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Date: Thu, 10 Nov 2005 15:09:57 -0600
From: "Kara Malenfant" <kmalenfant@ala.org>
To: "ACRL Scholarly Communication T.F." <SCHOLCOMM@ala.org>
Subject: ACRL announces enhanced access to College & Research
Libraries
Reply-To: kmalenfant@ala.org
Sender: owner-SCHOLCOMM@ala.org
For Immediate Release
November 8, 2005
Contact: Dawn Mueller 312-280-2516
ACRL announces enhanced access to College & Research Libraries
CHICAGO - The Association of College and Research Libraries (ACRL) is
pleased to announce that its scholarly research journal College &
Research Libraries is available free of charge in PDF format on the ACRL
website six months after publication. Retrospective issues now are
available through volume 58 (1997).
"The editorial board is delighted that the journal is freely available
in its electronic form," said William Gray Potter, editor of College &
Research Libraries. "This new arrangement will benefit both the
authors and the readers by making the articles more widely available.
Exposing the content to Internet search engines will also make it easier
to find and read the articles. At the same time, we are committed to
preserving the rigorous review process that has served ACRL and the
profession well over the past sixty-six years."
ACRL supports open access to scholarship as a principle for reform in
the system of scholarly communication. In addition to this new access to
College & Research Libraries, ACRL encourages author self-archiving of
its published articles in both institutional and disciplinary
repositories.
"College & Research Libraries is a premier journal for research
related to academic libraries," said ACRL Scholarly Communication
Committee Chair Ray English. "Making the contents of the journal
openly accessible, following a six-month delay, will be of great benefit
to practicing academic librarians and researchers, and it will also help
authors increase the impact of their work. This move underscores ACRL's
strong commitment to access to scholarly research."
ACRL is a division of the American Library Association (ALA),
representing more than 13,000 academic and research librarians and
interested individuals. ACRL is the only individual membership
organization in North America that develops programs, products and
services to meet the unique needs of academic and research librarians.
Its initiatives enable the higher education community to understand the
role that academic libraries play in the teaching, learning and research
environments.