Since the release of the JSTOR platform
update on August 21, we have closely monitored the feedback from libraries
– in particular, the feedback regarding the change to make JSTOR
searching and browsing open to everyone. This change has raised concerns about
leading users down a frustrating path where they are not aware that the content
may be available to them through other resources licensed by their libraries.
We do feel, and we have been told by many users and also many librarians, that
discoverability is important – users want to know if an article exists
even if they don’t have access to it. However, we understand now that we
launched this functionality before all the necessary infrastructure was in
place to provide the best user experience. In particular, we have concluded
that we should have had OpenURL fully implemented before opening up search and
browse to all users. Full implementation of OpenURL is on our
development schedule, but it will take a significant amount of time for it to
be available.
In the meantime, we are therefore changing the search default to search
only content that is licensed by an institution. Technical work and
testing needs to be done to implement this change. It is a top priority
for us and will be released as soon as possible, and we will do everything
possible to have the change implemented before Monday, September 6. We
recognize the urgency of getting this out, since many schools are now in
session or about to start. As a community organization, JSTOR works
to balance the needs of publishers, libraries, and users, which is sometimes a
very complex task. We appreciate the feedback provided by the community and see
it as a natural part of the process to continuously improve the
site. We all operate in a dynamic environment and improvement comes
through listening and iteration. We will always do our very
best to keep improving the experience of JSTOR for all.
Thank you for your feedback – please contact JSTOR User Support
with any questions.
Kevin Guthrie
President of ITHAKA
Posted by
David R. Fritsch
Assistant Director, Outreach and Participation Services
JSTOR | Portico
Voice: (609) 986-2286
Fax: (212) 358-6445
JSTOR
(www.jstor.org), an accessible archive of more than 1,000 scholarly journals
and other content, and Portico (www.portico.org), a service that preserves
content published in electronic form for future generations, are part of ITHAKA
(www.ithaka.org). ITHAKA is a not-for-profit organization dedicated to helping
the academic community use digital technologies to preserve the scholarly record
and to advance research and teaching in sustainable ways.