The JISC is pleased to announce a new publication that looks at service delivery models to support Open Access journals and e-prints. A PDF version of the report is at: http://www.jisc.ac.uk/journals_work.html <http://www.jisc.ac.uk/journals_work.html>
Forms of scholarly communication increasingly involve the publishing of e-prints in repositories hosted at institutions or on a subject basis and journal articles published using the open access model via commercial publishers. Both forms of publishing can compliment each other and with the use of standards like the Open Access Initiative (OAI) protocol for metadata harvesting there are opportunities for more managed and integrated access than is currently available. The report was commissioned by JISC's Journals Working Group (JWG) and funded by the JISC Integrated Information Environment committee (JIIE) as a piece of joint work bringing together the development interests of JIIE with the work of JWG in journal provision. The report was undertaken by The Electronic Publishing Innovation Centre (EPIC) and Key Perspectives Limited, on behalf of JISC, and looks at ways in which the delivery, management and access of e-prints and open access journals might be provided. The report therefore offers a view of different models that might support the newly emerging open access environment. The study looks into three possible models of open access provision in the UK - centralised, distributed and harvesting - examining the pros and cons of each. It sets out a rationale for any new work undertaken in the area, with detail and emphasis on three specific themes: technical issues, preservation of research and political and cultural factors that need to be considered. The JISC is considering the findings of the report and will feed these into on-going planning to provide a more seamless and richer information environment. Rachel Bruce, Team Leader (IE), JISC Development Group, 3rd Floor Strand Bridge House, 138-142 Strand, London, WC2R IHH Tel.++44 (0)20 7848 2572 Fax. ++ 44 (0)20 7848 2939
