Library News: Scholarly Communications

Just as the nation is poised to mark Emancipation Day in mid-April, a significant database of digital resources about slavery and abolition is now available to researchers through VCU LIbraries. 

"Slavery and Anti-Slavery: A Transnational Archive" (SAS) traces the history and ongoing cultural impact of slavery. It provides access to thousands of full-text primary source documents and archival records, including those from:

• The American Missionary Association Archives from 1839-1882;
• The Office of the Secretary of the Interior Relating to the Suppression of the African Slave Trade from 1854-1872;
• Amistad Research Center in New Orleans covering the array of documents related to one of the most important slave rebellions and trials in American and world history.

Ultimately millions of pages of information will be available in SAS, letting VCU researchers search across all documents in each part in one seamless interface, according to Kevin D. Farley, Ph.D., assistant professor and collection librarian for the humanities. "The result will be unexpected and important contributions to the scholarly dialogue about American slavery and its local and global ramifications."

Farley notes that the addition of this collection is timely. During the sesquicentennial period marking the American Civil War, and given the centrality of the slave trade to Richmond history, he expects this database at VCU will deepen the study and teaching of these events in unprecedented ways. "In placing slavery practices against the longstanding U.S. and European efforts to abolish slavery, SAS allows researchers to see all aspects of this crucial and far-reaching history."

The database now consists of Part I, "Debates over Slavery and Abolition," and Part II, "Slave Trade in the Atlantic World." Two additional sections are being developed: Part III, "Institution of Slavery," and Part IV, "Age of Emancipation."

The online collection includes a small group of images, including the woodcut shown above of Underground Railroad leader and abolitionist Harriet Tubman. And, this rare photograph of two young American slave boys, mid-19th century.


How to access VCU Libraries databases:

• VCU students, faculty and staff can access the database through either the A to Z Guide to Databases  or using this link, http://library.vcu.edu/search/1158 from any computer with a VCU IP address.
• Off-campus, VCU users must first log into myVCU, then go to the VCU Libraries home page, click on Databases and drill down the database you want. Or go directly to  http://library.vcu.edu/search/1158
• If you are not a member of the VCU academic community, you can gain access to databases on campus by joining the Friends of the Library.

Scifinder Scholar, the world's most renowned search and discovery tool for chemistry and related disciplines, is now being offered to the VCU community with unlimited access points. VCU Libraries has been subscribing to Scifinder Scholar since 1999, but for only a maximum of five simultaneous users.

As of April 1, 2012, Scifinder Scholar can be accessed by unlimited simultaneous users.

The operating hours remain the same and are:

• Sunday 1 p.m. until Saturday 10 p.m. 
• On the first Saturday of each month, Scifinder Scholar will be available until 5 p.m. and will not be accessible again until 1p.m. the following Sunday.

Is your scholarly research only for those wealthy enough to afford the journal you publish in?  How many in your local community can access your research published in expensive online journals? How many in your professional community without well-funded library access can read your work? How about your school's alumni?  Would you rather have your work freely accessible to all without charge, while still published in a peer-reviewed, scholarly journal?

On Friday, March 30, from 3 to 4 p.m. VCU Libraries presents a workshop for faculty (but open to all) entitled "Open Access Scholarly Publishing for Faculty."

The workshop will be conducted by Dan Ream, VCU librarian and past president of the VCU Faculty Senate.

As journal subscription costs have increased dramatically, fewer and fewer libraries can afford every journal that is needed, including some that are considered prestigious and essential. Faculty worldwide, especially in the sciences, but also increasingly in the social sciences and humanities, have responded by creating and publishing their research in open access, peer-reviewed journals that charge no fee to their readers.

Faculty senates from Harvard to Berkeley to the University of Virginia have endorsed open access publishing for their faculty.

This one-hour session will introduce faculty to this revolution in publishing of open access, peer-reviewed journals and demonstrate how to locate them in almost any discipline, as well as discuss the potential benefits of worldwide free access to faculty research. Options for faculty retention of copyright will also be discussed.

This workshop will be held in library classroom/lab 319 on the third floor of James Branch Cabell Library. No advance registration is necessary. Address questions to Dan Ream, or call 828-6545 for more information.

In concert with libraries and universities worldwide, VCU Libraries marks Open Access Week Oct. 24-30. This global event, now in its fifth year, promotes open access as the new norm in scholarship and research. 

• VCU Libraries membership in Hindawi Publishing, which enables all VCU faculty a complete waiver of authors' fees when publishing in any of their 300+ peer-reviewed journals in a wide range of academic disciplines. Here is a list of  VCU faculty who have  recently published in Hindawi journals.
• The VCU Faculty Senate in December, 2010 passed a resolution endorsing open-access publishing, encouraging that "VCU Promotion and Tenure committees should recognize that publication and editorial effort in open access, peer-reviewed journals or republication of peer-reviewed articles in an open access repository offers added value and greater public good than scholarship made only available in expensive journal publications."
• The Center for Teaching Excellence posted a podcast with VCU librarian Dan Ream about peer-reviewed open-access publishing;
• Dr. Jonathan Becker, assistant professor in the Department of Educational Leadership, led an October, 2010  CTE Brown Bag Lunch conversation (archived here) entitled "Publishing 2.0:Open Access, Digital Scholarship and Public Intellectualism."
• VCU librarian Dan Ream spoke on copyright retention and open access publishing at the Oct. 11, 2011 VCU Presidential Inauguration Research Lecture Series at the Larrack Center.

On Thursday, Oct. 27, 2011 at 1 p.m. VCU librarian Dan Ream will offer a one-hour presentation on Open-Access Scholarly Publishing for VCU faculty, students, and staff. This event is also open to the general public.

Sputnik was launched in 1957, the same year that Murray Feshbach embarked on a career during which he became an important scholarly voice on the Soviet Union. His work took him from military service, where he mastered the Russian language, to service with the U.S. Census Bureau and the U.S. State Department, from academic think tanks to Georgetown University. He was also the first Sovietologist-in-residence in the office of the Secretary-General of NATO.

Currently a senior scholar at the Woodrow Wilson International Center for Scholars in Washington, DC, Feshbach has donated his papers to VCU Libraries. 

The collection includes some 23 linear feet of papers, including research and teaching materials from the later part of the 20th century. The papers are in Russian and English, and cover Feshbach's research into the population, health and environmental crises of the Soviet Union and Russia. In addition to the papers, Feshbach donated approximately 400 books and statistical volumes, including materials from the Soviet and Russian census. Many items in the collection are unique and out-of-print, including personal correspondence with Soviet and Russian researchers and government officials, representing a priceless resource to scholars and policy analysts world-wide.

Feshbach's research in the demographics of the Soviet Union--the health and welfare of its people--offered insight into the closed society of the USSR during the tumultuous years of the Cold War. He retired from government service in 1981, some 10 years before the collapse of the Soviet Union and before Gorbachev, perestroika  and  glasnost. He was a research professor at Georgetown University until 2000 when he retired as professor emeritus. He continues to publish and consult with government agencies, both in the United States and around the world.

His prominent scholarship combines an intriguing educational background: Feshbach studied history at Syracuse University, holds a master's degree in diplomatic history from Columbia University, and earned his doctorate in economics at American University.

The Feshbach Collection strengthens holdings at VCU that focus on recent U.S. history and support teaching and research by VCU faculty in related fields. President emeritus Dr. Eugene Trani, who retired in 2008, published extensively on 20th century Russian history, and Dr. Judy Twigg in VCU's Wilder School is an internationally recognized expert in health and demographics of contemporary Russia. According to Twigg, "Murray is the undisputed global authority on matters related to human capital in the former Soviet Union and Russia.  He has served as a mentor to so many of us who strive to emulate his meticulous data collection and analysis. The donation of these materials is just one example of Murray's continual intellectual and personal generosity, and it's an honor for VCU to benefit from it."  

VCU Libraries, serving the Monroe Park Campus and the MCV Campus, offers major new collections of e-resources (e-books, streaming audio, streaming video, and databases).

A comprehensive list of new collections--acquired during 2010-11--and available now is posted. All databases in the A-to-Z Guide.
Some notable additions to the collections include:

• Eighteenth Century Collections Online
• Methods in Enzymology
• New England Journal of Medicine
• American History in Video
• Classical Scores Library
• Classical Music Reference Library
• African American Music Reference
• Garland Encyclopedia of World Music Online
• Berg Fashion Library
• International Bibliography of Art
• Stratfor
• The Left Index
• Alternative Press Index
• Index Islamicus
• Designinform
• Access Medicine
• Access Science
• Access Engineering
• Material Connexion
• SPIE Digital Library
• Grzimek's Animal Life encyclopedia
• Underground Comics & Graphic Novels
• World News Collection
• LWW Nursing Health Assessment Video Series

SPARC, the Scholarly Publishing and Academic Resources Coalition, has named the Public Library of Science's PLoS One journal as the latest recipient of the SPARC Innovator award. The announcement states that the recognition is "for blazing a new trail in open-access journals, inspiring broader change in scholarly publishing, and thriving along the way."

A profile of PLoS One is available on the SPARC website, along with information on the Innovator program and other recipients.

The National Academies Press -- the publishing arm of the National Academy of Sciences, National Academy of Engineering, Institute of Medicine, and the National Research Council -- are dedicated to distributing their books to as wide an audience as possible.

Effective June 2, 2011, PDFs of books that are currently for sale on the National Academies Press (NAP) website and PDFs associated with future books will be offered free of charge to all web visitors. NAP produces more than 200 books a year on a wide range of topics in science, engineering, and health, capturing the best-informed views on important issues. NAP will continue to sell hard-copy versions of their books. One popular title with researchers is Prudent Practices in the Laboratory: Handling and Management of Chemical Hazards, which costs $99.95 in hardcover.

Former AAUP President Sandy Thatcher commented in the Chronicle of Higher Education story on NAP's announcement that "NAP was the first member of the Association of American University Presses to post books online for free beginning in the mid-1990s, becoming thereby a pioneer in the open-access movement, and this new step only adds to its luster as a leader in this worthy cause."

The VCU Libraries catalog currently lists over 2,000 online books and over 1,200 hard-copy books from the National Academies Press.

The Periodicals Price Survey reports that 2011 prices for academic journal titles have again increased and pricing for 2012 will likely go up from seven to nine percent. The survey is compiled annually for publication in Library Journal.

U.S. District Court Judge Denny Chin has rejected the settlement between Google and groups of authors and publishers designed to allow Google to make a vast collection of books available online. In his statement, Judge Chin cited concerns of copyright and antitrust, but also suggested that with certain revisions, the settlement might be legally acceptable.

For news reports and commentary on the case, visit these websites:

• Wall Street Journal
• New York Times
• Chronicle of Higher Education
• Library Copyright Alliance