Facing new challenges : trends & prospects of LISJ in China

Abstract

With the rapid development of information technology, Library and Information Science Journals in China (LISJC) are playing an important role to the studies in library and information science and the development of librarianship in China, which are growing fast and are now entering a period of high productivity, excellence, and influence. The fast growth of IT, the rapid changes in publishing, licensing and copyright, pedagogy, and user expectations have had a tremendous impact on the roles of LISJC today. The editors and editorial board in this field are also facing new challenges. In this paper, we examine the current trends and major practices in the development of LISJC, with an emphasis on new forms and models which some major publications are trying. Also the ways that many LISJC experts and practitioners are exploring in the dynamic external environment while developing the guidelines "with professionals, teachers and students in library and information science as the major audience, with academic research and exchange in library and information science as the mission, and with users both in and outside library and information science as their service objects in accessing knowledge" for the purpose of promoting the development of Chinese librarianship, and strengthening the exchange of views and academic opinions with colleagues in the field of LISJ globally. I Introduction LIS journals are always considered to be a major medium for the transmission of new ideas and results of academic research among those engaged in library science and librarianship. Figures in A Guide to the Core Journals of China (3rd ed) show that 96 journals in LIS were published in mainland China in 1999, which cover the major areas of the country (Table 1), and 17 of them have been chosen as core magazines, most of which are sponsored and published co-operatively by libraries (or institutions) and societies at national or provincial level (Table 2). These