"We are seeking to establish a scholarly publishing model of mutual benefit to the university libraries and the scholarly societies that will use the power of electronic technology to support research and instruction in the humanities," said Joan Gotwals, vice provost for libraries. "We are also intrigued by the possibility of expanding the traditional audience of scholarly journals to the general public through the broad access made possible by the Internet and the World Wide Web."
The project, proposed to the Mellon Foundation by Gotwals and Harry Gilmer, director of Scholars Press, will publish an electronic version, in addition to the existing printed format, of four journals in religious studies. As part of a larger Mellon Foundation program in electronic publishing, the project will collect data on the cost, managerial and intellectual implications of electronic journals. The four journals to be converted are Biblical Archaeologist, Critical Review of Books in Religion, Journal of the American Academy of Religion and Semeia. Together these journals provide a rich testbed of text, image and multiple languages. "Since the print backfiles of most electronic journals are too costly to digitize," Gotwals noted," a special feature of the project will be the digital conversion of the modest Semeia backfile, permitting scholars to test the advantages of working with a complete digital resource."
Betsy Patterson, Virtual Library Project coordinator, emphasized the importance of "understanding the impact of the digital environment on scholars' information habits and needs. In this project, we will be looking at how the digital world will influence the changing roles of scholars, libraries and publishers."
The primary focus of the project will be to study four areas that frequently inhibit the successful adaptation of scholarly journals into electronic media: the unknown economics of electronic publishing; the management of intellectual property rights to provide incentives for creative work while permitting widespread distribution; the management of continuing access to electronic archives; and the need for continuing education and technical training to ensure the productive use of technology by the scholarly community.
"We are enthusiastic about this opportunity to work with the Emory Libraries to launch a publishing venture that will transform our traditional roles," said Gilmer. "There is no question that both responsibilities and costs will be reallocated among the publisher, the editors, the peer reviewers, the libraries and the broad community of scholars. This project will enable us to explore both the advantages and disadvantages of electronic publishing before making significant decisions for future publication processes."