, which is not indexed in leading indexing and abstracting databases. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The purpose of this paper is to study the scattered behaviour of the overall published output of library service quality literature. Different parameters have been taken into consideration to analyze the literature on library service quality. The bibliographical data of the total number of publications published on Library Service Quality (LSQ), during 1960–2018 were searched from the Scopus database by using the search phrases, "Library Service Quality", LibQual and LibQual+, in Title, Abstract and Keyword have been used with Boolean operator 'OR' on December 8th, 2019. The search query resulted in 290 records. The first-ever publication published in the field of library service quality was published in 1997 as reflected from the Scopus database. The data were analyzed to observe the year wise pattern of growth of output with citations per publication (CPP), most prolific countries, institutions, and authors. It also identified the distribution of citations with highly cited papers and further source titles were used to establish the linkage between research results. Analyzing authors, institutions and country of the publications, citations complete count methodology was followed. The United States, the United Kingdom, and Iran were found to be the leading contributors to the field, and the pattern of growth is undulating. The journal articles (228) were scattered among 80 source titles, and it connotes that on an average, approximately three articles were produced by each source title. Moreover, a detailed and comprehensive content analysis of all the publications of clusters formed in co-citation and bibliographic coupling networks was employed to get the in-depth knowledge of the trend in concerning literature. The present study is the first bibliometric as well as text-analysis research to assess the overall research output on service quality in the field of Libraries & Information Science. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Deciding what risks are worth taking amidst a global pandemic poses quite specific challenges for Acquisitions librarians. For example, given that virtually all colleges and universities now offer classes electronically, demand for electronic library content has increased sharply. This challenging situation is magnified at smaller campuses, due to their smaller Acquisitions budgets and having to retain substantial print content. In response, vendors are offering free content to those affected and, given the usual limits on library funding, librarians may find such offers almost irresistible. But while there can be advantages to accepting such content, it can be a double-edged sword. In this paper, we examine how crisis situations, such as the current pandemic, affect librarian decision-making, in particular concerning accepting free content from vendors. How do we best navigate these new territories without losing our bearings amidst a pandemic? And how might these decisions and situations affect our patrons? We focus our research on three important issues, with both practical and ethical implications. First, the issue of patron privacy rights. The free content being offered by vendors poses substantial privacy risks for libraries and patrons, because it is not licensed and thus not governed by privacy agreements. Second, we examine the problem of ensuring accessibility for all users and the extent to which accessibility can be guaranteed with non-licensed content. Finally, we look at the likely impact on faculty-librarian relationships when free content will have to be relinquished and libraries cannot afford the same content. Such changes will likely cause tension between faculty and librarians and be especially frustrating for students. While vendors coming to the aid of the libraries during this time is potentially a generous gesture, it also implies pitfalls and negative impacts in its aftermath. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This article introduces and applies the concept of "physical-equivalent privacy" to evaluate the appropriateness of data collection about library patrons' use of library-provided e-resources. It posits that as a matter of service equity, any data collection practice that causes e-resource users to enjoy less information privacy than users of an information-equivalent print resource is to be avoided. Analysis is grounded in real-world e-resource-related phenomena: secure (HTTPS) library websites and catalogs, the Adobe Digital Editions data-leak incident of 2014, and use of web trackers on e-resource websites. Implications of physical-equivalent privacy for the SeamlessAccess single-sign-on proposal will be discussed. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

When libraries transitioned their collection development from primarily print to greater reliance on e-resources, acquisition methods also shifted from a sales contract to a licensing business model. This shift effected the long-held perception that academic libraries support education and research through the preservation and provision of the scholarly record in perpetuity. Libraries can encourage copyright holders to participate in digital preservation initiatives, but to date few initiatives have seen a large uptake. Open Access publishing further amplifies this vulnerable situation. At risk is the assurance that digital scholarly content in all formats remains available to future users. This review of the digital preservation landscape examines a variety of case studies that shed light on the impact e-resource licensing strategies have on safeguarding perpetual access; the use of the unique rights libraries have under copyright law to preserve intellectual property; and the technological access complexities of digital preservation. Recognizing that practical, economic, and culturally responsive initiatives are limited by a library's local capacity, the need to preserve e-resources has energized an increasing number of collaborative solutions. Using the Institute of Museum and Library Services' concept that local efforts help build a National Digital Platform, this scan of diverse initiatives explores the evolving framework emerging in support of ensuring future access to digital scholarship. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The Access Services Department at the University of California Berkeley's Main Library recently implemented a social justice-focused reading group for library employees. Inspired by the UCSB Critlib project, the group was developed as a pilot to be replicated by other departments and libraries interested in incorporating a social justice mindset into their daily operations. This article details the preparation, implementation, and evaluation processes of the group's first meeting. Recommendations and best practices for starting a social justice-focused reading group in a library setting are included in the discussion. This project was designed during a graduate-level course at the University of Washington iSchool. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

For decades, a number of prison librarians and researchers have decried the near-total lack of data in their field regarding the impact of prison libraries on incarcerated individuals. In spite of their critiques, the majority of prison library literature remains descriptive in nature and relies more on speculation than empirical claims when describing impact. This paper attempts to identify the main reasons why it is so difficult to adequately evaluate the impact of prison library services. Following an exploration of these issues, suggestions for strengthening impact evaluation in prison libraries are proposed. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Young adult librarianship is a rewarding yet challenging occupation. While trying to provide the highest-level services and programming possible for this segment of the population, teen librarians continue to encounter various complications in providing access, and outreach to young adults. The Young Adult Library Services Association's (YALSA) has provided their Core Competencies to assist Young Adult Librarians in formulating appropriate programming and services that will foster enriching relationships with teens. These competencies help teens develop the tools they will need throughout their lives, and hopefully create life-long library users. However, this basic framework doesn't speak to the realities that many Young Adult Librarians face on a daily basis. This article highlights three of YALSA' Core Competencies: Equity of Access, Outreach, and and Cultural Competency, and explores ways in which we can engage in formulating better relationships with teen library patrons. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The article presents an analysis of coverage and overlap of 1601 scholarly journals, magazines and trade journals indexed by four English language bibliographic databases, namely Library, Information Science and Technology Abstracts (LISTA), Library Literature and Information Science Index (LLISI), Information Science and Technology Abstracts (ISTA) and Library and Information Science Abstracts (LISA). The findings indicate that the highest number of titles is indexed by LISTA followed by LLISI, LISA and ISTA. Of the 1601 titles, 1053 (65.8%) titles are scholarly journals followed by trade journals (25.2%) and magazines (9%). Number of countries from which journals are indexed differs for each database. Among all four databases, the highest number of indexed titles was from the USA and the UK, respectively. Commercial publishers contributed the highest number of titles indexed by the four databases. Individual count of titles indicates that a total of 1,601 titles are indexed by four databases. However, the actual number of titles indexed is found to be 977, when all the titles in four databases are merged together. Of the 977 titles, 42 (4.3%) titles overlapped in all four databases, while 116 (11.9%) overlapped in three databases. The highest 259 (26.5%) titles overlapped in two databases and the remaining 560 titles are unique among the four databases. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This interview with Tony Zanders focuses on a product he is building that will assist libraries and information professionals with job skill analysis and development, with the goal of "future-proofing" the professions in this realm. Skilltype is a platform that will assist with "analyzing, developing and sharing expertise" so that libraries and other information centers can make the most of their workforce. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

In a Vision Session at the 34th annual NASIG conference, DeEtta Jones related her belief that our profession needs leaders at every level, including those who do not see themselves in that role. Leaders must be culturally competent, able to engage and encourage new voices to speak out while taking courageous action in the service of shared value. Today's leaders need more than the traditional attributes of the past; mere passion and holding fast to values are not sufficient in the present time. To demonstrate how courageous leadership could be applied, Jones organized her talk around six themes and attributes: anchored to aspiration, values driven, in the service of, emotional intelligence and cultural competence, trustworthiness, and equity oriented. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This article presents a thorough bibliometric analysis of research published in Annals of Library and Information Studies (ALIS), an India-based journal, for the period 2011–2017. Specifically, it compares this journal's trends with those of other library and information science (LIS) journals from the same geographical area (India, and Asia as a whole) and with the 10 highest-rated LIS journals worldwide. The source of the data used was the multidisciplinary database Scopus. To perform this comparison, ALIS' production was analyzed in order to identify authorship patterns; for example, authors' countries of residence, co-authorship trends, and collaboration networks. Research topics were identified through keyword analysis, while performance was measured by examining the number of citations articles received. This study provides substantial information. The research lines detected through examining the keywords in ALIS articles were determined to be similar to those for the top LIS journals in both Asia and worldwide. Specifically, ALIS authors are focusing on metrics, bibliometrics, and social networking, which follows global trends. Notably, however, collaboration among Asia-based journals was found to be lower than that in the top-indexed journals in the LIS field, showing lesser internationalization. The results obtained present a roadmap for expanding the research in this field. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

There are a number of ways that libraries can incorporate social justice work into everyday practices. Even in technical services and collection development work, which are not traditionally considered public-facing, librarians still produce work that is used by the public. We should therefore adopt best practices that highlight principles of social justice and inclusion. In this article, we discuss some of the projects and methods we have developed at the Vassar College Library to do this. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Managing electronic serials is a vital part of modern academic librarianship. In 2014, the College of Staten Island (CSI) faced a serious serials access problem. A number of subscribed titles were temporarily not accessible through library interfaces. To quickly solve the problem, a set of over 5,000 custom records were uploaded (using Microsoft Excel) to Serials Solutions 360 Core, CSI's serial management system. This solution provided access to current and back-file (perpetual ownership) titles but introduced a number of significant new problems, including duplicate records, records with holdings dates that were invalid at the end of the calendar year, back-file records that were difficult to identify or edit, and unmanageable sets of records for large subscription packages. This article will describe how and why the custom records caused these issues and describe the project that addressed them. The project (ongoing) was designed to fix the problems while maintaining access to all current and back-file titles during the process. A variety of techniques were required. Vendor-provided knowledgebase records were examined, activated (or deactivated), and downloaded. The Overlap Analysis tool of 360 Core was employed to match knowledgebase and custom (local) records. The custom records were manipulated in Excel for examination, editing, and batch deletion. Excel formulas were used to compare the custom records with vendor knowledgebase records and Overlap Analysis results. Finally, extensive manual work was done to delete records, test access links, and find unmatched records. These techniques have been successful. The project also reaped other unexpected access improvements. Other libraries may apply these techniques and strategies to any serial data clean-up. Although journal management technology is rapidly changing, libraries will still need to be able to work with and manipulate data to provide access, understand and manage their holdings, and audit error-prone vendor data. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

It won't do to ignore it, though it's hard to collect it. In this instalment of Resourcefully, a discussion of the rapidly expanding and increasingly important world of grey literature. Exploring the potential for library-led investment and preservation, and the social justice opportunity to acknowledge a constellation of creators providing a wide variety of valuable, unconventional content, we take inspiration from the past to plot a course forward. Grey literature allows us to ask a big question: How can we learn from past library failures in supporting and preserving independent open access publishing moving forward? [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Hathcock talked about applying the core values of librarianship to the scholarly communication system. She explained how these values are interconnected and linked through the concept of “intersectionality.” She also reminded the audience that Open Access does not necessarily mean globally accessible. It is important for librarians involved in the scholarly communication lifecycle to consider those who may be left behind in the race to the scholarly communication crossroads. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The author of The Business of Serials reflects on motivations for the creation of this column and offers some observations and encouragement for others to be a new voice in contributing ideas and viewpoints on the profession of librarianship for today and tomorrow. The column ends with this entry. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Open Access (OA) publications challenge traditional library collections and the result is potentially transformative. The costs of subscriptions will be moved from readers and libraries to authors or be covered by universities, foundations, or other government funders. As a movement, it connects to a much larger cultural narrative and has given the impression of fait accompli. There is still skepticism among individuals involved in academic publishing. Applying the logic of professionalism by Freidson and Abbott, this article suggests that while we may advocate an OA business model to drive down costs, achievement of this model may actually undermine the library profession in the process. To strengthen our professional identity, librarians should embrace our expert role in research practices and broaden our access functions in accord with what users most value. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Public librarians uphold an ethical commitment to protect the intellectual freedom of their patrons, but when information is accessed online, users become vulnerable to censorship and surveillance. The public library is a democratic institution in which patrons should be able to interact with information free of restriction or judgment, and this right is threatened by the conflict between access and privacy. Librarians should reject the notion that they are neutral and instead adopt a political stance in defense of intellectual freedom; they should actively combat surveillance and limitations on access. A framework for activism can be found within Birdsall’s theory of progressive librarianship. [ABSTRACT FROM PUBLISHER]

A seasoned collection management librarian explores aspects of job satisfaction in academic librarianship, including following one's conscience, making good use of abilities, and incorporating outside interests. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

What does it mean to be a professional, and do librarians meet the academic definition of a professional? Professions are strongly related to identity, and stereotypes associated with the culture of a profession are going to have some effect on the public’s perceptions of that profession. The stereotype of the vaguely purposed but somehow controlling older person (who “shushes” patrons to maintain silence) does not contribute positively to the professional image of a librarian. Library users do not even superficially understand what librarians do, and this leads to an undervaluing of the impact and importance of librarians. In the modern environment of budget challenges, it is important to be able to articulate the value of both libraries and particularly librarians. This article explores the sociological academic literature on professions to determine if librarianship meets the requirements to be a profession, if library literature supports librarianship as a profession, and why it matters for librarians to be seen as professionals. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The article announces that Chris Bulock is the recipient of the 2014 First Step Award, Patrick Carr is the recipient of the 2014 Esther J. Piercy Award and Magda El-Sherbini is the recipient of the Association for Library Collections & Technical Services (ALCTS) Outstanding Publication Award for 2014.

This research study evaluates the quality of articles published by Saudi and expatriate authors in foreign Library and Information Science (LIS) journals using three popular metrics for ranking journals—Journal Impact Factor (JIF), SCImago Journal Rank (SJR), and Google Scholar Metrics (GSM). The reason for using multiple metrics is to see how closely or differently journals are ranked by the three different methods of citation analysis. However, the 2012 JIF list of journals is too small, almost half the size of the SJR and GSM lists, which inhibited one-to-one comparison among the impact factors of the thirty-six journals selected by Saudi authors for publishing articles. Only seventeen journals were found common to all the three lists, limiting the usefulness of the data. A basic problem is that Saudi LIS authors generally lack the level of competency in the English language required to achieve publication in the most prominent LIS journals. The study will have implications for authors, directors, and deans of all types of academic libraries; chairmen and deans of library schools; and the Saudi Library Association. Hopefully these entities will take necessary steps to prepare and motivate both academics and practicing librarians to improve the quality of their research and publications and thus get published in higher ranked journals. [ABSTRACT FROM PUBLISHER]

Private companies and government agencies are now creating and tapping into vastly more data than ever before. These data flows include enormous amounts of personal information and raise questions about privacy and intellectual policy that could have profound impacts on our lives. While data collection and creation are nearly ubiquitous, the instruments of collection and analysis are often hidden in order to track more natural behavior. Recent revelations of massive governmental data collection offer the country, and librarians in particular, an opportunity to discuss and question the societal implications of “Big Data,” and the policies that govern them. [ABSTRACT FROM PUBLISHER]

Customer service in the serials business is comprised of a combination of fulfillment support to paying customers for the purchase and delivery of journal subscriptions and editorial support to the content distributing customer who creates and edits the articles that are published. While most for-profit businesses commit to and aim for outstanding service to their customers, there are few standards, expectations, and agreed-upon outcomes to define appropriate customer service for those who create, read, and subscribe to journals. In the serials business, just what constitutes good and exceptional customer service? [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Paul Duguid discusses the role of brands in supply chains, specifically in publishing and academia. He explains how brands are important in controlling any supply chain, as well as why and when brands appear and become important. He concludes with a discussion of how the Internet has changed the branding of supply chains, including the publishing supply chain, and why supply chains continue to endure. Duguid's presentation was followed by a short question and answer period. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Ubiquitous computing is a term coined by Marc Weiser to describe a concept where computers could be woven “into the fabric of everyday life until they are indistinguishable from it.”1 Several present day applications of ubiquitous computing were discussed, and Kuniavsky pointed out that there is a need for “information wranglers” like librarians in order to make ubiquitous computing functional. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

SpringerLink/PALINET's Consortial Big Deal package of over 1,700 titles was the focus of this session. Presenters discussed the needs and issues involved in planning, constructing, and managing Big Deal purchases. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The genesis for this session came from the speakers' experiences working with two recent innovations (SERU and Project TRANSFER) and their desire to understand conditions that foster the development and adoption of new and successful proposals. Where have our innovative ideas come from, what paths have they taken, what kinds of problems have they addressed, and what conditions were required for them to take hold? The context, of course, is serials and electronic resources in libraries, an area that has seen dramatic change in the ten years during which the speakers have been working in libraries. Not only were the speakers interested in the trajectory of successful innovations, they were also curious to know what had become of some of the most promising proposals of a decade ago, and, looking ahead, where the opportunity for future innovations might lie. The speakers structured the session into three parts. Selden Lamoureux took a look back at three innovations that were prominent in serials librarianship in the late 1990s. Beth Bernhardt then turned to three ideas currently being developed. Lastly, the audience was asked to discuss and report on the things in their jobs that seem to be chronic problems and to speculate about what the next innovations should attempt to solve. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

While in the print environment, journal transfers did not pose much of a problem for serials librarians, journal transfers in the online environment can present problems in the form of lack of access to online journal volumes for which the library has paid. The UK Serials Group (UKSG) set up a working group to deal with the challenges associated with journal transfers between publishers and Project TRANSFER is the result. This article, based on a presentation given at the 2008 NASIG conference, summarizes the Project TRANSFER project and the objectives outlined in its Code of Practice. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The article discusses various published reports within the issue which were presented at the North American Serials Interest Group's 23rd annual conference in Phoenix, Arizona, June 5-8, 2008. Topics included problems posed by technological innovations and future trends in librarianship.

Leslie Weir talks about her career in librarianship, librarianship in general, and the development and governance of consortia, portals, digital initiatives, and open access in Canada. She discusses, among other things, CARL, Scholars Portal, OCUL-IR, CRKN, and Canadiana.org. in light of access to electronic resources. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Librarianship is at a critical juncture. Technological changes have reshaped the information landscape, but libraries as social institutions have not been able to transform themselves to keep pace. This is the challenge of Library and Information Science Education. As we look to a future professional education for librarians, we need to acknowledge the need to reinvent our educational goals and methods so our graduates can lead in this new emerging environment. A relevant education for the information sectors will include a synthesis of global, technical, and critical perspectives to encourage librarians to understand the changes they need to enact to ensure relevance for the future. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The article "ONIX, Z and JWP: Library Standards in a Digital World," which appears in volume 53, number 4 of The Serials Librarian, provides a detailed look at library standards and places them in the context of the e-journal lifecycle. The talk given at "Black Cats & Broken Links: Dispelling E-resource Superstitions," Mississippi State University's Seventh Annual E-resource Workshop, was a presentation of that article. Rather than duplicate the details of the aforementioned "article, this presentation write-up provides a brief overview of the topic. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

In a keynote address to attendees of the Seventh Annual E-resource Workshop at Mississippi State University, Stephen Abram from the SirsiDynix Institute told librarians to prepare for the new generation of users and the way they learn. Libraries must evolve into "social learning centers" with an emphasis on the why and how of information seeking. In this new setting, librarians will be the navigators. He offered ten suggestions to libraries that want to prepare for the future; these recommendations cover new technologies, social networking, and new models of organization among staff. Ultimately, the future of librarianship depends on how libraries communicate and grow with the new learning communities. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The article examines the difficulties associated with tracking title changes made to serial publications in an online searching environment. The author discusses several methods that are practiced for dealing with both minor and major title changes. The methods that are best suited to meeting the needs of the end user should be identified and widely adopted. The author discusses the rules that govern title changes based on the Anglo-American Cataloging Rules and the Library of Congress's decision to move from the latest entry method to the successive entry method of cataloging.

The decline in cataloguing education has resulted in a decline in the quality of records being contributed to bibliographic databases. A decline in awareness of basic cataloguing principles is resulting in serious faults in current rule revision efforts. The false assumption that automation can replace cataloguing, and relativistic standards for library school accreditation, have contributed to the growing problem. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The article discusses the highlights of the Association For Library Collections and Technical Services' (ALCTS) Continuing Resources Cataloging Committee Annual Update Forum on June 26, 2006 at the Morial Convention Center. Participants of the events include ALCTS chairman Renette Davis, Eugene H. Dickerson, Jr. and Kevin Randall. The meeting's agenda included welcome, announcements, introductions and presentations of reports on library science.

Successive entry cataloging has been used by most libraries since the early 1970s when the Library of Congress adopted this AACRI standard as an innovative solution to the problems of retyping lengthy serial catalog cards. The benefits of successive cataloging in an online environment have steadily diminished, and frustrations have increased over the past 35 years. Latest entry cataloging reduces the number of bibliographic records that are needed for one serial by providing access to all titles on one record. It promotes efficient processing of title changes for library staff and causes less frustration for library patrons. It's time for a radical change! [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The article presents information on vendors, publishers, utilities and services available to librarians. A sales representation and support package designed to help publishers increase European and North American markets was released by Accucoms BV, a company offering sales and marketing services to scholarly and society publishers. EBSCO has announced the promotion of Phil Wallas to senior publisher relations executive and the appointment of Tom Dyer as publisher relations executive. Emerald Group Publishing provides master's of library and information science degree students with free access to the Emerald Fulltext database for use in their collection development course.

The article presents the author's discussion of the purpose of this column with an invitation sent to contributors for topic ideas. According to the author, personal essays, opinion pieces and research reports related to acquisitions processes are welcomed. Several article ideas are offered including serial publications price inflation, the difficulty of the serials marketplace, open access publishing and collection development in the online environment. Information is provided for other topics including vendor relations, staff time and acquisitions processes and online library catalogs.

A list of informational articles for serials librarians is presented with summaries of their content, source and print or online availability. Some of the titles include "Continuing Use of Print-Only Information by Researchers: A Study of Impact Factor as One Measure, 1993-2003," by Steven A. Knowlton, "Connecting Your ILS With an Outside Accounting System," by JoAnne Deeken, and "Rising Journal Costs: Comparing Local Collections to the National Average," by Sarah Sutton and Christine Freeman.

Resource Description and Access (RDA) is scheduled to replace the AACR2 cataloging code in 2008. This presentation provided an overview of RDA, especially as it relates to serials. Among the topics explored were RDA's background, organization, and relationship to various standards (including FRBR, the draft Statement on International Cataloging Principles, and MARC 21). In addition, the presentation discussed the potential impact of the new code on current cataloging practices. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

In recent years, the open access movement has been gaining ground in the world of scholarly communication. One of the main avenues that open access utilizes is journals wherein access to articles is absolutely free. We examine practical issues related to including open access journals in an academic library's online catalog. Some of these include the possible alleviation of budget constraints, providing more robust holdings, difficulties of maintaining titles, and indexing for access. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The article presents a list of contents and abstracts of works from other journals on library science topics including "Mini-Profile: A day in the Life of a Journal Publisher," "Innovative Models for Procuring E-Books," and "Making the Invisible Visible: Bringing E-Resources to a Wide Audience."