Pitman, '_Directory of Electronic Journals and Newsletters_ on World Wide Web', NCSU Libraries Newsletter v22n01 (August 1994)
 
_The NCSU Libraries Newsletter_
Volume 22 no. 1
August 1994
Pitman, Ronnie
"_Directory of Electronic Journals and Newsletters_ on World 
Wide Web"


Rich and varied are the resources available on the Internet but, 
as many researchers know, finding specific journals and 
newsletters without their electronic addresses can be 
challenging.  Now, the Association of Research Libraries (ARL) 
has published in electronic form the fourth edition of the 
_Directory of Electronic Journals and Newsletters_, and the 
NCSU Libraries has made it available on its World Wide Web 
server.

Ann Okerson (director of ARL's Office of Scientific & Academic 
Publishing) describes the current electronic arena as well as 
changes in the past year in a substantial introduction.  Jean-
Claude Guedon (Department of Comparative Literature, 
University of Montreal) follows with his essay "Why are 
Electronic Publications Difficult to Classify?: The 
Orthogonality of Print and Digital Media." Whereas electronic 
publishing is sometimes viewed as a linear extension of print 
publishing, Guedon argues that electronic publishing is in an 
orthogonal relationship to print--that is, they serve different 
functions.  He asserts that electronic publishing is really 
"proto-publishing," in that an item is only a potential 
publication until the reader "realizes" it, whether on screen or 
paper.  The realized form may be printed for close reading or 
kept in electronic display for browsing, text analysis, or 
searching needs.  Interestingly, Guedon considers electronic 
form the better suited for archival purposes, because the 
reason for archiving materials is to keep their contents 
accessible.  Information easily retrieved from an electronic 
file might be considered "lost between the covers" when 
committed to the print medium.

A find function enables retrieval of information from the body 
of the _Directory_, which is divided into two sections: 
"Journals and Newsletters," and "Academic Discussion Lists." 
Of the 440 titles listed this year in the "Journals and 
Newsletters" section (a four-fold increase over the first 
edition three years ago), 74 are refereed journals.  This is 
double the number listed last year and a hopeful sign, because 
as prices continue to rise for print journals, it is gratifying to 
see the academic community furthering scholarly 
communication.

Among the journals listed are the _Bulletin of the American 
Mathematical Society_, MIT Press's _Artificial Life Journal_, 
NCSU's _Journal of Statistics Education_, as well as 
_PostModern Culture_.  Typical _Directory_ entries include the 
scope of the journal, along with a contact name and an 
electronic address.

Information about higher education, including campus job 
openings, grants and fellowships, and current news of the 
academy, is contained in _Academe This Week_, located in the 
"Academic Discussion Lists" section.  Other academically 
oriented fields, among the almost 1,800 listed, range from 
bees (_APIS: Apicultural Information and Issues_) to history 
(_HistNews; The Electronic History Newsletter_) to eclectic 
small press publications (_FactSheet Five: Electric_).  To 
assist readers in signing on to discussion lists, as well as 
subscribing to electronic journals, retrieving files via ftp, use 
of World Wide Web, etc., the _Directory_ includes a section 
entitled "How to Use the ARL Electronic Journals and 
Newsletters Directory on the Gopher."

Note: the NCSU Libraries' World Wide Web server is moving to 
an upgraded machine and presently may be accessed at either 
the old address (http://dewey.lib.ncsu.edu) or the new address 
(http://www.lib.ncsu.edu).  In either case, the _Directory of 
Electronic Journals and Newsletters_ will be found by 
selecting "Subject, discipline-specific Internet resources 
('Study Carrels')," then "Library and Information Science," 
followed by "Indexes and Directories." The _Directory_ may 
also be accessed by pointing one's gopher client to arl.cni.org 
and opening the "Scholarly Communication" folder.