Libraries Launch New Scholarly Communications Web Site

The University Libraries and the Bernard Becker Medical Library at the School of Medicine recently launched a new Web site: http://scholarlycommunications.wustl.edu.

Over the past three decades, changes in publishing and information technology have created challenges for teaching, conducting research, and providing library services to the academic community. These challenges include the soaring cost of scholarly journals and the rise of online publishing as an alternative means of finding, sharing, and interpreting research. The new scholarly communications Web site represents a joint effort between the Danforth campus and Medical School library systems to provide the Washington University community with information that can help scholars respond to these challenges.

Visitors to the site will find information on a variety of topics, including

• Copyright
• New publishing models
• Authors’ rights
• The new NIH public-access policy
• Digital preservation

Librarians are increasingly partnering with faculty, students, and administrators to promote discussion of these and other scholarly communication issues. In 2008, Ruth Lewis, Biology and Math librarian, and Cathy Sarli, scholarly communications specialist at the Becker Medical Library, led the effort to form the Scholarly Communications Group—a team of librarians from the Danforth and Medical School campuses who design information sessions, offer copyright and publishing services, and stay informed about what other research institutions are doing to address scholarly communication issues.

Researchers who need assistance with scholarly communications issues, such as publisher policies and the NIH public-access policy, can contact Lewis at rlewis.wustl.edu or Sarli at sarlic@wustl.edu. To learn more, visit http://scholarlycommunications.wustl.edu, or go to http://library.wustl.edu and click on “Copyright & Publishing.”