8.0418 Online Scholarship Initiative (1/53)

Elaine Brennan (EDITORS@BROWNVM.BITNET)
Fri, 24 Mar 1995 22:02:13 EST

Humanist Discussion Group, Vol. 8, No. 0418. Friday, 24 Mar 1995.

Date: Fri, 24 Mar 95 13:57:44 -0500
From: Peter-john Byrnes <pjb8t@osi.lib.virginia.edu>
Subject: Online Scholarship Initiative at the University of Virginia

The following may be of interest to HUMANIST subscribers:

Announcement of a New Library Service at the University of Virginia:
UVa Faculty Scholarship on the Internet

Starting in March 1995, the University Library's Electronic Text
Center will offer a new service to UVa faculty (limited initially to
a selection of humanities and social science departments). The Online
Scholarship Initiative will enable UVa faculty to make available on
the Internet pre-print copies of articles to be published, and
post-print copies of articles already published.

The Initiative is both a new service at UVa and a national pilot
project, growing out of meetings held by the Association of American
Universities and the Association of Research Libraries. UVa was a
clear choice for an initial site, given the pioneering work already
accomplished by the Electronic Text Center. It is hoped that the
Online Scholarship Initiative will serve as a model for other
universities and colleges, with the eventual aim of creating an
online, searchable, national archive of faculty scholarship.

Among the many benefits made possible through this new scheme are:

* rapid access to scholarship because a copy of an article can be
made available electronically long before it comes out in print
* more convenient access to scholarship, because the means to both
find and read an appropriate article are contained within a single
electronic service
* an eventual electronic archive of published articles, made possible
through partnerships with established academic publishers
* the ability to include material in an electronic version that
cannot be included in a print journal (including multiple color
illustrations, sound, and "hypertext" connections to other articles
or resources on the Internet)
* increased visibility for scholarly output written at UVa

In practice, the Online Scholarship Initiative will:

* create, maintain, and publicize an online searchable archive of UVa
scholarship, with particular emphasis on availability through the
World Wide Web
* provide tools for converting word-processing files to a suitable
format for inclusion in the online archive
* help clarify the different issues and publication possibilities
that are associated with electronic publishing
* work with publishers to secure electronic publication rights for
electronic pre- and post-prints
* work with UVa-based scholarly journals to explore the options for
publishing online versions of their material

For more information, or to offer an article for inclusion in this
service, contact Peter-john Byrnes at 924-3169; David Seaman at
924-3230; or e-mail us at osiuva@virginia.edu.