We've been down several times this year for 1-4 days because of viruses or
worms--the fear more than anything.  I sure was glad we had our print
journals since we had no access to the electronic ones.



At 03:49 PM 9/21/01 GMT, you wrote:
>Important issue in a variety of settings. Our library is in the process of
>canceling print subscriptions to journals to which we have electronic
>access, i.e. full text databases. It's a matter of money. Even if we had a
>State budget, it has been decades since our acquisitions budget has kept
>pace with inflation. And this doesn't even begin to address the increase in
>the rate at which new knowledge/information continues to be created.
>
>So, we have tough choices to make. Since our students prefer full text on
>their desktop (computer), that's the direction we're going. I have taken it
>upon myself to be an alarmist. I worry about what happens when we no longer
>have access/subscribe. If a print subscription lapses, you still own the
>backfiles (previously purchased issues). I'm suggesting that libraries need
>to pressure vendors to include in their contracts the right for a
>subscriber to make a single (CD or other electronic storage medium)
>preservation copy. In my mind its not 'if' that copy will ever be needed,
>but when.
>
>Of course, this all assumes that the storage medium will survive as well as
>the means to decode it.
>
>Wayne Miller
>Plattsburgh State U of NY
>
>[log in to unmask] writes:
>
>> Last month the Gale Group/PSIMedia notified me that they would no longer
>> support their subscription-based "City Directories Online".  This digitized
>> collection of city directories, although not as well processed as those on
>> Ancestry.com, was notable for its scope.  (For those who not familiar with
>> digitized city directories, they permit the researcher to sort directory
>> entries by keyword: "stable", "West 11th", "Jones" or "stable", for
example.)
>>  The Gale letter made no mention of transfer of the source to a non-profit
>> operator.
>>
>> Although the non-commercial online resources - like the Library of
Congress'
>> "American Memory" - seem perfectly secure, everytime I use subscription
>> services like Poole's Plus, Ancestry.com and Historic Newspapers Online, I
>> wonder about their profitability.
>>
>> Christopher Gray
>> "Streetscapes" Columnist, Sunday Real Estate Section
>> The New York Times
>> office:  246 West 80th Street
>> New York City   10024
>> voice:  212-799-0520
>> fax:     212-799-0542
>> e:        [log in to unmask]
>
>