Library’s electronic delivery proves popular

A Library System service that delivers electronic copies of print journal articles directly to researchers’ desktops is off to a fast start.

Library Express is available to all faculty, academic and classified staff, and graduate students.

Jason Wittenberg, assistant professor of political science, is among those who use the system several times each month for research. “In my case, the UW doesn’t have some of the journals I need. (The service) makes my research much easier to do,” he says.

Because the price of many publications has risen over the years, libraries have been forced to rely on interlibrary loans for scholarly journals. However, members of the campus community had to wait for long periods of time while the orders were processed, and the journals located and shipped.

“This is part of the campus libraries’ efforts to provide fast and convenient access to journal articles, especially in cases where increasing prices have forced us to cancel subscriptions,” says Kenneth Frazier, director of the campus libraries. “The project does more than satisfy access to limited resources. It also allows us to better serve distance education students who cannot easily make it campus.”

By the end of February, the campus community had already received 18,000 documents since the service began last July. Library officials expect to fill 15,000 more orders by the end of June.

“I have never heard such positive comments about something as I have for this,” says Tom Murray, director of Wendt Library. “A faculty member at another campus told me that if this existed on her campus, she would stand up and cheer.”

Once the article is located, it is scanned and made available to the user at a special Web address, usually within three days.

Articles are free when they come from a journal the library does not carry. If the articles are ordered from a journal the library does subscribe to, there is a $1 charge for the convenience of using the service. The cost can be paid using UDDS Fund Accounts or a WisCard.

Many users find themselves using Library Express for articles that already exist in the library, but are more convenient to obtain online for a fee.

“You don’t have to go find the articles and the hassle with copy cards,” Wittenberg says.