Mapping the Final Frontier: A Publisher’s Experience Launching an Open Access Journal in the Burgeoning Mixed Access Economy

This article describes a program session that focused on publishers’ experiences launching Open Access (OA) journals and lessons learned. The speakers discussed the current journal marketplace, current journal business models, and the possible shape of the OA landscape and marketplace in the future.     

The National Library of Medicine and the American medical information system: the physician's perspective

During the past 150 years an excellent health sciences information system has been developed in the United States. Led by the National Library of Medicine (NLM), the system grew along traditional lines until after World War II, when medical researchers, educators, and practitioners produced an enormous amount of new information. To cope with this growth, the power of computers joined traditional librarianship and MEDLARS was born. In 1965 Congress passed the Medical Library Assistance Act, which enabled NLM to lead the nation's and the world's health sciences professionals into the Information Age. Much as been accomplished by NLM, yet much remains to be done to make health information available cheaply, easily, and quickly to all who need it.     

Spurs to Higher Things? Mission Statements of UK Universities*

Mission statements have been the subject of much discussion in the managerial literature and have recently been adopted by most British universities. This paper reports the results of an investigation into how mission statements have been introduced by British universities and reviews the appropriateness of their use in this sector. Based on a questionnaire survey, an analysis of the degree of commitment to mission statements as a valuable management tool is offered and recommendations suggested for their more effective application. The authors conclude that although there is generally a positive attitude towards mission statements, senior managers within universities tend not to consult widely when formulating them and have put little effort into communicating them to the university's staff. Their importance seems to be perceived in terms of meeting the requirements of an external stakeholder rather than offering the opportunity to develop a real sense of purpose within the organisation.     

Variations in Medical Subject Headings (MeSH) mapping: from the natural language of patron terms to the controlled vocabulary of mapped lists

Objectives: This study compared the mapping of natural language patron terms to the Medical Subject Headings (MeSH) across six MeSH interfaces for the MEDLINE database.Methods: Test data were obtained from search requests submitted by patrons to the Library of the Health Sciences, University of Illinois at Chicago, over a nine-month period. Search request statements were parsed into separate terms or phrases. Using print sources from the National Library of Medicine, Each parsed patron term was assigned corresponding MeSH terms. Each patron term was entered into each of the selected interfaces to determine how effectively they mapped to MeSH. Data were collected for mapping success, accessibility of MeSH term within mapped list, and total number of MeSH choices within each list.Results: The selected MEDLINE interfaces do not map the same patron term in the same way, nor do they consistently lead to what is considered the appropriate MeSH term.Conclusions: If searchers utilize the MEDLINE database to its fullest potential by mapping to MeSH, the results of the mapping will vary between interfaces. This variance may ultimately impact the search results. These differences should be considered when choosing a MEDLINE interface and when instructing end users.