Electronic publishing

[Andrey Sharkov]

 In reply to my message Doug Yanega wrote:

>That's why we need sources of funding for which archival updating is *built
>in* to the process of doing systematics, not some afterthought, or purely
>sporadic thing. Moreover, this problem is NOT unique to us, and yet other
>scientific fields appear to be forging ahead with electronic-only
>publishing. Do the physicists know something we don't know? Let's suppose a
>few things: SUPPOSE you are the proprietor of an electronic journal.
>SUPPOSE you have subscribers which pay for access to your journal *and* its
>archives. SUPPOSE the technology changes. Now, are you or are you not going
>to fulfill your obligation to your subscribers and update your archives? My
>supposition is that the subscribers will *demand* it, and they will get it.
>Problem solved.

Unfortunately, this does not and will not work. As Julian Humphries (an
advocate of electronic publishing) wrote (and here I agree with him):
"Literally hundreds if not thousands of species have been and
are continuing to be described in paper journals and other
publications that have been or will be "lost" to science.  Journals
that exist for a few years, have limited dissemination and then
disappear are every bit as transitory as a WWW site that goes away..."

So, what is the difference between a traditional journal and an electronic
one? Why the subscribers to a traditional journal don't *demand* that it
continues to be published, or that the libraries continue to receive it?
There is no difference here. An electronic journal may cease to exist as
well as a paper one. However, the difference is that the information
published in a traditional journal that ceased its existance will still
remain in a readable format, unlike the information in an electronic one.

How about a compromise? What if we continue to use traditional media for
publications of new taxa, important taxonomic changes, etc. for which the
question of longevity is crucial, and switch to electronic journals for
other publications (on biology, behaviour, ecology, etc.)? This will free a
lot of space in paper journals and, therefore, accelerate the publication of
new taxa. And, as I mentionned before, a parallel electronic publication of
taxonomic papers would be a good idea.

Sincerely,

Andrey Sharkov



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Andrey Sharkov
Associate Curator                               Phone: (614) 292-2730
Department of Entomology                  FAX: (614) 292-7774
Museum of Biodiversity                       INTERNET:  Sharkov.1 at osu.edu
The Ohio State University                                          or
1315 Kinnear Rd.
asharkov at magnus.acs.ohio-state.edu
Columbus, OH 43212
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