Libraries : lack of permanent web links. John Whitfield, Web links leave abstracts going nowhere, Nature 428, 592 (08 April 2004). (Access restricted to subscribers) Nature reports on recent studies documenting the impermanence of cited web resources. Jonathan Wren of Oklahoma showed that one-fifth of the web sites noted in Medline abstracts over a ten-year period had vanished. Robert Dellavalle's study of broken links in NEJM, JAMA and Science from 2003 is also mentioned (see earlier OAN posting,) with the author remarking: "Journals aren't doing anything to address the potential for electronic resources to disappear. ... It's amazing what doesn't exist — one of my own articles on digital preservation isn't there any more!" Further, the article quotes arXiv's Paul Ginsparg, who maintains that external links in papers posted on the site are discouraged. Solutions are considered, including author's archiving web resources to which they link, perhaps through the Internet Archive. CrossRef is also suggested as a way to stabilize URLs. [Open Access News]  1:47:59 PM   [Feedback ]  

Open Access : Introduction to The European Library. Britta Woldering, The European Library: Integrated access to the national libraries of Europe, Access, March 2004. Excerpt: "The European Library (TEL) Project [was] completed at the end of January 2004. The key aim of TEL was to investigate the feasibility of establishing a new Pan-European service which would ultimately give access to the combined resources of the national libraries of Europe....The European Library service will be a portal which offers integrated access to the combined resources of the national libraries of Europe. It will offer free searching for both digital and non-digital resources and will deliver digital objects - some free, some priced....The publishers' view on The European Library is mixed. On the one hand, they see the possibility of new distribution channels by including their networked electronic publications in the national bibliographies and consequently in the catalogues of the national libraries. On the other hand, they fear that their commercial interests could be jeopardised." [Open Access News]  1:46:43 PM   [Feedback ]  

Libraries : Libraries struggle to stay hightech. Gary Price shares with us an article about the cost of maintaining "free" computers in libraries with hemorrhaging budgets. "Like libraries across the country, Hartford got its computers for free, through grants. But experts are worried that U.S. libraries — especially smaller ones with nickel-thin budgets — will have a hard time paying for software upgrades and hardware replacements that are needed every few years. The Bill and Melinda Gates Foundation and other organizations recently released a report warning about the potential loss of computer service. Although budget cuts have hurt libraries of all sizes, the smallest ones, in places like Hartford, are most at risk, the report cautioned." [LISNews.com]  1:45:46 PM   [Feedback ]