Vol.3, No.1 (January 2003)

Blackwell Synergy Changes

The University Librarian for Collection Development, Peter McDonald, issued the following statement concerning changes to the Library's subscription to Blackwell Synergy electronic journals.

Dear Faculty and Library Users,

In 2000, the Library embarked on a vigorous program to acquire electronic access to many large science and technology journal packages from reputable publishers. By 2002 we had signed contracts with Springer, Elsevier, Wiley, Kluwer, Oxford University Press, Academic and many others. We also signed contracts with Blackwell for their science Synergy package and their humanities and social science collection.

In almost all these cases, we cancelled print in lieu of electronic access, and through our regional buying consortia we brokered added access to the full collections of these publishers for modest increased costs.

In 2001 we cancelled all Blackwell science print titles, in favour of a contract of e-access only, and for a modest increased fee, we went from a print subscription of 21 titles, to electronic access to over 300.

In the Spring of 2002, Blackwell reorganized its corporate structure, and offered SU a new contract. Because Blackwell is also an umbrella publisher for many small professional society publications, and because many of these societies have real concerns about ubiquitous campus-wide access to their publications online, in the new contract Blackwell demanded that we re-instate our print subscription if we wanted access to ALL science titles online.

For us, given the general trend in scientific journal publishing, this was a huge step backward. It also proved untenable given the cramped space in the Carnegie Library, since we had started to use the space vacated by the ceased Blackwell print journals, filling it with other titles. To go back to print therefore had many insurmountable drawbacks.

In a policy decision made by my office, in consultation with many key stakeholders, we have decided to cancel access to the entire 300+ Blackwell package which we enjoyed since 2001, and have reluctantly (for now) signed a license that grants us e-only access to our original 21 titles (pre-2001 print) plus the e-access titles of the ESF holdings, which add another 21 titles to our suite. In total then we have e-access to 42 Blackwell science titles out of the original 330.

Find attached a list of our current electronic holdings of Blackwell science titles for both SU and ESF. The Blackwell Humanities and Social Science collection online is uneffected and we have access to the full suite of these titles as before. Only the science Synergy titles are of concern here.

We will continue to work with Blackwell, and publishers, to see if we can return to the old contract model of complete access to the entire Blackwell science suite. But for now, this is the license we have been able to broker. Please do not hesitate to contact me if you have questions.

Warmest regards,

Peter McDonald

Syracuse University Library Subscriptions

  • African Journal of Ecology
  • Animal Genetics
  • Astronomy & Geophysics
  • Birth
  • Differentiation
  • Information Systems Journal
  • International Nursing Review
  • Journal of Advanced Nursing
  • Journal of Applied Microbiology
  • Journal of Consumer Studies & Home Economics
  • Journal of Human Nutrition & Dietetics
  • Journal of Intellectual Disability Research
  • Journal of Metamorphic Geology
  • Letters in Applied Microbiology
  • Physiologia Plantarum
  • Public Health Nursing
  • Sedimentology

SUNY/ESF Library Subscriptions

  • Conservation Biology
  • Ethology
  • European Journal of Biochemistry
  • European Journal of Soil Science
  • Fisheries Management and Ecology
  • Forest Pathology
  • Freshwater Biology
  • Functional Ecology
  • Global Change Biology
  • Journal of Animal Ecology
  • Journal of Applied Ecology
  • Journal of Biogeography
  • Journal of Ecology
  • Journal of Phycology
  • Journal of Phytopathology
  • Molecular Ecology
  • New Phytologist
  • Plant Cell & Environment
  • The Plant Journal
  • Restoration Ecology
  • Weed Research

Journal Citation Reports (JCR)

The Science and Technology Library recently acquired the 2001 Journal Citation Reports (JCR) on CD-ROM. It is kept on permanent reserve in the SciTech Library and a valid SU ID card is needed to borrow it.

JCR is a unique multidisciplinary database that presents quantifiable statistical data that provides a systematic, objective way to determine the relative importance of journals within their subject categories. The Science Edition of the JCR covers about 5,000 leading international science journals drawn for the ISI Science Citation Index database, covering topics from Aerospace Engineering to Zoology.

The JCR provides three forms of citation analysis data: journal impact factor, immediacy indix, and citation half-life. With these measures, authors are able to identify journals in which to publish, confirm the status of journals in which they have published, and identify journals relevant to their research.

Impact Factor

The journal impact factor is a measure of the frequency with which the "average article" in a journal has been cited in a particular year. The impact factor will help you evaluate a journal's relative importance, especially when you compare it to others in the same field. It is calculated by dividing the number of current citations to articles published in the two previous years by the total number of articles published in the two previous years.

The impact factor is useful in understanding the significance of absolute citation frequencies. It tends to discount the advantage of large journals over small ones, of frequently issued journals over less frequently issued ones, and of older journals over newer ones.

Larger journals will be more likely to produce a larger citable body of literature than the smaller journals. All things being equal, the larger that body, the more often a journal will be cited. By providing some qualification of the quantitative data in the JCR, the impact factor is an important tool for journal evaluation.

Immediacy Index

The journal immediacy index is a measure of how quickly the "average article" in a journal is cited. The immediacy index will tell you how often articles published in a journal are cited within the same year. The immediacy index is calculated by dividing the number of current citations to articles published in the same year by the number of articles published in the current year.

The immediacy index is useful in comparing how quickly journals are cited. Because it is a per-article average, the immediacy index tends to discount the advantage of large journals over small ones. However, frequently issued journals may have an advantage here, because an article published early in the year has a better chance of being cited than one published later in the year. For comparing journals specializing in cutting-edge research, the immediacy index can provide a useful perspective.

Cited Half-Life

The cited half-life is the number of publication years from the current year which account for 50% of current citations received. This figure helps you evaluate the age of the majority of cited articles published in a journal. Only those journals cited 100 or more times have a cited half-life.

BRENDA Enzyme Database

The BRENDA : Comprehensive Enzyme Information System database is collection of enzyme functional data available free of charge to the academic, non-profit scientific community. Some 3500 "different" enzymes are covered, classified according to the Enzyme Commission (E.C.) numbering system. The database gives a representative overview on the characteristics and variability of each enzyme but is not a compendium. Links to PubMed give access to the primary literature for more detailed information.

All information except the nomenclature of the enzymes (which is based on the recommendations of the Nomenclature Committee of IUBMB (International Union of Biochemistry and Molecular Biology) and IUPAC (International Union of Pure and Applied Chemistry)) is extracted from original literature (or reviews for very well characterized enzymes). The quality and reliability of the data depends on the method of determination, and, for older literature on the techniques available at that time.

Enzymes may be searched by common and systematic names, E.C. numbers, and Chemical Abstracts Service (CAS) Registry Numbers; by a variety of structure formats; by reaction and specificity information; and by isolation, preparation, stability, and other parameters.

The results of a simple search are displayed in tables in the form: EC-Number - Common/Recommended Name - Information - Commentary - Organism. If the complete entry for an EC-number is displayed, the general structure of the tables is: Information - Organism - Commentary - Literature. The information can be found in the form of numerical values (temperatures, pH, Km, etc) or as text (cofactors, inhibitors, etc). The tables containing the entry 2D-Image offer the opportunity to view the 2D-structure of compounds interacting with the enzyme such as substrates, cofactors or inhibitors.