JAVELIN: Journal and Virtual Electronic Library Investigation
NOTE: This project was completed while the Centre for Research in Library and Information Management (CERLIM) was based at the University of Central Lancashire during 1993-98. On 1 April 1998, CERLIM moved to a new base at Manchester Metropolitan University.
JAVELIN explored the primary functions of the academic journal and how they might be re-addressed by features available in electronic systems, such as intelligent filters, still and moving images - and how journal readers are currently using networked information tools. The outline model proposed was for a new type of 'publication' which would exploit the opportunities offered by electronic networks whilst retaining the strengths of traditional journals, and meet users' purposes as they are now being defined. The challenge was to retain the best of the old while exploiting the new - and to do so in a way which met the needs of present and future 'readers'.
The traditional journal has fulfilled its main purpose admirably over several centuries - that of communication between scholars and between scholars and those who use their scholarship. IT systems have successfully converted the traditional form of journal into electronic forms, and they mirror the traditional in many ways in their structure and organisation, guiding, and refereeing. However, at the same time, information overload has become one of the many challenges faced by professionals in all fields. Indeed, many rarely read the same range of journals as they did a decade ago. Some commentators have suggested that the journal no longer serves its primary function because of overload and proliferation problems, but acts now as a peer recognition and reward system for academics. Added to these issues is that of increasing journal use by students engaged in the research aspects of their degrees, and the more rapid rate of knowledge obsolescence which makes journals a more significant source of information across the disciplines than the monograph - often longer in both coverage and publication time.
The JAVELIN Report outlines the current functions of journals and how they are being met by a range of IT and other systems such as ftp sites (file transfer protocol) which store material for people to download; electronic mail and discussion lists, which are multi-purpose and facilitate quick communication between known and unknown colleagues (the first is a form of personal communication, the second is like a noticeboard in your company - open to those who are members); and portable elctronic books, which are available as plain text or in a variety of enhanced forms, and can be searched in traditional online ways or simply paged onto your screen using one of several devices which allow the screen to display an exact facsimile of the original printed page, either for normal reading or for searching, extracting, cutting, pasting operations.
The versatility of software and IT systems, coupled with the experience of networking, and the pressures on workers at all levels to be more cost-efficient, indicates the need for a timely adjustment to the journal.
The second phase of JAVELIN is a two-year project (April 1996- March 1998) called NewsAgent, funded by the HEFCE (Higher Education Funding Council for England). The NewsAgent project is developing a new service for the library and information community - similar to the services offered by press or news agencies - and developing filtering mechanisms for busy professionals. It is co-ordinated by the Library & Information Technology Centre (South Bank University) and involves - in addition to CERLIM - Aslib, the Library Association Record, University of Wales at Aberystwyth, the UK Office for Library Networking (UKOLN), and Fretwell-Downing (producers of the ORACLE database).