New resources at Rutgers Libraries
Archived article from Feb 9, 2001
By Joseph Blumberg
Digital communication is enhancing the collections of the Rutgers University Libraries, where more and more information is arriving as bits and bytes rather than books.
"The traditional image of scholars and students conducting their research by browsing the stacks in the library is being transformed to one of universal access to worldwide scholarship through personal computers," said Joseph J. Seneca, university vice president for academic affairs.
To keep pace with the changes in library environments, the university has invested heavily in a new technology infrastructure -- in state-of-the-art library equipment, electronic classrooms and a new library information system, Seneca added. This is in addition to the $100 million RUNet 2000 project, a university-wide high-speed network that is providing faculty and students with enhanced access to Rutgers Libraries' new digital content.
These improvements are being guided by the libraries' long-range plan -- "A Bridge to the Future: The Rutgers Digital Library Initiative" -- announced in 1999. It was developed with broad faculty support on all three campuses and focuses on using technology to enhance services and collections by providing access to all forms of information and supporting new ways of teaching.
"We want to enable our student and faculty users, wherever they may be, to discover, access, retrieve and effectively use information resources located anywhere, in any format, at any time," said Marianne Gaunt, university librarian. "This is particularly relevant with respect to Rutgers' geographically dispersed campuses and the commuting patterns of many students and faculty."
"The revolution in information and Internet technologies is requiring the libraries to drastically rethink their approach as they embrace these new technologies to serve the greater Rutgers community," agreed Hyam Hirsh, associate professor of computer science.
Gaunt noted that there are now several cost-effective ways to acquire electronic information. For instance, Rutgers is participating in the Virtual Academic Library Environment (VALE) of New Jersey. Funded by the governor and the state legislature, VALE is a statewide association of 46 institutions working together to broaden their digital library holdings. As a group, the members have been able to negotiate joint acquisition and access to resources, saving Rutgers thousands of dollars, noted Gaunt, who heads VALE's steering committee.
In December, Gov. Whitman announced that VALE had acquired ScienceDirect, the world's largest database of scientific, technical and medical information. ScienceDirect, which provides Web access to more than a million full-text/full-image articles, has allowed Rutgers to replace 485 print journals with 1,100 electronic versions, representing a tremendous net gain for the scholarly community.
"It has never been possible for the library at Rutgers-Camden to carry anything like a complete range of science journals," said E. Roger Cowley, professor of physics on the Camden campus. "The availability of electronic journals means that I now have access to a research-quality set of holdings, transforming my approach to the science literature."
"Of even greater significance is that electronic databases are searchable in ways and at speeds that no paper resource can approach," added New Brunswick chemistry department chair Roger Jones.
Vanessa Lee, a Rutgers College senior majoring in public health, spoke of the user-friendliness and the convenience inherent in the digital library. "Now I am able to search the library online, locate articles in health-related journals and then download them -- even when I am off-site."
Through VALE, Rutgers has also acquired Lexis-Nexis Academic Universe -- a news and information service that provides full-text access to newspapers, magazines, transcripts, business and legal information.
The Rutgers Libraries have recently secured two other database packages and one major new service. Early English Books Online (EEBO) provides easy access to digital images of pages from 125,000 titles published in England from 1475 to 1700. Before the advent of EEBO, said history Professor Rudolph Bell at a recent conference, scholars sometimes had to don plastic gloves and a cloth mask to view rare books housed in special collections.
The Oxford English Dictionary (OED) Online has also been added to the libraries' electronic assets. It includes all of the material contained in the 20-volume paper dictionary and the three-volume additions series. The online version lets users search by meaning, derivation or quotation, as well as alphabetically by word.
Finally, the UnCover Document Delivery service now allows Rutgers users to get copies of articles for low or no cost, sent via fax or electronically directly to their home or office. It is a companion service to previously acquired UnCover Reveal, an e-mail service that alerts scholars to articles in their field of interest culled from some 18,000 journals.
"In a digital library there are new challenges," said Tefko Saracevic, professor of library and information science. "We are challenged to change the way we teach and by the new model of licensing electronic access instead of buying books and journals. Rather than disadvantages, these are opportunities to advance the processes by which we perform research and education."
For more information, visit the Web at www.libraries.rutgers.edu.
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