Summary

The International Yearbook of Library and Information Management is a thematic, refereed annual publication in the field of library science and information management worldwide. Each volume contains substantive chapters covering current issues, emerging debates and trends, and models of best practice and likely future developments, contributed by an internationally respected panel of researchers, practitioners and academics.
The theme for Volume 5, 'scholarly publishing in an electronic era', has been chosen in view of significant recent changes in the publishing world and the impacts that these changes are having on the management of information provision and on access to information in specific communities.
The first part of the book offers an overview of current trends in scholarly publishing, and the book is divided into a further six parts each covering an area of core interest:

Readership : The International Yearbook is essential reading for information professionals wishing to keep up-to-date with recent developments in library science and information management on a global basis.

Library Journal Review

Transformation of the publishing world by electronic storage and delivery of information is inevitable and ongoing. One of the difficulties libraries face during this transition is a dramatic and continuing increase in prices and this, the fifth annual volume of the International Yearbook of Library and Information Management, exemplifies the problem. When I reviewed the third volume in 2003 (The Digital Factor in Library and Information Services), the price was $75, but the new volume is now $175, more than doubling the cost of the series in just two years. Ouch. Edited by Gorman (School of Information Management, Victoria Univ.), the book is divided into four sections: an overview of scholarly publishing, an institutional perspective on scholarly publishing, access and preservation initiatives, and models and economics of scholarly publishing. Many of the chapters focus on the open access concept, reaching the same conclusion that open access is a good idea in theory even if it is not quite ready for prime time. Peter Shepherd's overview of usage statistics and the COUNTER (Counting Online Usage of NeTworked Electronic Resources) initiative is a bright spot. However, owing to high cost, this is recommended only for large research libraries.--Margaret Sylvia, St. Mary's Univ. Lib., San Antonio (c) Copyright 2010. Library Journals LLC, a wholly owned subsidiary of Media Source, Inc. No redistribution permitted. All rights reserved.