Sir

Science and research libraries in India continue to spend a large proportion of their budgets on subscriptions to printed versions of journals, but frequently cannot subscribe to electronic-only or electronic versions of print journals owing to lack of infrastructure facilities and access to the Internet. Discussions on this topic have overlooked another important development in journal publishing — what is termed the ‘hybrid’ journal.

In a hybrid journal, the main information is delivered in print whereas additional or supporting material is available in print and electronically. In a recent development, some journals are providing this supporting material in electronic form only (several journals of the American Chemical Society, for example), and this is a cause of concern for research workers in India and other developing countries.

Because many libraries in India still do not have Internet access, and many researchers do not have any other form of organized Internet access, subscribers to a hybrid journal may have only partial access to its contents. We checked the National Union Catalogue of Scientific Serials in India, and find that nearly 40% of Indian libraries that subscribe to some hybrid journals do not have access to electronic information.

We would like to make the following proposals to tackle this problem. First, information-service providing agencies, such as INSDOC or the National Centre for Science Information, could identify hybrid journals with Indian subscribers and establish formal mechanisms for procuring and making available such supporting material in a convenient format and medium on a regular basis. Alternatively, libraries without these facilities could link up with libraries with these facilities for the supply of such materials so that both the libraries and science workers can obtain full access to what they have already paid for. Such services by these agencies could also in principle cover electronic-only journals (subject to copyright and other regulations), so that the gap between the ‘haves’ and the ‘have-nots’ is reduced.

Second, we suggest to the publishers of hybrid journals that the type of information available in supporting material is clearly indicated in the printed version so that the reader can decide whether to request it. Not all journals clearly specify the nature of the supporting material.

Finally, secondary sources such as Chemical Abstracts and Current Contents are acknowledged means of identifying relevant material, but generally do not indicate the existence of supporting material. Hence, the availability of such material is known only when the original article or its photocopy/reprint is seen. It would be useful if secondary sources indicate the existence of such material.