Access to electronic journals for distance learners

Date01 January 1998
Published date01 January 1998
Pages30-33
DOIhttps://doi.org/10.1108/eb040676
AuthorSarah Clarke
Subject MatterInformation & knowledge management
Access to electronic
journals for distance
learners
by Sarah Clarke, Open University
Library, Milton Keynes
The Open University Library's remit expanded
in 1995 to include services to students. These
services primarily involve providing access
and guidance on the use of a range of
electronic information resources. Electronic
journals are important, as the Library does not
currently offer a document delivery service to
students. This article discusses a number of
the issues relating to licensing and access
arrangements that affect students' access to
electronic journals.
Introduction
From its inception in 1969 until the end of 1994
the remit of the Open University Library was to
serve the course writing and research needs of
academic staff at the University's Walton Hall
campus in Milton Keynes. In 1995 its remit was
extended to include the provision of library serv-
ices to students via electronic means. These
electronic means include bibliographic databases,
electronic
journals,
course specific evaluated Web
resources.
The Library does not currently offer a document
delivery service to students. This means that
electronic journals are an important way for
students to access full text journal articles. Stu-
dents are also encouraged to use the collections
and services of either their local academic or
public library if possible. However, levels of
access for Open University students can vary
greatly from library to library. Access to a sub-
stantial collection of electronic journals has the
potential of transforming students' access to
Library resources.
Obtaining access to electronic journals for distance
learners is not a straightforward matter. This
article discusses some of the licensing and access
issues that determine whether Open University
students can benefit from the availability of
elec-
tronic journals.
Availability of electronic
journals
At the time of writing the Library has access to
over
3,000
electronic journals (full text). These
journals come from a variety of sources:
Pilot Site Licence Initiative (PSLI) (until
December 1998, Academic Press until
December 1999)
EBSCO MasterFILE
(http://www.niss.ac.uk/ebsco/)
JSTOR
(http://www.jstor.ac.uk/)
Emerald from MCB Press
(http://www.mcb.co.uk/emrld/nethome.htm)
Full text articles from ABI/Inform Global
via ProQuest Direct
(http://www.umi.com/proquest/)
Free-with-print arrangements from a variety
of publishers.
The Library hopes to sign-up to the NESLI
(National Electronic Site Licence Initiative)
(http://www.nesli.ac.uk/) in 1999.
Access
The Library's Web pages (http://oulibl.open.ac.uk
/lib/gate.htm) act as a gateway to electronic jour-
nals and other information resources. We list
electronic journal suppliers and individual publish-
ers'
pages. We also give a listing of electronic
journals by journal title on separate subject pages.
In terms of electronic journal formats the services
we access tend to use HTML (sometimes with
images) or PDF formats. We provide instructions
on how to install Adobe Acrobat and then
30 VINE 110

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