Proposal to FIGIT - submitted Spring 1995 Many learned societies are considering using the electronic journal and the facilities offered by electronic networking to promote academic interchange and the dissemination of new information at a seemingly low cost, but remain fearful of the impact of these developments on the status and viability of their primary publications. There is thus a need for the establishment and study of an experimental system which will serve as a test bed for the production of a small number of electronic publications by learned societies. The possibilities would then be assessed in an objective fashion in order that the lessons learned can be applied for the benefit of all. The present proposal outlines such a scheme.
It should be emphasised that learned societies are committed to the acquisition and dissemination of knowledge in their chosen field. They are not obligated to the use of print-on-paper for this purpose and are ready to use alternative means, particularly if these are of greater benefit to the users of the information. However, a gulf remains between the desire of learned societies to disseminate information widely in the modes required by users, and the lack of R & D funds or expertise within the smaller societies to achieve this end. Further, societies dare not put their viability at risk, so that the costs of collection, processing and quality control (editing and refereeing) of the material must be recoverable. The thrust of this project is to develop information exchange for the benefit of members of learned societies as a whole, and not simply for commercial advantage.
Control of the Project
The project would be directed jointly by Professor FJ Smith, Director of the School of Electrical Engineering and Computer Science, Queen's University, Belfast, and by Professor BT Donovan, Secretary-General of the Association of Learned and Professional Society Publishers. It would be administered from Queen's University.
Purpose and Objectives of the Project
The project is intended to define the parameters required for the use of electronic networks in the publication of learned society and academic material and for the appropriate means of access to the publications by librarians and end users. It is also aimed at defining the most appropriate infrastructure and means of charging for such material to defray dissemination costs in order that societies can function properly in the electronic world.
The project would be based upon the established skills and expertise of the School of Computer Science of Queens University Belfast in guiding the efforts of learned societies utilising electronic networks for the publication of journals and other academic material. This would be in collaboration with the Association of Learned and Professional Society Publishers (ALPSP), through which learned societies and other appropriate organisations would be recruited to the project and their plans co-ordinated. Essentially, it would fall to ALPSP to define the publishing problems to be solved (with the participation of its members) and be the responsibility of its Queens University partner to resolve the technological problems as they emerge.
Unlike the Superjournal project, the present study is directed toward making the best use of currently available technology and software in order to devise practical solutions to present-day problems. In one sense, then, it may be regarded as complementary to the Superjournal project, with the results being available for comparison on the basis of technical issues, costs and user acceptability.
Background of Participants
Queen's University
The School of Computer Science in Belfast has well established links with printers and publishers. Professor Smith has helped found a high technology campus company, called Textflow Services set up for the electronic capture of publishing data jointly with a printing company, W & G Baird, who print a number of learned society journals; Textflow already employs 30 staff. Textflow would be able to help the present study because of its special expertise in electronic data capture.
The University has a separate agreement with W & G Baird to fund a joint appointment specialising in typography. The specialist in post reports to Professor Smith and has helped research on the application of AI to typography. For example, one AI project concerned the automatic realignment of tables after they have been transferred electronically from one system to another. The results of this research, shortly to be submitted for publication, have been used successfully in the printing of large numbers of tables in a book by Textflow Services. The specialist is also carrying out a study on the electronic publication of complex documents for a major international publisher. One tenth of the time of this specialist would be assigned to the project.
Professor Smith has also helped found a second company, Expert Information Systems, now with 70 staff, which is concerned with the electronic communication of data, messages and databases between financial advisors (agents, brokers) and financial institutions such as insurance companies. Professor Smith was Director and Chairman of the Company, until Provident Financial took over the business earlier this year.
The experience of the World Wide Web at Queen's University is also reflected by the quality of the home page for the School of Computer Science, Queen's University of Belfast (URL address; http://www.cs.qub.ac.uk/). Queen's University has its own group of Webmasters which oversee the QUB World Wide Web standardised layout.
In addition to this Queen's University has already started an electronic journal on Geophysics which can be viewed on; http://ggg.qub.ac.uk/ggg/. This initiative is useful since it explores some of the technical problems and some of the opportunities. For example it allows a user to enlarge images on the screen when detail is required. The system has been coded using HTML. However the papers are not refereed, nor is any charge made for accessing the papers in the journal; so its usefulness for the present exercise is limited.
ALPSP
ALPSP is the national representative of learned society publishers with a membership representing most of the major publishers in science and technology and extending into the humanities. Through its regular meetings and informal discussions it is well versed in the problems facing learned societies and their publishing activities in coping with electronic developments, and endeavours to foster close relationships with librarians and their representatives in an effort to resolve common problems. A list of its members is attached. Through the members of its constituent societies, the Association reaches and maintains close contact with the academic community. Thus, the British Psychological Society and the Society for Endocrinology, proposed initial participants in the study outlined below, have 18,500 and 1,600 members respectively. Overall, membership of the societies and institutes embraced by the Association is measured in hundreds of thousands.
Procedure
Initially, two studies would be undertaken, involving the British Psychological Society and the Society for Endocrinology (discussed in more detail below), while the needs of other societies are canvassed with a view to extending the scope of the investigation. The lessons learned in working with the first two societies would be applied immediately to improve the operation so that a rapid evolution in technology is expected. The Electronics Development Group of the Association is charged with co-ordinating the activities of learned societies in this area and is ready to organise workshops and undertake other activities to further the project. The expertise of this Group would also be used in evaluating progress of the study.
The British Psychological Society Proposal
Fundamentals
A well-established research journal, the British Journal of Social Psychology, would be used to explore the potential of electronic access in first encouraging and then publishing commentary and responses to accepted articles. Currently, it takes 12 - 18 months for an article accepted by the journal to appear in print. This generates frustration on the part of the author, and also means that any debate or discussion of the findings has already taken place among colleagues or within the 'invisible' college of interested researchers, outside the journal. Through the electronic network, the publication process could be accelerated and subsequent discussion managed through the journal itself, so adding value for the authors and readers, as well as the journal.
The British Journal of Social Psychology provides an excellent vehicle for the project because it is a purely academic journal, and many of its readers already have institutional links with JANET and/or the World Wide Web (WWW). Further, as social psychologists have a professional interest in computer mediated communication, the journal is likely to generate an active experimental database.
Software
Software would be provided to manage the system and to control access. An initial study would be made on the use of passwords and electronic keys. The system would also provide the societies with the list of names accessing the system. The passwords or keys would be supplied on disk by post to each subscriber.
Mode of Operation
The following outlines the proposed mode of operation of the journal; however, this list would be subject to review and possible modification after some early tests of the system before implementation.
Fundamentals
Using its three journals, the Journal of Endocrinology, Journal of Molecular Endocrinology and Endocrine-Related Cancer, the Society would apply electronic methods to their production. Acrobat and SGML programs would be used, as Acrobat provides the first proprietary package easily affordable and usable by small publishers and its PDF may become a de facto standard. (Professor Smith has been using it successfully for all of his class notes including diagrams and images for 100 students in an AI course this year). The addition of SGML coding would allow delivery of the information by a variety of electronic methods. These techniques (including the insertion of hypertext links) would be applied in the office of the journal to facilitate information delivery through the WWW.
Consideration is being given to the distribution of back volumes of the Society journals electronically, but there is a lack of information concerning the most appropriate and acceptable layout (bit-mapped page images, or fully encoded text and figures), and the likely costs and acceptability of the possible end products (files available through the Internet and/or CD-ROM). Ideally, the journals should be accessible through a society WWW 'virtual' server, together with details of the make-up of committees and of meetings, a newsletter, and other information. These options would be investigated and possibly implemented by the 3rd year of the project.
Mode of Operation
Society members and other journal users would access the Belfast server through a Society WWW page, with the type and pattern of usage being closely monitored. Publications would be made available in CD-ROM and internet mode in order to determine user preference. As with the BJSP study, every effort would be made to make the material available to libraries (though with recovery of unavoidable costs) and, again as with the BJSP, charging mechanisms would be evaluated.
What could be learned
The Association is aware of a number of other learned societies who share the concerns of the British Psychological Society and Society for Endocrinology over the promise and perils of electronic publishing. Thus, the Royal Society wishes to work with the Association in exploring the electronic possibilities applicable to its publications and other aspects of information delivery. Once the initial studies were properly underway and making progress, members of the Association would be advised of the availability of space on a server, expert support in the application of appropriate coding, and guidance in assessing and resolving the ensuing technical problems and those relating to the control of access and the best way of charging for the use of their material. Numerous proposals for the use of these facilities would then be expected, so that the range of studies would be considerably widened. With the involvement of the Association, learned society publishers would have the assurance that the knowledge gained would be for general use.
Timetable
The project would be in 3 yearly phases:
| Year 1: | Implement Psychology and Endocrinology journals including all of the software required as described above and study and revise management and software systems as needed. |
| Year 2: | Encourage other learned societies to adopt management and software systems of first two journals with minor modifications. Expect to implement at least 2 or 3 more journals. Study and revise systems at end of 2nd year. Examine problem of storing back volumes on CD-ROM. |
| Year 3: | Encourage several more learned societies to participate and widen range of facilities available. Produce final report. |
Costs
The study would extend over three years, and cost £ 152,367. As much of the work generated would be applicable to all sub-projects, no attempt has been made to allocate costs to the individual studies. Expenses would be incurred as follows:
| YEAR ONE | |
|---|---|
| Information Scientist/Programmer based in Belfast | £ 23,142 |
| Supervision of Server Use | 6,031 |
| Joint appointment typography specialist (one tenth time) | 3,200 |
| Equipment | |
| Server including a tape streamer | 6,794 |
| Power Mac with large screen | 4,342 |
| Printer | 1,762 |
| Software | 1,894 |
| Equipment Sub Total | 14,792 |
| Travelling expenses for visits to participating societies and appropriate conference. | 2,500 |
| Disks and tapes | 200 |
| Overall Total | £ 49,865 |
| YEAR TWO | |
| Information Scientist/Programmer | £ 25,211 |
| Supervision of Server Use | 13,322 |
| Joint appointment typography specialist (one tenth time) | 3,200 |
| CD ROM Writer and Reader | 4,500 |
| Travelling expenses for visits to participating societies and appropriate conference | 2,500 |
| CDs, disks and tapes | 500 |
| Overall | £ 49,233 |
| YEAR THREE | |
| Information Scientist/Programmer | £ 27,668 |
| Supervision of Server Use | 14,401 |
| Joint appointment typography specialist (one tenth time) | 3,200 |
| Extra disk space | 3,000 |
| Travelling expenses for visits to participating societies and appropriate conference | 2,500 |
| CDs disks and tapes | 500 |
| Preparation and Distribution of Study Report | 500 |
| Arrangement of a General Meeting to Discuss Study Outcome and the Implementation of any Recommendations | 1,000 |
| Payment to Textflow Services for technical assistance (e.g. documents with unusual formats) | 500 |
| Overall | £ 53,269 |
Staff
The staff would consist of one information scientist/programmer, preferably a computer scientist with experience of the internet and publishing, and a secretarial assistant who would supervise the use of the server on a day-to-day basis, edit documents not in the correct format and give first line support on minor matters to societies. The assistant would be employed half time in the first year and full-time in the following two years. In addition the staff includes one tenth of the time of the joint appointment of a typography specialist between Queen's University and the printers W & G Baird (see Background of Participants). His special expertise would be highly beneficial to the project.
Equipment
Equipment would consist primarily of a Power MAC server on Janet to hold the library of electronic journals with additional disk space in the third year. Also included is a smaller Power MAC with a large screen, a printer and word processing, programming, networking and desk top publishing software to enable the staff to manage the system, develop software and edit documents received from editors which are not in the correct format.
A tape streamer would also be needed for security and a CD-ROM writer and reader to publish using this medium, to explore the storage of journals already in electronic form and as an added form of data security.
Travel
Considerable travel between QUB and both ALPSP and the participating learned societies would be necessary to co-ordinate and manage the project with stated management meetings arranged at 4 monthly intervals and others arranged as necessary between these meetings. These would cost approximately £2,000 per annum. (Each journey for one day from Belfast will cost approximately £250-£300.) In addition, to keep up with developments in the underlying technology, attendance at one relevant conference on the Internet will be vital each year. Travel in the first year will include a visit to the Scottish Collaborative On-demand Publishing Enterprise (SCOPE) at Stirling to learn from their early experiences.
Expenses of Societies
Since the aim of the study is to provide professional help and advice for learned societies wishing to develop electronic publishing procedure, no allowance has been made for the reimbursement of their expenses. Societies would be expected to bear their own costs as a contribution to the investigation. Reimbursement of expenses by the Association will not be sought.