Michael Mabe, SuperJournal:  The Publisher's Perspective, Paper Presented at UKSG Conference, 1 April 1998

Table 2.  Features Wish List for Electronic Journals

Cluster/University

MGP

CCS

PS
Feature

C

O

U

N

B

Ul

W

S

D

L
Content/Coverage                    
Comprehensive coverage  

x

x

    

x

x

x

x

  
Journals the library doesn't subscribe to              

x

x

  
Backfile

1

  

2

  

3

  

4

  

5

  
Availability/Access                    
Desktop access from anywhere

x

x

x

  

x

x

x

x

x

x
Fast, instant access

x

  

x

  

x

x

  

x

x

  
Guaranteed access

x

x

x

  

x

          
Access any time    

x

        

x

    
Timeliness                    
Timeliness  

x

x

      

x

  

x

  
Faster publication times

x

              

x

x
Immediate access to X-ray structure data (as now for protein sequence data)

x

                  
Searching                    
Search over a wide range of journals  

x

x

  

x

x

x

x

x

  
Easier/better browsing and searching

x

x

x

  

x

  

x

x

x

  
Seamless process: search, abstract, article  

x

x

        

x

x

x
Traditional TI, AU, KW search

x

x

x

  

x

      

x

  
Context searches, eg citations

x

      

x

        

x
Full text search

x

        

x

x

x

x

  
Save and re-run searches  

x

        

x

      
Limit in time, eg last 3 months  

x

                
Easier to identify relevant articles          

x

x

      
Structure searching, eg protein structures

x

                  
Linking                    
Expand footnotes    

x

  

x

    

x

    
From bibliographic references to articles

x

x

x

    

x

x

  

x

x
To (lists of) related material        

x

x

x

x

x

  
To supplementary data, eg to allow you to replicate the work  

x

x

  

x

      

x

x
To original source material, eg to see literary texts or poems, expand a quote          

x

x

x

    
Forward chaining to updates, errata, and comments on the article

x

  

x

              
To deposited data, eg protein sequences & X-ray structures

x

x

x

              
Multimedia Content                    
More graphics and photos

x

      

x

x

x

      
Video and moving images  

x

x

  

x

x

        
3D graphics

x

x

x

              
Colour

x

                  
Sound, music  

x

    

x

  

x

      
Overlay diagrams  

x

                
Animation (progression of a disease)  

x

                
Customisation                    
Download references

x

x

        

x

  

x

x
Bookmarks to "my" articles

x

  

x

  

x

x

        
Build personal collection of articles

x

x

x

    

x

        
Alerting service, non-specific or based on TOCs        

x

  

x

  

x

  
Alerting service based on personal profile    

x

      

x

      
User specifies the set of journals for browsing

x

  

x

              
Interactivity                    
Serious comment on an article    

x

          

x

x
Update your article    

x

          

x

  
Author email addresses  

x

                
Education                    
Licence images to use in teaching

x

  

x

              
Create/update student reading lists        

x

        

x
Electronic course packets                  

x
Other                    
Good quality printing

x

x

x

    

x

        
Thumbnails of covers (where they vary)

x

                  
Look for journals to publish in                

x

  

Keys:

Clusters: CCS = Communication & Cultural Studies, MGP = Molecular Genetics & Proteins, PS = Political Science

Universities: C = Cambridge, O = Oxford, U = UCL, N = NIMR, B = Birmingham, Ul = Ulster, W = Warwick, S = Sussex, D = DMU, L = LSE

Preferences for Backfile: 1 = 5-10 years; 2 = 2-3 years (ideally 5-10); 3 = to 1960s; 4 = 15 years; 5 = 10-15 years

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Last modified: June 21, 1998