Agency E-mails Reveal Significant Reduction in EPA Staff Access to Online Journals
17 Oct 2006
According to a series of electronic mail messages obtained and released by the nongovernmental organization Public Employees for Environmental Responsibility (PEER), the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) is planning to significantly reduce the number of peer-reviewed journals and other relevant publications to which the Agency's staff has online access.
EPA administrators have pointed to fiscal constraints as the primary factor in the Agency's decision not to renew a number of technical and environmentally-themed publications used routinely by staff. As 2007 approaches, the loss of access to such journals is expected to affect certain EPA "regions" more than others. Some regions might encounter subscription reductions by up to 50 percent.
The central concern with such reductions in access to information is that EPA staff will encounter greater difficulties in carrying out their technical work--especially in light of recent closures of EPA libraries, where staff could access hardcopies of material not available online. Additionally, the cancellation of hardcopy publications associated with EPA library closures has exacerbated the problem of information access, because hardcopy journal subscribers typically receive a reduction in cost for access to journals' online editions and resources.
Source: Public Employees for Environmental Responsibility. EPA scientists losing access to journals. Public Employees for Environmental Responsibility News Release. October 9, 2006. [Online]
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