- Email: [email protected]
Electronic editions of serials: The virtual library model
ELECTRONIC EDITIONS OF SERIALS: THE VIRTUAL LIBRARY MODEL Brett Butler INTRODUCTION
The disparity between the title of this special issue of Serials Review and the title of this article illustrates the variety of perspectives and viewpoints that characterize the contributions to this issue, and the confusion in the field in general. At the Memex Research Institute (MemRI), we have been developing a model of an electronic library system (the E-Library*) that focuses on creating electronic editions of existing journals, serials, and other library holdings. We reserve the term "electronic publishing" for the creation and distribution via electronic media of works that have never appeared in print form in libraries' collections--the very few electronic journals now being published on networks, bulletin board systems, and floppy disks or other media. We believe electronic editions will be very important in the next decade, original electronic publications not maturing until the next decade or later. (MemRI agrees with Hunter's #1 assumption in her article in this issue: "for the foreseeable future, the journals will still also be produced in paper and sold on subscription .... ") The strategy MemRI has employed in the development of E-Library collections combines use of existing indexing to serials with image scanning, thus creating bitmap page images based on the format of the original journal. With this approach, the entire content of the journal is preserved and presented to the user, the pub-
lisher is ensured the integrity of accurate distribution of the original work, and the system can build on existing online public access catalog (OPAC) and CDROM index databases. A detailed outline of the MemRI E-Library program is published in Library Hi Tech. 1 Cost is often cited as the primary disadvantage of an image-based document system; image documents require up to 100 times the storage and transmission capacity of text-based (ASCII) document systems. These disadvantages have essentially been countered by improved technology available at decreasing prices. Small optical WORM (Write-Once, Read-Many) jukeboxes operated as personal computer peripherals are now available that provide 10 gigabytes of storage for a cost under $15,000 per file server unit. And image bandwidth needs are readily handled by wireless packet radio transceivers now available in LAN configurations for less than $1,000 per user. MemRI believes a decentralized system combining all the models herein discussed will develop for the creation of electronic journal collections for three reasons: 1. The technology investment is now low enough for individual institutions to create local projects based on local needs--a library or university can create an electronic collection facility on PC-level workstations, for less than the cost of a new online catalog system and without significant technical development.
Butler is director of development, Memex Research Institute, California State University, Chico.
102
SEmALS REVIEW
- - B R E T r BUTLER
2. Drake observes in this issue that "No single method of electronic distribution will serve the needs of all institutions or the needs of a single institution." Local needs and budgets will drive libraries' investments in electronic collections, as they have with local online catalog/circulation systems (publisherbased products can only partially replace a local library's holdings since the economics of CD-ROM and other publisher collections depends on the creation of a single, noncustom product). 3. Both publishing and education are extremely decentralized activities. There are over 60,000 journals indexed by the major abstracting and indexing societies, and only a handful of publishers create more than a few journals each. In addition, there is no glimmer of national policy or direction in electronic publishing issues. (The interesting proposal by Young in this issue for a Corporation for Scholarly Publishing is an innovative concept, but is bereft of any funding or organizational support.) Basically, the concept of a decentralized model--"a heterogeneous mix of varieties of service and types of publishing," as described by this issue's editors-assumes the existence and development of all the other five models described (excluding the CSP proposal). All of these have some support, but unless one assumes that one of the actively developing five models is to dominate serial publishing (Okerson observes, in this issue, "Why should it, since we have no single print on paper model?"), it is reasonable to assume this varied mix will continue to exist in the future. In order to consider the balance and mix of a decentralized serials system, the structure of the present and developing options can be summarized as shown in figure 1. By contrast, the MemRI distributed publishing model divides into many disparate, but complementary applications, each of which represents a different focus, as shown in figure 2. What becomes clear in observing the number and variety of participants in the scholarly communications system (of which the serial literature is the official record), is that none of the parties is in a position to force cooperation or concerted joint effort from the other parties. Joint meetings and projects (such as the Coalition for Networked Information seminar, which defined the need for this special issue) are badly needed among the major "stakeholders" to increase internal communication and understanding. But no single type of organization is in a position to force solutions on ELECTRONIC EDITIONS OF SERIALS - -
the others involved in scholarly communication. And models or solutions that call for complete solutions in order to proceed (Jensen in this issue calls for "negotiating an agreement between all interested parties on...the rights of copyright holders...and desires of information consumers") are doomed to decades of round-robin meetings. Further, it is clear that many of the strongest influences on the scholarly communication process are what economists call "externalities"--factors that are beyond the control of the internal processes themselves. Primary among these factors are the pressure to publish for the purpose of tenure, the requirement of physical library collections for accreditation, and the accumulation of professional papers for academic status and prestige. Neither to be ignored are university and higher education budget cuts, which knowledgeable administrators have des cribed as "structural, not cyclic, change." Although work such as that described by Roger Noll and Ed Steinmueller of Stanford in this issue is now formally identifying and quantifying those external factors, action well beyond the library and publishing communities will be required to mitigate the impact of the externalities on the scholarly communication process and its costs. Therefore, in the likely absence of such concerted effort to change the external environment, we can expect each sector to develop extensions t6, or replacements of, the baseline environment that will best meet its perceived needs. The potential for a dysfunctional chaos is therefore considerable.
LINKING ELEMENTS OF THE DISTRIBUTED M O D E L
In the space available for this paper, we cannot explore each potential application, nor would any of those involved in developing new-generation electronic information systems want to predict the precise mix of future developments. Rather, it seems important to identify the local and network resources that must be developed in order for the variety of models identified to cohabit effectively, to interoperate efficiently, and to build on--rather than conflict with--the present uneasy status quo. Although these perspectives come from our work on the E-Library Program, we believe they apply to all the potential variants in the "distributed model." They represent a less visionary approach than that proposed by Kahn or Lyons in this issue, but elements of each resource are available and operating today in academic or commercial systems.
SPRING AND SUMMER 1992
103
Serials Review Model
Sponsors
Limits
Baseline: Today
Publishers, authors
Budgets, profits
National Site License
Networks, libraries
Consensus/model
Acquisition on Demand
Libraries, patrons
Kills subscriptions
Discipline Literature System
Professional societies
Literature scatter
Augmented Print
Publishers, authors
Design, options
Corp. for Scholarly Publishing
None at present
Federal control
Figure 1
Distributed Publishing Models
Sponsors
Limits
Self-publishing
Authors, universities
Access, peer review
Electronic journals
Authors, publishers
Sales, tenure needs
Augmented print
Any publisher
Marketing, costs
E-Library collections
Libraries
Design, conversion
Publishers
Distribution, fees
Gateways
AT&T, NREN
Standards, charges
Electronic utilities
DIALOG, Maxwell
Prices, licenses
Figure 2 Bibliographic Control and Access It is important to recognize that databases exist today that describe most of the world's publications-books, journals, newspaper articles, and othe r s - a n d allow (albeit in a nonstandard manner) searching of names, topics, products, and other features. In the language of librarians, which have created most of the access (cataloging) for the world's book publications, we have bibliographic control and access. In the language of managers of professional societies and commercial firms, we have index and abstract publications that cover most journal, report, and other literature of substantial interest. Libraries have developed an effective and essentially worldwide standard (MARC or NISO Z39.2) for book cataloging. Major work remains to be done to standardize index database access: in order to allow users or automated agents (such as Kahn's "knowbots") to browse efficiently and effectively among the 3,000 + generally available bibliographic and access databases known today. And, as those attempting to use online library catalogs on the Internet have found, a strange variety of local system protocols shield even standard-
104
SERIALS
REVIEW
ized catalog data from network access and convenient, dependable searching. Nonetheless, neither is it sensible to re-invent these index access systems, nor to recatalog any book when it is converted from print form to an electronic edition. MernRI does believe enhanced or extended access will be necessary as E-Library collections grow larger, a topic beyond the scope of this article's length limitation. What is necessary is the creation on the Internet of a publicly available union index of electronic documents generally available through electronic delivery channels (and including both full-text ASCII documents and bitmap image documents). Network Communication Standards At least a dozen technical standards that are not now in existence have been identified by a MemRI Electronic Library Communications Format Initiative. These will be required to create and interoperate networked E-Library collections? Aside from the access data format standards noted above, all these efforts relate to defining a network communications format. As Bailey observes in this issue, "What is needed is an easy-to-use, ubiquitous information representation -- BRETT BtrrLER ~
format that will allow documents to be encoded so that color, foreign characters, illustrations,tables, scientific notation, and other types of information found in conventional print serials can be stored, transmitted, and displayed." (For an update and broader discussion, for the development of a series of standards, see Lynch's article in this issue). MemRI believes that, as with other computer applications, librarians and scholarly publishers will also have to consider and work with the needs of other publishers and the information industries. With successful demonstration of accepted standard computer formats for network communications not only of the description of the work, but also of a complete electronic edition of past, current, and future published materials, a common technical framework will be established that can extend to true electronic journals. Within this context, the other models discussed herein--national site licensing, on-demand computerization, specific discipline-oriented "vertical market" systems, and augmented print publishing--can flourish in a compatible manner. Without the overall structure of an openly accessible, interoperable, and fiscally responsible decentralized network of E-Library and other electronic database resources, all participants face the spectre of a whole complex of Towers of Babel--an electronic library and bookstore designed by the engineers who brought us British and American highway driving standards, VHS and Beta, and personal computer printer cables.
Libraries' order departments, in fact, do just this every day for works in printed form, but through distributors that collate orders and maintain publishers' terms of sale. In an electronic environment, with good bibliographic control, we have a perfect capacity to track queries and deliveries of documents. As part of its ELibrary program, MemRI is developing a public utility, SHARer, which will perform that tracking for any library, publisher, bookstore, or institution (under a license agreement) and will perform intellectual property management (as a contract service). The first SHARer implementation is operational only in an offline, batch mode but plans are being made to develop an online Internet resource that could support real-time searching for electronic works, authentication of authorized network users, and rights approvals. Another half-dozen management functions have been identified in MemRI's specification of its SHARer software system, and these extend well beyond existing copyright law or protocols. If these components can be provided to link the variant models discussed elsewhere in this issue, to allow interoperable E-Library collections, and to facilitate easy access to electronic works with appropriate intellectual property management, MemRI believes it is possible to create a "virtual library" network.
Intellectual Property Management
The MemRI distributed model assumes that standards will be developed, or existing ones (such as CCITT Group Ill/IV image compression) employed, in such a manner that compatible electronic document collections can be developed by local users (libraries, government agencies), by traditional or electronic publishers, or even by authors and scholars in a new form of publishing organization. These collections will be developed from local, internal organization needs--access to materials at a remote campus, s ales of commercial publications, most purely by the "cycles of reciprocal influence that constitute an evolving body of scholarly research" as described by Harnad in this issue. In the MemRI vision, they will be interoperable on the technical level, so that the access and intellectual property tools described above can facilitate international electronic distributionover the Internet, the proposed NREN, and extended networks, which are the assumed infrastructure of this entire discussion.
If there has been a major recent change in perception among the participants (publishers, authors, libraries, scholars, administrators, and lawyers) in this extended "electronic journal" debate, it is that nobody seriously argues any longer that copyright per se is the issue, or that intellectual property can be ignored in the new technologies. There is heated debate about who should control the intellectual property rights involved, or how the distribution of the economic process should be funded or subsidized, but no major library administrator is any longer arguing "this is all free under fair use," nor are scholarly or trade publishers any longer saying "we won't license or allow you electronic services." The problem, rather, is that there is no mechanism to support electronic distribution with the control desired by publishers. The common perception of the problem is echoed by Jensen in this issue: "it would be impractical and unduly burdensome to require every end-user or even.., every institution...to negotiate with every copyright owner whose works will be used or might be needed in the future in electronic form .... " ELECTRONIC EDITIONSOF SERIALS - -
E-LIBRARY COLLECTIONS
SPRING AND SUMMER 1992
105
THE VIRTUAL LIBRARY NETWORK MODEL
Identification of the needs of a disparate set of electronic library and publishing applications, such as discussed in this issue, leads MemRI from the ELibrary model for a local library collection (or publisher backlist) to the virtual library model for changing and improving the system. MemRI defines a virtual library as two or more E-Library collections connected both by a physical network and by a cooperative management network enabling common public access. In the context of this issue, an E-Library can be taken to be any individual electronic (journal or book) collection from one of the models herein. If these elements can be combined, they will create a virtual library network that can be based on today's library collections and publishing practices. While lacking the knowbot agents, knowledge bases, composable servers, and intelligent networks of Kahn's vision, a virtual library network can be built on a decentralized (not national) basis with tools available today. It can also make a modest beginning on the need well identified by Harnad in this issue: "it is clear that this is the feature that needs to be focused upon in facilitating the revolution . . . . [it] must be explicitly demonstrated to the scholarly community so they can see for themselves what this medium can do that no other medium can." Although Harnad was referring to his innovative PSYCOLOQUY peer review electronic publishing system, the comment applies to all the "models" herein. For a number of reasons, MemRI believes this model can develop primarily within academic and pub-
lic libraries, in cooperation with publishers and other intellectual property holders. We believe these collections will grow using conversion to image (or text) electronic form of desired works, as outlined in the "On-Demand Model" discussed in this issue. But we also believe that expert or knowledge-based collections will be developed to make the virtual library a true knowledge depository, rather than a publishers' warehouse--and that this development will take place in academic institutions with publishers' active cooperation and assistance. This is because librarians, rather than publishers, have both the knowledge and the need to create and connect such collections. With a few real, live cooperative pilot projects, perhaps we all can move beyond Harnad's aptly coined "papyrocentric view of publication" to a multimedia reality--print and electronic editions fulfilling complementary economic roles.
NOTES 1. Brett Butler, "The Electronic Library Program: Developing Networked Electronic Library Collections," Library Hi Tech 9, no. 2 consecutive issue 34 (1991): 21-30. 2. Edwin Brownrigg and Brett Butler, "An Electronic Library Communications Format: A Definition and Development Proposal for MARC III," Library Hi Tech 8, no. 3 consecutive issue 31 (1990): 21-26. 3.
Brownrigg and Butler, 21-26.
Service I'ublicali,,n
When You Need Help, Call a Toll-Free Public Service Helpline The Directory of National Helplines: A Guide to Toll-Free Public: Service Numbers, 1991/1992, is a specialized telephone directory that emphasizes social, economic, health, and environmental helplines. The Directory contains information on more than 500 helpline services. Many organizations and agencies sponsor toll-free public service helplines in order to provide assistance to persons in need of support and advice. While many of the helplines are sponsored by major national organizations, others are supported by less visible agencies. All sponsors of helplines, however, face the same difficulties in making the public aware of their numbers and services. The general directories of "800 toll-free numbers" essentially emphasize commercial services available to consumers, and do not provide thorough coverage of the social, economic, health, and environmental helplines.
DIRECTORY OF NATIONAIJ ilELi'LINES: A Guideto Toll Flee Public ServiceNumbcls, 1991-1992
lhe IberianI'tr~
The Directory provides subject access to the helplines. For each helpline, the Directory indicates: • hours available, ° types of services offered, ° whether related resources will be sent, and ° sponsoring organization or agency. The Directory is $6.00 (prepaid). "]['heDirectory of National Helplines is availablefrom: Pierian Press, Inc.,P.O. Box 1808, Ann Arbor, MI 48106 (1-800-678-2435) All ordersmustbe prepaid. Multiple-copydiscountsare available. 106
SERIALSREWEW
-- BRETTBUTLER
The disparity between the title of this special issue of Serials Review and the title of this article illustrates the variety of perspectives and viewpoints that characterize the contributions to this issue, and the confusion in the field in general. At the Memex Research Institute (MemRI), we have been developing a model of an electronic library system (the E-Library*) that focuses on creating electronic editions of existing journals, serials, and other library holdings. We reserve the term "electronic publishing" for the creation and distribution via electronic media of works that have never appeared in print form in libraries' collections--the very few electronic journals now being published on networks, bulletin board systems, and floppy disks or other media. We believe electronic editions will be very important in the next decade, original electronic publications not maturing until the next decade or later. (MemRI agrees with Hunter's #1 assumption in her article in this issue: "for the foreseeable future, the journals will still also be produced in paper and sold on subscription .... ") The strategy MemRI has employed in the development of E-Library collections combines use of existing indexing to serials with image scanning, thus creating bitmap page images based on the format of the original journal. With this approach, the entire content of the journal is preserved and presented to the user, the pub-
lisher is ensured the integrity of accurate distribution of the original work, and the system can build on existing online public access catalog (OPAC) and CDROM index databases. A detailed outline of the MemRI E-Library program is published in Library Hi Tech. 1 Cost is often cited as the primary disadvantage of an image-based document system; image documents require up to 100 times the storage and transmission capacity of text-based (ASCII) document systems. These disadvantages have essentially been countered by improved technology available at decreasing prices. Small optical WORM (Write-Once, Read-Many) jukeboxes operated as personal computer peripherals are now available that provide 10 gigabytes of storage for a cost under $15,000 per file server unit. And image bandwidth needs are readily handled by wireless packet radio transceivers now available in LAN configurations for less than $1,000 per user. MemRI believes a decentralized system combining all the models herein discussed will develop for the creation of electronic journal collections for three reasons: 1. The technology investment is now low enough for individual institutions to create local projects based on local needs--a library or university can create an electronic collection facility on PC-level workstations, for less than the cost of a new online catalog system and without significant technical development.
Butler is director of development, Memex Research Institute, California State University, Chico.
102
SEmALS REVIEW
- - B R E T r BUTLER
2. Drake observes in this issue that "No single method of electronic distribution will serve the needs of all institutions or the needs of a single institution." Local needs and budgets will drive libraries' investments in electronic collections, as they have with local online catalog/circulation systems (publisherbased products can only partially replace a local library's holdings since the economics of CD-ROM and other publisher collections depends on the creation of a single, noncustom product). 3. Both publishing and education are extremely decentralized activities. There are over 60,000 journals indexed by the major abstracting and indexing societies, and only a handful of publishers create more than a few journals each. In addition, there is no glimmer of national policy or direction in electronic publishing issues. (The interesting proposal by Young in this issue for a Corporation for Scholarly Publishing is an innovative concept, but is bereft of any funding or organizational support.) Basically, the concept of a decentralized model--"a heterogeneous mix of varieties of service and types of publishing," as described by this issue's editors-assumes the existence and development of all the other five models described (excluding the CSP proposal). All of these have some support, but unless one assumes that one of the actively developing five models is to dominate serial publishing (Okerson observes, in this issue, "Why should it, since we have no single print on paper model?"), it is reasonable to assume this varied mix will continue to exist in the future. In order to consider the balance and mix of a decentralized serials system, the structure of the present and developing options can be summarized as shown in figure 1. By contrast, the MemRI distributed publishing model divides into many disparate, but complementary applications, each of which represents a different focus, as shown in figure 2. What becomes clear in observing the number and variety of participants in the scholarly communications system (of which the serial literature is the official record), is that none of the parties is in a position to force cooperation or concerted joint effort from the other parties. Joint meetings and projects (such as the Coalition for Networked Information seminar, which defined the need for this special issue) are badly needed among the major "stakeholders" to increase internal communication and understanding. But no single type of organization is in a position to force solutions on ELECTRONIC EDITIONS OF SERIALS - -
the others involved in scholarly communication. And models or solutions that call for complete solutions in order to proceed (Jensen in this issue calls for "negotiating an agreement between all interested parties on...the rights of copyright holders...and desires of information consumers") are doomed to decades of round-robin meetings. Further, it is clear that many of the strongest influences on the scholarly communication process are what economists call "externalities"--factors that are beyond the control of the internal processes themselves. Primary among these factors are the pressure to publish for the purpose of tenure, the requirement of physical library collections for accreditation, and the accumulation of professional papers for academic status and prestige. Neither to be ignored are university and higher education budget cuts, which knowledgeable administrators have des cribed as "structural, not cyclic, change." Although work such as that described by Roger Noll and Ed Steinmueller of Stanford in this issue is now formally identifying and quantifying those external factors, action well beyond the library and publishing communities will be required to mitigate the impact of the externalities on the scholarly communication process and its costs. Therefore, in the likely absence of such concerted effort to change the external environment, we can expect each sector to develop extensions t6, or replacements of, the baseline environment that will best meet its perceived needs. The potential for a dysfunctional chaos is therefore considerable.
LINKING ELEMENTS OF THE DISTRIBUTED M O D E L
In the space available for this paper, we cannot explore each potential application, nor would any of those involved in developing new-generation electronic information systems want to predict the precise mix of future developments. Rather, it seems important to identify the local and network resources that must be developed in order for the variety of models identified to cohabit effectively, to interoperate efficiently, and to build on--rather than conflict with--the present uneasy status quo. Although these perspectives come from our work on the E-Library Program, we believe they apply to all the potential variants in the "distributed model." They represent a less visionary approach than that proposed by Kahn or Lyons in this issue, but elements of each resource are available and operating today in academic or commercial systems.
SPRING AND SUMMER 1992
103
Serials Review Model
Sponsors
Limits
Baseline: Today
Publishers, authors
Budgets, profits
National Site License
Networks, libraries
Consensus/model
Acquisition on Demand
Libraries, patrons
Kills subscriptions
Discipline Literature System
Professional societies
Literature scatter
Augmented Print
Publishers, authors
Design, options
Corp. for Scholarly Publishing
None at present
Federal control
Figure 1
Distributed Publishing Models
Sponsors
Limits
Self-publishing
Authors, universities
Access, peer review
Electronic journals
Authors, publishers
Sales, tenure needs
Augmented print
Any publisher
Marketing, costs
E-Library collections
Libraries
Design, conversion
Publishers
Distribution, fees
Gateways
AT&T, NREN
Standards, charges
Electronic utilities
DIALOG, Maxwell
Prices, licenses
Figure 2 Bibliographic Control and Access It is important to recognize that databases exist today that describe most of the world's publications-books, journals, newspaper articles, and othe r s - a n d allow (albeit in a nonstandard manner) searching of names, topics, products, and other features. In the language of librarians, which have created most of the access (cataloging) for the world's book publications, we have bibliographic control and access. In the language of managers of professional societies and commercial firms, we have index and abstract publications that cover most journal, report, and other literature of substantial interest. Libraries have developed an effective and essentially worldwide standard (MARC or NISO Z39.2) for book cataloging. Major work remains to be done to standardize index database access: in order to allow users or automated agents (such as Kahn's "knowbots") to browse efficiently and effectively among the 3,000 + generally available bibliographic and access databases known today. And, as those attempting to use online library catalogs on the Internet have found, a strange variety of local system protocols shield even standard-
104
SERIALS
REVIEW
ized catalog data from network access and convenient, dependable searching. Nonetheless, neither is it sensible to re-invent these index access systems, nor to recatalog any book when it is converted from print form to an electronic edition. MernRI does believe enhanced or extended access will be necessary as E-Library collections grow larger, a topic beyond the scope of this article's length limitation. What is necessary is the creation on the Internet of a publicly available union index of electronic documents generally available through electronic delivery channels (and including both full-text ASCII documents and bitmap image documents). Network Communication Standards At least a dozen technical standards that are not now in existence have been identified by a MemRI Electronic Library Communications Format Initiative. These will be required to create and interoperate networked E-Library collections? Aside from the access data format standards noted above, all these efforts relate to defining a network communications format. As Bailey observes in this issue, "What is needed is an easy-to-use, ubiquitous information representation -- BRETT BtrrLER ~
format that will allow documents to be encoded so that color, foreign characters, illustrations,tables, scientific notation, and other types of information found in conventional print serials can be stored, transmitted, and displayed." (For an update and broader discussion, for the development of a series of standards, see Lynch's article in this issue). MemRI believes that, as with other computer applications, librarians and scholarly publishers will also have to consider and work with the needs of other publishers and the information industries. With successful demonstration of accepted standard computer formats for network communications not only of the description of the work, but also of a complete electronic edition of past, current, and future published materials, a common technical framework will be established that can extend to true electronic journals. Within this context, the other models discussed herein--national site licensing, on-demand computerization, specific discipline-oriented "vertical market" systems, and augmented print publishing--can flourish in a compatible manner. Without the overall structure of an openly accessible, interoperable, and fiscally responsible decentralized network of E-Library and other electronic database resources, all participants face the spectre of a whole complex of Towers of Babel--an electronic library and bookstore designed by the engineers who brought us British and American highway driving standards, VHS and Beta, and personal computer printer cables.
Libraries' order departments, in fact, do just this every day for works in printed form, but through distributors that collate orders and maintain publishers' terms of sale. In an electronic environment, with good bibliographic control, we have a perfect capacity to track queries and deliveries of documents. As part of its ELibrary program, MemRI is developing a public utility, SHARer, which will perform that tracking for any library, publisher, bookstore, or institution (under a license agreement) and will perform intellectual property management (as a contract service). The first SHARer implementation is operational only in an offline, batch mode but plans are being made to develop an online Internet resource that could support real-time searching for electronic works, authentication of authorized network users, and rights approvals. Another half-dozen management functions have been identified in MemRI's specification of its SHARer software system, and these extend well beyond existing copyright law or protocols. If these components can be provided to link the variant models discussed elsewhere in this issue, to allow interoperable E-Library collections, and to facilitate easy access to electronic works with appropriate intellectual property management, MemRI believes it is possible to create a "virtual library" network.
Intellectual Property Management
The MemRI distributed model assumes that standards will be developed, or existing ones (such as CCITT Group Ill/IV image compression) employed, in such a manner that compatible electronic document collections can be developed by local users (libraries, government agencies), by traditional or electronic publishers, or even by authors and scholars in a new form of publishing organization. These collections will be developed from local, internal organization needs--access to materials at a remote campus, s ales of commercial publications, most purely by the "cycles of reciprocal influence that constitute an evolving body of scholarly research" as described by Harnad in this issue. In the MemRI vision, they will be interoperable on the technical level, so that the access and intellectual property tools described above can facilitate international electronic distributionover the Internet, the proposed NREN, and extended networks, which are the assumed infrastructure of this entire discussion.
If there has been a major recent change in perception among the participants (publishers, authors, libraries, scholars, administrators, and lawyers) in this extended "electronic journal" debate, it is that nobody seriously argues any longer that copyright per se is the issue, or that intellectual property can be ignored in the new technologies. There is heated debate about who should control the intellectual property rights involved, or how the distribution of the economic process should be funded or subsidized, but no major library administrator is any longer arguing "this is all free under fair use," nor are scholarly or trade publishers any longer saying "we won't license or allow you electronic services." The problem, rather, is that there is no mechanism to support electronic distribution with the control desired by publishers. The common perception of the problem is echoed by Jensen in this issue: "it would be impractical and unduly burdensome to require every end-user or even.., every institution...to negotiate with every copyright owner whose works will be used or might be needed in the future in electronic form .... " ELECTRONIC EDITIONSOF SERIALS - -
E-LIBRARY COLLECTIONS
SPRING AND SUMMER 1992
105
THE VIRTUAL LIBRARY NETWORK MODEL
Identification of the needs of a disparate set of electronic library and publishing applications, such as discussed in this issue, leads MemRI from the ELibrary model for a local library collection (or publisher backlist) to the virtual library model for changing and improving the system. MemRI defines a virtual library as two or more E-Library collections connected both by a physical network and by a cooperative management network enabling common public access. In the context of this issue, an E-Library can be taken to be any individual electronic (journal or book) collection from one of the models herein. If these elements can be combined, they will create a virtual library network that can be based on today's library collections and publishing practices. While lacking the knowbot agents, knowledge bases, composable servers, and intelligent networks of Kahn's vision, a virtual library network can be built on a decentralized (not national) basis with tools available today. It can also make a modest beginning on the need well identified by Harnad in this issue: "it is clear that this is the feature that needs to be focused upon in facilitating the revolution . . . . [it] must be explicitly demonstrated to the scholarly community so they can see for themselves what this medium can do that no other medium can." Although Harnad was referring to his innovative PSYCOLOQUY peer review electronic publishing system, the comment applies to all the "models" herein. For a number of reasons, MemRI believes this model can develop primarily within academic and pub-
lic libraries, in cooperation with publishers and other intellectual property holders. We believe these collections will grow using conversion to image (or text) electronic form of desired works, as outlined in the "On-Demand Model" discussed in this issue. But we also believe that expert or knowledge-based collections will be developed to make the virtual library a true knowledge depository, rather than a publishers' warehouse--and that this development will take place in academic institutions with publishers' active cooperation and assistance. This is because librarians, rather than publishers, have both the knowledge and the need to create and connect such collections. With a few real, live cooperative pilot projects, perhaps we all can move beyond Harnad's aptly coined "papyrocentric view of publication" to a multimedia reality--print and electronic editions fulfilling complementary economic roles.
NOTES 1. Brett Butler, "The Electronic Library Program: Developing Networked Electronic Library Collections," Library Hi Tech 9, no. 2 consecutive issue 34 (1991): 21-30. 2. Edwin Brownrigg and Brett Butler, "An Electronic Library Communications Format: A Definition and Development Proposal for MARC III," Library Hi Tech 8, no. 3 consecutive issue 31 (1990): 21-26. 3.
Brownrigg and Butler, 21-26.
Service I'ublicali,,n
When You Need Help, Call a Toll-Free Public Service Helpline The Directory of National Helplines: A Guide to Toll-Free Public: Service Numbers, 1991/1992, is a specialized telephone directory that emphasizes social, economic, health, and environmental helplines. The Directory contains information on more than 500 helpline services. Many organizations and agencies sponsor toll-free public service helplines in order to provide assistance to persons in need of support and advice. While many of the helplines are sponsored by major national organizations, others are supported by less visible agencies. All sponsors of helplines, however, face the same difficulties in making the public aware of their numbers and services. The general directories of "800 toll-free numbers" essentially emphasize commercial services available to consumers, and do not provide thorough coverage of the social, economic, health, and environmental helplines.
DIRECTORY OF NATIONAIJ ilELi'LINES: A Guideto Toll Flee Public ServiceNumbcls, 1991-1992
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The Directory provides subject access to the helplines. For each helpline, the Directory indicates: • hours available, ° types of services offered, ° whether related resources will be sent, and ° sponsoring organization or agency. The Directory is $6.00 (prepaid). "]['heDirectory of National Helplines is availablefrom: Pierian Press, Inc.,P.O. Box 1808, Ann Arbor, MI 48106 (1-800-678-2435) All ordersmustbe prepaid. Multiple-copydiscountsare available. 106
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-- BRETTBUTLER