Average 2006 journal prices for scientific disciplines
Library Journal has come out with their annual report on journal prices (titled "Journals in the time of Google"). Overall, journals increased approximately 8% for North America last year, a slightly lower rate of increase than was predicted.
A large part of the article was devoted to a discussion of 'open access' journals. One study published in Oct. '05 by CIBER (Center for Information Behaviour and the Evaluation fo Research) found that 29% of researchers had published in an open access journal compared to 11% the previous year.
And now (a drum roll, please) here are the average 2006 prices for the scientific disciplines:
Chemistry - $3,254
Physics - $2,850
Biology - $1,548
Geology - $1,323
Math & Comp Sci - $1,278
Health Science - $1,098
General Science $1,098
Geography - $984
For the complete article, click on
this link. (The article was published in the April 15, 2006 issue, vol. 131, no. 7, pp. 39-44)
New link resolver – “Article Linker”
At the beginning of this semester, the Library implemented a new link resolver, ‘Article Linker’, and feedback has indicated it’s working much better than our previous one. (As the database coordinator, I find it more accurate and easier to work with too.)
To locate the full-text or paper copy of an article from within a database, simply look for the words “Check Availability” or the icon for ‘Article Linker’. By clicking on either, you’re brought to a page that explains your options for obtaining the article. In addition to providing a link to the full-text (when available), Article Linker also provides a link to our catalog if only a paper copy of the article is available; a link to interlibrary loan if neither a print or electronic copy of the article is available through the library; and links to internet search engines to check for authors’ self-archived copies of articles.
Health Physics Donation
This past December, Katie Yelinek, Government Documents Librarian, Dr. David Simpson, Physics Dept., and I all had the privilege of meeting Mr. Sydney Porter, an important pioneer in the Health Physics field. Mr. Porter had contacted Dr. Simpson with the intention of donating a large portion of his personal library to Bloomsburg University. The three of us were able to transport approximately 27 boxes of materials from Mr. Porter’s office in Ardmore, Pennsylvania, to the Library. A list of the materials has been created, and the materials will eventually be housed either in the Library or in the Physics Dept.
The acquisition of the important historical and foundational materials not only will be of tremendous value to students in the Health Physics program here at BU (the only baccalaureate degree program in health physics in Pennsylvania), but also will serve to make the program more visible to the health physics community, a fact that will also help our students in the long term. Dr. Simpson has reported that employees of the Pennsylvania Division of Radiation Control have already contacted him in order to use some of the materials.
