In the age of tweets, blogs, YouTube videos, and Facebook postings, people strive to share information with as many as possible and as fast as possible. Even television networks have ventured onto the Internet to capture more viewers for their hit shows.

The academic world is slowly waking up to this new paradigm, and open-access journals are cracking the rigid scholarly publishing system.

Traditionally, reading the latest research requires academic libraries to pay high subscription fees for electronic journals that are available exclusively to students, faculty, and staff and for paper versions housed on campus.

However, more eyes than usual will be able to read WVU’s latest research about infant health thanks to how the researchers chose to publish their findings.

After Dr. Giovanni Piedimonte and his team recently made discoveries about how respiratory syncytial virus (RSV) affects infants, they published their work in PLoS (Public Library of Science) ONE, an open-access journal. That choice made their findings available to anyone with access to the Internet.

“If a paper is accepted, everyone on the planet can access the paper with no charge,” Piedimonte said. “They can be in Pakistan or Afghanistan and still be able to read the paper. The audience is enormous.”
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The West Virginia Library Association presented Penny Pugh, Head of Reference at the Downtown Campus Library, with the Dora Ruth Parks Award for long and outstanding service to libraries and librarianship in West Virginia.

Penny Pugh

Presenting the honor during the organization’s fall conference, the Awards Committee praised Pugh for her accomplishments as a reference librarian and as a leader in WVLA.

“Her strong work ethic, her depth of knowledge, outstanding leadership and willingness to find solutions through collaborative work are well-known attributes,” the nomination letter reads. “Penny has made remarkable contributions to libraries through her work.”
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An exhibit in the West Virginia and Regional History Collection, in Wise Library, marks the 150th anniversary of John Brown’s Raid on Harpers Ferry.

On Oct. 16, 1859, the abolitionist and a small band of loyal followers seized control of the Harpers Ferry Armory in a plot to build an army to overthrow the South and free the slaves. Although his plan failed, the incident ignited a debate about slavery that spread across the nation and divided the country.

John Brown on Trial, sketched by David Hunter Strother
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The Libraries invite you to try electronic books from ebrary during the month of October. More than 44,000 books in 16 key subject areas are available for reading online through the Library web site during the trial period. The ebrary interface makes research easy, with tools that allow for highlighting, annotating and personal bookshelves.

Connect to ebrary from the Libraries trial database web site.

And please let us know what you think. Use the Feedback Form on the web. Your comments are always welcome.