ACRL News Issue (B) of College & Research Libraries 8 8 /C & R L N ew s Ev e r y L ib ra ria n a L eader R ethinking sch o larly com m unication B y C h e s t a le n e P in t o z z i Librarians can provide leadership a n d expertise to publishing issues T h e crisis in scholarly communication cre­ated by the convergence o f several trends over the past tw o decades has presented aca­ demic libraries with many serious problem s for w hich solutions are still being sought. A key trend is the increasing cost o f scholarly jour­ nals driven by increasing page counts, num ­ bers o f volumes or issues, currency fluctuations, and w hat many believe to be exorbitant price increases by several large commercial publish­ ers. A significant second trend in the United States has b een the erosion o f federal and state support for institutions of higher education. A third important factor is the expectation and dem and that faculty and researchers publish increasingly higher num bers o f articles to ob­ tain tenure or prom otions or grants to support their work. A contributing factor is related to issues of copyright an d fair use. Most major publishers require that scholars sign over copyright be­ fore publication o f their works. Their hom e in­ stitutions, as well as others, must then pay for access to their w ork either through subscrip­ tion fees o r copyright fees included in the cost of docum ent-delivery services. Copyright law, policies, and applications relating to electronic publishing are being actively debated. A silver lining in this dark cloud is the ex­ ceptional opportunity it presents for librarians to assume leadership roles in the developm ent of solutions. At the University o f Arizona, li­ brarians have seized th e opportunity to ed u ­ cate and raise aw areness o f the issues am ong faculty an d administrators. B ackground Scholarly communication, the process through w h ich scholars convey th eir learnings an d know ledge to each other and to future genera­ tions, has evolved over time and continues to change. Oral, face-to-face communication used by the earliest scholars w as com plem ented by developm ent of the written docum ent. Produc­ tion o f these documents was limited by the need to write each docum ent by hand an d distribu­ tion w as limited by available m eans o f trans­ portation. Libraries collecting and providing access to these scholarly works began to de­ velop b u t were relatively few and small. The invention o f the printing press in the first half of the 15th century an d its rapidly ex­ panding use dramatically changed the process by permitting broader and faster dissemination of information. It w as n o longer necessary to travel to scholars’ places o f work, to meetings of scholarly societies, or to have scribes copy docum ents in order to have ready access to their work. Scholarly societies an d other insti­ tutions began to compile an d publish the re­ sults o f their ow n study and research. Libraries becam e key com ponents in the scholarly com­ munication process by collecting, maintaining, an d providing access to these printed works. New transportation technologies developed over succeeding generations significantly en­ hanced the speed o f distribution o f scholarly works. As the production an d dissemination of scholarly information increased, so did the in­ terest o f commercial publishers w ho saw and resp o n d ed to the growing marketplace for their products. The 20th century brought an explosion of academic research an d study an d an explosive increase in publishing fueled by increasing num bers o f faculty and students and increased Chestalene P in to zzi is assistant librarian on the Science-Engineering Team a t the University o f A rizona Library, Tucson; e-mail: Pintozzi@ bird.library.arizona.edu mailto:Pintozzi@bird.library.arizona.edu F eb ru a ry 1 9 9 6 / 8 9 federal and state funding for higher education, with b oth peaking in the late 1960s. Libraries also expanded at a rapid rate, investing increas­ ingly large am ounts o f monetary and staff re­ sources in acquiring and providing access to collections. During this same time commercial publishers increased their output in terms of both the num ber and size o f publications, and invested heavily in printing, marketing, and dis­ tribution tech n o lo g ies an d expertise. Many scholarly societies found it financially advanta­ geous to move publication o f their journals to com mercial publishers. Since the 1960s the growth o f library budgets has declined and, in many cases, this has resulted in significant d e­ creases in buying power. Purchases o f m ono­ graphs declined and many academic libraries w ere also forced to undertake major serial can­ cellations. The past decade has brought astounding growth an d developm ent in electronic com m u­ nication, publication, and dissemination o f in­ formation. This phenom enon is seen by many as the beginning of a n ew age o f scholarly com­ munication with implications reaching far b e­ yond simply changing the format o f publica­ tions. Some see the emerging technologies o f the Internet, the World Wide Web, an d u n ­ know n others yet to com e as fundamentally changing the w ay in w hich scholars w ork and communicate w ith each other. Libraries, uni­ versities, scholars, and publishers are just b e ­ ginning to explore and exploit these resources. The role of lib raria n s As noted above, librarians have long b een key players in the scholarly communication p ro ­ cess. They identify, collect, and provide access to inform ation n e e d e d to support research, teaching, and learning by current and future generations o f faculty, students, and research­ ers. They are connected to both the w orld of academia and the world o f publishing through their longstanding role in the information chain. As faculty members, librarians understand the requirem ents o f promotion, tenure, and grants, as well as the need to have scholarly works readily accessible. They have developed longstanding relationships with publishers and understand the economic realities of the p u b ­ lishing world. They also w ork with an d are know ledgeable about technological develop­ ments that are providing new avenues o f ac­ cess to the results o f scholarly endeavors. Li­ brarians n ee d to use their connections an d know ledge to influence the future of scholarly communication and to define their role in that future. The U niversity of A rizo n a resp o n se At the University of Arizona Library an action plan regarding scholarly communication was conceived and implemented in conjunction with o u r m ost recent serials cancellation project, w hich w as com pleted in 1994. As a first, local step to address the identified issue o f exorbitant price increases, a decision w as m ade to target for cancellation titles w hose prices had increased more than 25% over the prior tw o years. Background information on the crisis in scholarly communication includ­ ing publishing, pricing, an d library b u d g et trends, and copyright issues w as com piled and presented by the dean o f libraries to campus leadership and governance. Individual librarians presented this informa­ tio n an d plan s for delivery o f inform ation through alternative access options to their as­ signed departments and colleges. Librarians and faculty w orked together to determ ine w hich subscriptions to cancel, w hich could b e ob­ tained through cooperative agreem ents with other Arizona libraries, and w hich could be o b tain ed from a docum ent-delivery service. These activities developed a basic understand­ ing o f some o f the issues surrounding schol­ arly communication am ong the general faculty and the university’s leadership groups. Statew id e actions in A rizo n a To address the broader issues and opportuni­ ties o f the crisis in scholarly communication, the Arizona University Libraries Council (AULC) identified common concerns and developed the following method to raise faculty awareness and stimulate action. A seminar planning commit­ tee com posed o f librarians from the three AULC libraries designed an interactive seminar for­ mat and selected speakers. They chose Ann O kerson (then o f the Asso­ ciation o f Research Libraries), G eorge Brett (Clearinghouse for Networked Information Dis­ covery and Retrieval), and Jim O ’Donnell (Uni­ versity o f Pennsylvania). Kenneth Crews (then o f San Jose State University) and a panel of local experts rounded out the program. Other com ponents w ere designed to involve partici­ pants in the generation o f their ow n lists of issues and the developm ent o f means by which they could be addressed in Arizona. 9 0 /C & R L New s Directors of the three libraries obtained fund­ ing for the seminar from the chief academic officers of the three universities. A central loca­ tion in Tem pe was selected for the event and the agenda was finalized. Participation was lim­ ited to 30 faculty and administrators, selected by librarians, from each of the universities. Their selection was based on criteria including lead­ ership position, ability to com municate out­ comes to colleagues, ability to influence col­ leagues to action, and know ledge of scholarly communication and library issues. They were provided with a packet of carefully selected background readings before the event. Discussing the issues The seminar took place in January 1994. Ann O kerson set the stage for the two-day event with a presentation on the economics of schol­ arly c o m m u n ic a tio n a n d p u b lis h in g . Jim O ’Donnell followed with a provocative paper on the nature o f scholarly inquiry. A discussion of copyright issues and scholarly publishing by Kenneth Crews, and an online demonstration of technology in support of scholarly commu­ nication by George Brett rounded out the day. Lively discussion among speakers and partici­ pants followed each session. During an afternoon reception, librarians demonstrated electronic indexing and abstract­ ing and document-delivery services available to scholars in their homes or offices. Everyone then participated in evening brainstorming ses­ sions w hich resulted in identification o f the following eight broad categories of issues: copy­ right, technology, discipline-specific concerns, culture change, financial concerns, publishing, prom otion and tenure policies and procedures, and libraries and education. The following morning began with a panel discussion of the Arizona perspective o n the role of universities in scholarly publishing. Par­ ticipants then divided into facilitated groups for two hours to outline action plans and identify potential ow ners for the eight issues identified earlier. During this process, faculty and admin­ istrators recognized their ow nership of the is­ sues and their accompanying responsibility for finding solutions. Next, they presented their plans to each other for discussion and devel­ opm ent of steps to be undertaken. Further action Enthusiasm was high among attendees through­ out the seminar and many returned to their home campuses eager to continue discussion and w ork with their colleagues. A scholarly communication listserv was set up to promote continuing discussion and sharing of informa­ tion. Other follow-up actions varied am ong the four campuses. O n one campus a governance group developed wording supporting quality of publications rather than quantity as part of criteria for prom otion and tenure. O n another campus a steering committee was organized to bring critical issues and plans from the semi­ nar to the attention of appro­ priate university- and college- level committees. O n a third campus instruction sessions in the use o f Internet resources w ere organized and presented to faculty groups. The overall goal of raising awareness and know ledge of the scope o f scholarly communication issues among influential faculty and administrators was met. K now ledge that they g ain ed is being shared with their colleagues. Awareness of their roles and responsibilities has increased among faculty. Some professors are thinking twice and consulting with librarians w hen asked to serve as editors of journals by publishers with a his­ tory of high price increases. Another result is that librarians are now looked to on campus for leadership and information in matters relat­ ing to scholarly communication. At the Univer­ sity of Arizona, for example, the dean of librar­ ies has been invited to speak to the Faculty Senate several times on publishing and copy­ right issues. Copyright follow-up Copyright continued to attract much interest among faculty at all three universities. This was generated, in part, by the seminar on scholarly communication, but also by emerging concerns Som e see th e em erg in g technologies f the In tern et, the W e b , an d u n k n o w n others to come as u n d a m e n ta lly changing the w a y in w h ich scholars w o r k an d om m unicate w ith each o th er. o f c F eb ru a ry 1 9 9 6 / 9 1 raised by the “Green Paper on Intellectual Prop­ erty and National Information Infrastructure” is­ su ed by the Information Infrastructure Task Force in July 1994. Another statewide seminar focusing on copy­ right in the electronic environm ent w as d e­ signed and held in O ctober 1995. Speakers in­ cluded Laura N. Gasaway (University of North Carolina) and Paul Evan Peters (Coalition for Networked Information). It was intended and designed more to ed u ­ cate than to result in action plans; however, this effort has also enhanced the image of li­ brarians as providers o f expertise and leader­ ship in issues relating to scholarly com munica­ tio n a m o n g fac u lty a t th e th re e A rizona universities. Investm ents an d benefits Activities such as those described above can be readily replicated by other academic librar­ ies. In developing the tw o seminars, librarians from the Arizona University Libraries Council dem onstrated leadership by targeting concerns crucial to scholars at their institutions. They then identified key stakeholders am ong faculty and administrators and brought them together in environments designed to raise their awareness, increase their knowledge, and prom ote inter­ action. Librarians have continued to w ork with fac­ ulty on each campus to design and implement need ed changes. At the University o f Arizona Library, for example, librarians are assisting an­ thropology faculty in the creation o f an online refereed journal and are exploring the possi­ bility of supporting an online linguistics abstract service. The costs in terms o f both staff time and money are not insignificant. But w hen the prob­ lem and an approach designed to develop so­ lutions was clearly defined and presented to the Arizona universities’ chief academic offic­ ers, they w ere persuaded to contribute m on­ etary support. Seminar planning committees com posed o f librarians from the three Arizona universities collaborated to accomplish the or­ ganizational and implementation work. Rewards for the time and m oney invested w ere great in terms of building awareness and understanding of scholarly communication and library issues on the part o f faculty and adm in­ istrators, and o f enhancing the role of librar­ ians as campus leaders. ■ 9 2 /C & R L N ew s