An all day symposium in the Odegaard Undergraduate Library Friday, March 4, stimulated a lively interchange of views among University administrators, faculty, librarians and invited speakers on the subject "Scholarly Publication in Crisis: Problems, Potential, Promise."
Provost G. Wayne Clough opened the event with remarks that encapsulated the day's themes. He spoke of the circular nature of problems created within the University: the University's mission to create new knowledge and the faculty reward system for producing scholarly publications that lead to the creation of new journals. The growth in the production of new knowledge places heavy burdens on the system, which must cope both with increased costs and budget reductions. While demands increase, resources to meet them, especially within libraries, have been decreasing. Provost Clough noted that advanced technologies will provide some relief from these problems but will not provide a total solution.
More information on some of the causes of these profound changes and the direct impact they are having on library budgets and print-based collections throughout the country was given by Ann Okerson of the Association of Research Libraries (ARL). Her presentation accompanied by ARL-generated charts and statistics provided firm evidence of the crisis today and how it grew through the 1980s. While today's library collection is tied to a location, it is being superseded by an electronic collection that is located everywhere. She enumerated current and emerging examples of such electronic publications, which offer the promise of eventual relief from an overburdened system. Professor James O'Donnell of the University of Pennsylvania entertained and enlightened the audience by describing one such electronic publishing effort, the Bryn Mawr Classical Review, which he and a colleague edit and distribute on the Internet. A remarkable success, the journal has now spawned the Bryn Mawr Medieval Review, which is available only electronically. The companion title is edited by UW Professors Eugene Vance and Paul Remley.
The subject of copyright in the electronic environment was treated by Dr. Scott Bennett, director of the Milton S. Eisenhower Library at The Johns Hopkins University and consultant to The Johns Hopkins University Press electronic journal production. Dr. Bennett stressed the importance of maintaining the concept of fair use, preserving the ability of the marketplace to advance the public as well as the private interest, and the necessity for academic libraries and their parent institutions to take a pro-active role in re-inventing the benefits of copyright for the public good in the electronic era.
The day's presentations concluded with a panel. Betty Bengtson, director of the UW Libraries, Paul Hodge, professor of astronomy at the UW and editor of The Astronomical Journal, Ellen Bauerle from the University of Michigan Press and James Q. Arnold from AT&T Bell Laboratories each addressed the topic of the day from his or her perspective as an active member of a major stakeholding community in the scholarly publishing enterprise.
Complementing the presentations throughout the day were ongoing demonstrations of electronic resources.
The symposium was sponsored by the Faculty Council on University Libraries, the Faculty Senate, the Graduate School, the Provost's Office, the Office of Research, the Friends of the University of Washington Libraries, and the University of Washington Libraries.