Scholarly communication news for the UI community – February 2008

February 2008
Issue 1.08

Welcome to the February issue of Transitions.

The purpose of this irregular electronic newsletter is to bring to readers’ attention some of the many new projects and developments affecting the current system of scholarly communication, with emphasis on new products and programs, the open access movement and other alternative publishing models. Scholarly communication refers to the full range of formal and informal means by which scholars and researchers communicate, from email discussion lists to peer-reviewed publication. In general authors are seeking to document and share new discoveries with their colleagues, while readers–researchers, students, librarians and others–want access to all the literature relevant to their work.

While the system of scholarly communication exists for the benefit of the world’s research and educational community and the public at large, it faces a multitude of challenges and is undergoing rapid change brought on by technology. To help interested members of the UI community keep up on these challenges and changes we plan to put out 4-6 issues per year of this newsletter.

This newsletter aims to reflect the interests of its readers so please forward comments, suggestions and entries to include to karen-fischer@uiowa.edu. Also, read the health sciences counterpart to Transitions: Hardin Scholarly Communication News.

Table of Contents:

NIH Mandates Open Access to Researchers’ Publications
NIH Public Access web site
What’s Next, Post-NIH Mandate?
Study of Author Attitudes Towards Open Access Publishing
Together Again: Springer, Max Planck Agree To New “Experimental” Deal
Max Planck Society Pays OA Journal Fees for Copernicus Journals
Students for Free Culture – FreeCulture.org
Questioning the Impact Factor (and new alternatives)
Open Content Primer
U. of Michigan Places 1 Millionth Scanned Book Online
Jane: A Tool for Suggesting Journals and Finding Experts (and Facilitating Peer-Review)
Cost Profiles of Alternative Approaches to Journal Publishing
University Presses Collaborate to Produce More Books
Government Documents of Library in Boston to Go on Web