Session Number
15
Description
Besides the widely accepted connotation of primary and secondary sources of scientific information it is postulated that a tertiary source may be identified. These three categories are defined and their role is related to (i) the pursuit of fundamental research at the frontier of knowiedge, (ii) the assimilation of the established discoveries into the traditional body of scientific literature and (iii) archiving for posterity.
It is no longer possible completely to separate these categories nor to identify distinct media responsible for information transfer and storage. However, we can identify a hierarchy of media and each element within the hierarchy can be defined. In Oxford, printed materials are categorized thus: books, periodical parts, pamphlets (bound), sheets and photographic material. All of these elements have provided media for scientific communication, but there are others of importance not represented here, viz: (i) private communieation in manuscript form, (ii) other "unpublished" material e.g. preprints and conference abstracts, (iii) unwritten communications of which the most important are private conversation, unpublished conferences and colloquia and (iv) electronic databanks and machine-readable files.
The university library system represents a substantial academic investment yet it contributes very little to the support of the primary category of communication. In Oxford, (as elsewhere) science departmental libraries assist in the distribution and collection of ephemera but this is not an exclusive activity.
The "electronic journal", whose inception was heralded as marking the eventual replacement for the printed scientific journal extant since 1665, has not so far found many supporters; but experiments continue. Computer-based information networks are now evolving commercially as well as privately and libraries are participating in this latest method for communicating information. The characteristies of a communications network for Oxford science libraries are described. What use will this be for scientific information transfer is a matter of considerable importance. What effect will such developments have on the future role of university libraries?
Communicating Scientific Information Through a University Library Network
Besides the widely accepted connotation of primary and secondary sources of scientific information it is postulated that a tertiary source may be identified. These three categories are defined and their role is related to (i) the pursuit of fundamental research at the frontier of knowiedge, (ii) the assimilation of the established discoveries into the traditional body of scientific literature and (iii) archiving for posterity.
It is no longer possible completely to separate these categories nor to identify distinct media responsible for information transfer and storage. However, we can identify a hierarchy of media and each element within the hierarchy can be defined. In Oxford, printed materials are categorized thus: books, periodical parts, pamphlets (bound), sheets and photographic material. All of these elements have provided media for scientific communication, but there are others of importance not represented here, viz: (i) private communieation in manuscript form, (ii) other "unpublished" material e.g. preprints and conference abstracts, (iii) unwritten communications of which the most important are private conversation, unpublished conferences and colloquia and (iv) electronic databanks and machine-readable files.
The university library system represents a substantial academic investment yet it contributes very little to the support of the primary category of communication. In Oxford, (as elsewhere) science departmental libraries assist in the distribution and collection of ephemera but this is not an exclusive activity.
The "electronic journal", whose inception was heralded as marking the eventual replacement for the printed scientific journal extant since 1665, has not so far found many supporters; but experiments continue. Computer-based information networks are now evolving commercially as well as privately and libraries are participating in this latest method for communicating information. The characteristies of a communications network for Oxford science libraries are described. What use will this be for scientific information transfer is a matter of considerable importance. What effect will such developments have on the future role of university libraries?