DigitalKoans

Library Journal has published "Periodicals Price Survey 2008: Embracing Openness."

Most of the narrative discusses open access developments. The news on toll-access serials remains grim:

Prices of subscription-based journals increased nine to ten percent in 2008, driven by an extremely weak dollar. Non-U.S. titles in the humanities and social sciences increased even more (11 percent), because publishers in these disciplines tend to price in native currencies, driving U.S. prices up when those currencies are converted to dollars. The sciences, on the other hand, are dominated by large European publishers that price in U.S. dollars, reducing the volatility of prices and keeping price increases in foreign scientific journals under nine percent. Given the continuing slide of the dollar, expect increases in 2009 to approach ten percent overall.

As usual, the article includes detailed tables packed with serials cost information.

Average subscription prices in some high-ticket disciplines include: Chemistry, $3,490; Physics, $3,103; Engineering, $1,919; Biology, $1,810; and Technology, $1,776; and Astronomy, $1,671.

The Association of Research Libraries (ARL) currently has 123 member libraries in the US and Canada. Below is an update of an earlier list of operational institutional repositories at ARL libraries.

• Boston College
• Brigham Young University
• Case Western Reserve University
• Cornell University
• Florida State University
• Georgia Tech
• George Washington University
• Georgetown University
• McGill University
• MIT
• North Carolina State University
• Ohio State University
• Oklahoma State University
• Queen’s University
• Rice University
• Texas A&M University
• Université de Montréal
• Université Laval
• University at Buffalo
• University of Alberta
• University of California System
• University of Connecticut
• University of Delaware
• University of Guelph
• University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign
• University of Kansas
• University of Manitoba
• University of Maryland
• University of Michigan
• University of Nebraska-Lincoln
• University of New Mexico
• University of Oregon
• University of Pennsylvania
• University of Rochester
• University of Tennessee
• University of Texas at Austin
• University of Toronto
• University of Utah
• University of Washington
• University of Waterloo
• University of Wisconsin, Madison
• Vanderbilt University
• Wayne State University

This posting updates and considerably expands my earlier "Scholarly Communication Web Sites at ARL Libraries" posting.

It presents a list of scholarly communication Web sites and Weblogs at the academic member libraries of the Association of Research Libraries. Web sites and Weblogs were identified using separate Google "site:" searches for the exact phrases "scholarly communication" and "open access." Search results were then scanned to identify Web sites or Weblogs that appeared to be intended as the main library’s primary means of communicating to the university community about scholarly communication and/or open access issues. Conferences, presentations, newsletter articles, symposiums, and similar materials were excluded, as were Web sites or Weblogs at branch libraries. Searching was limited to the first few pages of search results.

Additions and corrections are welcome. Use the "Leave a Comment" function for this.

• Auburn University
  
• Brigham Young University
  
• Boston College
  
• Brown University
  
• Cornell University
  
• Emory University
  
• George Washington University
  
• Howard University
  
• Indiana University Bloomington
  
• Iowa State University
  
• Johns Hopkins University
  
• McMaster University
  
• Michigan State University
  
• MIT
  
• North Carolina State University
  
• Queen’s University
  
• Rutgers University
  
• Stanford University
  
• Syracuse University
  
• University at Albany
  
• University at Buffalo
  
• University of Alabama
  
• University of Arizona
  
• University of California
  
• University of California, Berkeley
  
• University of California, Davis
  
• University of California, Irvine
  
• University of California, Los Angeles
  
• University of California, Santa Barbara
  
• University of Connecticut
  
• University of Houston
  
• University of Houston (Weblog)
  
• University of Illinois at Chicago
  
• University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign (Weblog)
  
• University of Iowa
  
• University of Kansas
  
• University of Kentucky Libraries
  
• University of Iowa
  
• University of Maryland
  
• University of Miami
  
• University of Massachusetts, Amherst
  
• University of Minnesota (Weblog)
  
• University of Missouri-Columbia
  
• University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill
  
• University of Notre Dame
  
• University of Oregon
  
• University of Pennsylvania
  
• University of Pittsburgh
  
• University of Tennessee
  
• University of Tennessee (Weblog)
  
• University of Texas, Austin
  
• University of Virginia
  
• University of Washington
  
• University of Wisconsin-Madison
  
• Washington State University
  
• Washington University

Jim Pitman, Professor of Statistics and Mathematics at the University of California, Berkeley, has created a derivative work from the Open Access Webliography, which is under a Creative Commons Attribution-NonCommercial License.

This version of the OAW utilizes the BibServer software, and it is searchable. There are four views of the entries:

• Bookmark: A link to the resource.
• Plain text: A field-oriented ASCII presentation of the resource with active links in the description field.
• Linked text: A field-oriented HTML presentation of the resource with complete active links.
• Descriptions: The resource name and description with active links.

Entries are can be sorted by category, description, title, and URL.

Thanks, Jim.

A preprint of the article "Open Access Webliography" by Adrian K. Ho and Charles W. Bailey, Jr. is now available. This annotated webliography presents a wide range of electronic resources related to the open access movement that were freely available on the Internet as of April 2005.

This article appears in the volume 33, no. 3 (2005) issue of "Reference Services Review," which is a special issue about "the role of the reference librarian in the development, management, dissemination, and sustainability of institutional repositories."

A preprint of my "The Role of Reference Librarians in Institutional Repositories" article in this issue is also available.

Both preprints are under the Creative Commons Attribution-NonCommercial License.

Below is a list of the topics covered in the webliography:

• Starting Points
• Bibliographies
• Debates
• Directories—E-Prints, Institutional Repositories, and
  Technical Reports
• Directories—Open Access and Free Journals
• Directories and Guides—Copyright and Licensing
• Directories and Guide—Open Access Publishing
• Directories and Guides—Software
• Disciplinary Archives
• E-Serials about Open Access
• Free E-Serials That Frequently Publish Open Access
  Articles
• General Information
• Mailing Lists
• Organizations
• Projects
• Publishers and Distributors
• Search Engines
• Special Programs for Developing Countries
• Statements
• Weblogs

This posting lists electronic theses and dissertation archives at ARL libraries that were not included in the prior "ETD Policies and Procedures at ARL Institutions" posting. The archives listed here do not include substantial ETD policy and procedure information; however, some sites provide links to more limited supporting information, such as formatting guidelines. In some cases, archives are identified here for institutions included in the prior posting because the ETD site in that posting did not include an archive link. To get a complete list of ETD archives, consult both postings. In some cases, ARL libraries do not separate out ETDs as a separate material type listing (e.g. DSpace community). Such integrated archives are not included here.

• Boston College
• MIT
• North Carolina State University
• Northwestern University
• OhioLINK (Ohio ARL members)
• Texas A&M University
• University of Connecticut
• University of Maryland
• University of Nebraska, Lincoln
• University of Pennsylvania

What electronic theses and dissertation (ETD) policies and procedures are in use in major North American research institutions?

The Association of Research Libraries (ARL) currently has 123 member libraries in the US and Canada. Below is a list of Web sites at ARL institutions that provide significant information about these institutions’ ETD policies and procedures. Some of these Web pages are on the library’s Website; some are on other university components’ Websites. This list was complied by a quick look at ARL libraries’ home pages, supplemented by limited institution-specific Google searching. Since these Websites can be difficult to find, this is likely to be partial list of relevant Websites. Please leave information about other relevant Websites in comments.

• Brigham Young University
• Case Western Reserve University
• Florida State University
• George Washington University
• Georgia Institute of Technology
• Kent State University
• North Carolina State University
• Ohio State University
• Southern Illinois University
• Texas A&M University
• Texas Tech University
• University at Buffalo
• University of British Columbia
• University of Cincinnati
• University of Georgia
• The University of Iowa
• University of Kentucky
• University of Manitoba
• University of Maryland
• University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill
• University of Notre Dame
• University of Pittsburgh
• University of Saskatchewan
• University of Tennessee
• University of Texas, Austin
• University of Waterloo
• Vanderbilt University
• Virginia Polytechnic Institute and State University

Needless to say, there has been rapid growth in blogging by librarians over the last few years, and library blogosphere has become more varied and complex. Here are some directories of library web logs to help you navigate the library blogosphere:

• Bloggin Libraries, blogwithoutalibrary.net
• Law Library Blogs and Blogs by Law Librarians, AALL
• Library and Information Science: Weblogs, Open Directory Project
• Library Weblogs, Libdex
• LISFeeds.com (RSS feeds for library blogs, plus blog links), Blake T. Carver and Steven M. Cohen
• Public Library Blogs, Peter Scott
• School Library Blogs, Peter Scott
• Special Library Blogs, Peter Scott
• Weblogs and Public Libraries, PLA

Want more information about library web logs? Try Susan Herzog’s BlogBib.

Wikis are catching on in the library world. What’s a Wiki? "The simplest online database that could possibly work." (Quote from: "Making the Case for a Wiki.")

Here’s a few examples of how Wikis are being used:

• ALA Chicago 2005 Main Page (the unofficial wiki for the 2005 ALA Annual Conference in Chicago)
• Butler WikiRef (Butler University Libraries’ Reference Wiki)
• Canadian Library Association (CLA) Calgary 2005 Main Page
• LITS Wiki (Jean and Alexander Heard Library,Vanderbilt University)
• MyLibrary Wiki (Eric Lease Morgan)
• University of Connecticut Libraries’ Staff Wiki
• University of Minnesota Libraries Staff Web Site

If you want to dig in and learn more about Wikis, try Gerry McKiernan’s WikiBibliography.