Academic Newswire - Jan 3, 2008

Under pressure from libraries for its 2007 decision to pull its flagship publication, Science, from JSTOR, the popular electronic journals database, the American Association for the Advancement of Science (AAAS) said today that it has reversed course, and that Science will remain in JSTOR. Citing a confidentiality agreement, AAAS officials issued only a brief comment: “AAAS and JSTOR are pleased to announce that we have concluded an ongoing discussion and have been able to reach an agreement to continue what has been a very productive relationship between JSTOR and the journal Science.”

The announcement came after library consortia adopted a resolution, first presented by David Carlson, library dean at Southern Illinois University, urging AAAS to reconsider its plan to pull the journal. The resolution quickly picked up steam: it was passed unanimously by the boards of the Greater Western Library Alliance (GWLA) the Consortium of Academic and Research Libraries in Illinois (CARLI), and, most recently, the International Coalition of Library Consortia (ICOLC), an organization representing some of the largest library alliances in the world.

Officials at Science originally maintained that removing Science from JSTOR was part of its “strategic planning,” noting that more scientific societies were “digitizing and controlling” their content. JSTOR executive director Michael Spinella, however, noted JSTOR contracts are nonexclusive and that Science could have both maintained its own archive and remained in JSTOR, which shares with publishers the fees it collects from subscriber libraries. Libraries, meanwhile, asserted that the decision conflicted with the AAAS’s mission, “as a non-profit, membership-based organization, of advancing science and serving society.”

After more than three years of intensive work , SPARC officials celebrated the New Year with the nation’s first public access mandate by a major agency in place. On December 26, President Bush signed an omnibus appropriations bill that includes a provision directing the National Institutes of Health (NIH) to provide the public with open online access to its funded research. Researchers are now required to deposit electronic copies of their peer-reviewed manuscripts into the National Library of Medicine’s online archive, PubMed Central. Full text of those articles will then be publicly available and searchable online no later than 12 months after publication.

SPARC executive director Heather Joseph lauded the NIH mandate’s passage, saying in a statement the policy would “directly improve the sharing of scientific findings, the pace of medical advances, and the rate of return on benefits to the taxpayer.” The policy was bitterly opposed by publishers , who argued it could undermine scientific publishing. Look for more on the SPARC’s NIH effort in next Tuesday’s LJ Academic Newswire Newsmaker interview with Heather Joseph.  

In addition to the public access provision for the National Institutes of Health (NIH), the recently passed omnibus appropriations bill contained another victory for libraries: a $3 million earmark to restore service at the Environmental Protection Agency’s (EPA) technical and research libraries. The amended appropriations bill includes $1 million more than the amount proposed by the Senate, providing sufficient funds to restore the network, which had been scaled back to a $250,000 budget. EPA is directed to report within 90 days on its plans to “restore publicly available libraries to provide environmental information and data” to each EPA region.

The budget boost comes after the EPA had closed six of 24 libraries in its library network over the past 18 months, including four of ten regional libraries and the Office of Pesticides library in Washington, DC, and had cut hours and services in three regional libraries. Also, according to the Public Employees for Environmental Responsibility (PEER), a national nonprofit alliance of local, state, and federal scientists and law enforcement officers, nine libraries attached to laboratories were in the process of being closed and/or consolidated. EPA officials had argued that the process, which began without public debate or consultation with constituents, would both save money and streamline service, eventually resulting in greater access to digitized materials.

“This is, I think, a great victory,” said Lynne Bradley, director of the Office of Government Relations in the American Library Association’s (ALA) Washington Office, who acknowledged how librarians lobbied Congress and then-ALA president Leslie Burger testified before Congress on February 6, 2007. “These are marathons, not sprints,” Bradley said. “The library community kept the issue alive.” SLA also was active on this issue.

Nonetheless, PEER associate director Carol Goldberg said that while the intervention of Congress to restore library service was welcome, it comes after several closures and much disruption. It, she noted, leaves “the remaining EPA librarians with the task of putting Humpty Dumpty back together again.”

Can you hear that knocking? It’s opportunity, and it’s at the library door, according to a recently released study from the Pew Internet & American Life Project, which found that an increasing percentage of Americans are using public libraries. Although most Americans turn to the Internet first, the executive summary notes, there they often find they must “negotiate a bewildering bunch of information sources.” Notably, the study found that 40 percent of “Generation Y,” (age 19-29) the generation that cut their teeth in the web era, said they use libraries for their information needs, double the number of library users from the previous generation.

“Internet use seems to create an information hunger, and it is information-savvy young people who are the most likely to visit libraries,” noted Leigh Estabrook, dean and professor emerita at the University of Illinois and co-author of the survey report. “Librarians have been asked whether the Internet makes libraries less relevant. It has not.”
Among the survey’s major findings:

• The Internet is a go-to source: In general, more people turn to the Internet than any other source of information.

• Searchers satisfied: People tend to use two or three information sources and generally report good results—especially when they consult librarians.

• Libraries meet special needs: Most of those who visit libraries do so to seek problem-solving information and are very satisfied with what they find.

• The “digital divide” matters: Compared to those who have broadband connections, people who do not use the Internet or who only use dial-up connections are less successful than those with high-speed access in getting the material they need to address their information needs.

• Government documents must come in all shapes and sizes: Significant numbers said they still prefer to get printed government publications by mail or from government offices and libraries.

• E-government is a necessity: The vast majority of Americans want and expect information about government programs to be available on the web.

Overall, one in eight people turned to their local public library for help solving problems, however, the good news is library users’ “skew younger.” Of those who visited a library, 68 percent used a computer, 65 percent got information from the Internet, 62 percent used a computer to check on library materials, 58 percent used library reference materials, and 42 percent read newspapers and magazines. Seven in ten library visitors “received assistance from library staff,” with 88 percent of those who did saying they “found a lot or some of what they were seeking” compared to 53 percent who did not seek help.

The report is the result of a partnership between the University of Illinois, Urbana-Champaign and the Pew Internet & American Life Project, funded with a grant from the federal Institute of Museum and Library Services (IMLS). The survey was conducted between June 27 and September 4, 2007, garnering a sample of 2,796 adults. The survey took a rather novel approach, asking respondents to address “common problems that might be linked to government,” such as dealing with a health concerns; making a decision about school enrollment, financing school, or upgrading work skills; changing a job or starting a business; or getting information about voter registration or a government policy.

The full survey and report is available here.

Library officials announced that many of the antique maps stolen from the Boston Public Library (BPL) and Harvard University by map thief E. Forbes Smiley were returned to the library in 2007. BPL president Bernard Margolis told reporters at the Boston Globe that investigators have since returned 31 maps admitted stolen by Smiley and tracked down with his cooperation, and that Smiley paid the library $7000 in restitution for another map he stole but could not locate. Three of Smiley’s admitted map thefts from BPL reportedly have not been recovered.

Officials at Harvard, meanwhile, said that nine of 12 missing maps in the wake of Smiley’s arrest have been recovered. “It’s a pretty happy ending to the story,” said Harvard Library spokesperson Beth Brainard told reporters.

It’s not all happy for the libraries Smiley victimized over the years, however. At BPL, curators say more than 30 maps not attributed to Smiley turned up missing when they conducted an inventory after his arrest. Smiley admitted stealing roughly 100 maps from libraries around the world, most from the New England area. He was nabbed after sharp-eyed librarians at Yale University discovered a razor blade on the floor and alerted authorities. Smiley is serving a three year sentence.