I am a student in the MLIS program at the Univ. of Southern Mississippi, and am currently working on completion of my master’s project under the supervision of Dr. Melanie Norton, Professor of Library and Information Science. This research project is concerned with gathering survey data in order to explore current trends in how academic libraries are handling their collections of online journals, focusing particularly on issues related to technical services. This research project is specifically concerned with journals to which libraries have paid subscriptions to individual titles, not including online journal content included in aggregated databases.

I would appreciate it if academic librarians whose duties include working with online journals would consider contributing data for my research by completing an online survey at https://www.surveymonkey.com/s/PRXLPC9. The survey consists of twenty closed-ended questions, and should take twenty minutes or less to complete. All responses will be anonymous and confidential, and the survey does not ask participants to disclose any personal or professional details, or the names of the institutions with which they are affiliated. Participation in this survey is completely voluntary, and any respondent can discontinue participation in the survey at any time. Responses will be compiled, analyzed, and summarized in the paper presenting my research findings. After completion of the research project, all individual responses to the survey will be deleted.

Any questions concerning the research, at any time during or after the project, can be directed to Beth Branscome at beth.branscome@eagles.usm.edu. This project and the survey instrument have been reviewed by the Human Subjects Protection Review Committee at the Univ. of Southern Mississippi, which ensures that research projects involving human subjects follow federal regulations. Any questions or concerns about rights as a research subject should be directed to the chair of the Institutional Review Board, The University of Southern Mississippi, 118 College Drive #5147, Hattiesburg, MS 39406-0001, (601) 266-6820.