Agony aunt: keeping up-to-date

Q: I want to keep up-to-date with the latest developments in my subject, but time, effort and money are constraints. Has the web anything to offer?

A: Traditional academic journals have been the principal source of the latest research, but online publishing offers an attractive alternative.

Some established journal publishers are moving into joint delivery to subscribers, in hard and soft copy - the Taylor and Francis range, for example - but others are wary. Publishers are understandably doubtful as to whether the online version will underwrite or undermine hard-copy viability.

Some new titles, particularly in commercially profitable subjects, are available online for a fee, but in the humanities, where contributors have not traditionally been paid, there is nothing to stop the publication of new journals for free.

Refereed journals are available without charge to anyone with access to the web. Metered users can copy articles in seconds to be viewed onscreen or printed off for reading, and copy does not have to be hard on the eye. It is not all HTML either. Our journal, EnterText , uses PDF to retain Word formatting.

E-journals can also make use of the internet's unique potential: illustrations cost nothing and publication cuts production time, which means the e-journal can react speedily to unfolding events and to new research.

As a teaching resource, it circumvents familiar access/resource problems and excuses. Above all, there is the possibility of interaction. Readers can respond via forums and enter into a dialogue with the author.

Online journals match the traditional service and should prove unparalleled in aiding our disciplines to develop in innovative and intellectually stimulating directions. So how do you locate journals in your field?

EnterText 's inaugural edition, Americas, Americans, is free at www.brunel.ac.uk/faculty/arts/EnterText

Paula Burnett, Senior lecturer, English department, Brunel University, Editorial team leader of Entertext

Teaching problems? Send them to The THES ( Pat.Leon@thes.co.uk ) and our experts will answer them.