Library curates journal availability as prices rise

"Researchers at some universities have become dependent on illegal sources for journal articles because of how expensive subscriptions have become, Heather Joseph, an advocate for legal open access, told National Public Radio last month ... While most professors did not report that they share journal articles with researchers at other universities, the recent introduction of the two-step verification process is a security measure that protects against this sort of illegal activity.  Ravi Pendse, head of Computing and Information Services, said that recent phishing scams prompted students and faculty members to allow individuals outside of the University community to access library resources. The two-step verification process will significantly reduce piracy of this kind, Pendse said.  Pendse said that the library and CIS work together closely to ensure that students and faculty members have full access and good security when it comes to academic resources, such as journal subscriptions and databases. 'These scholarly articles and proper dissemination of those articles is such a critical thing. It is great to see that collaboratively all of us are protecting our scholarly resources,' Pendse added.  The collection of journals to which the University subscribes is determined by Director of Technical Services Boaz Nadav-Manes and Associate University Librarian for Research and Outreach Ned Quist, among others. They solicit help from the departments, look at data collected by CIS on the usage of different journals and ask for recommendations from faculty members, graduate students, undergraduate students and administrators ..."