In 2006 the Research Information Network (RIN) 1 commissioned the digital media consultancy Rightscom, 2 in collaboration with the market research consultancy IRN, 3 to undertake a study of the discovery services available to researchers in the UK across the full range of subjects and disciplines, and a survey of how researchers were making use of such services. The study was commissioned as part of the RIN's work to promote better arrangements for researchers to find out what information resources relevant to their work are available, where these are, and how they may have access to them. Search and discovery are critical and integral parts of the research process. And as the report 4 of the study shows, researchers devote considerable amounts of time and effort to using a wide range of services to find the even wider range of information resources they need to pursue their research.It is perhaps surprising, therefore, that there has been no recent attempt -among the plethora of studies of search and navigation more generally, and the growing literature on the use of academic journalsto study how a representative sample of members of the UK research community makes use of discovery services. The study sought to fill that gap. We believe that the findings are not only interesting in themselves, but should prove helpful in guiding the further development of discovery services, notably those that are aimed specifically at the research community. Some definitions Research information resourcesThe discovery services that were the focus of the study are the means that researchers use to discover and locate the wide variety of information resources that might be relevant

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Sue Sparks 'Content in future will tend to polarize around two extremes: free, or low cost, ubiquitous, commoditized content -such as general newsand high value, targeted, contextualized content -such as must-have business information.' AbstractThis article sets out to summarize some of the most important features of the business publishing industry in the UK and discusses the threats and opportunities it faces against the background of the last few rather turbulent years.

Concerns about e-journal archiving have increased in recent years.There is no central list of archived titles and there are inconsistencies in the information available about them. This makes it difficult for journal collection managers to take decisions on discarding print back runs and moving to electronic only subscriptions. In 2007, the UK’s Joint Information Systems Committee (JISC) commissioned a scoping and feasibility study for a registry of archived e-journals. The study involved desk research, interviews and workshops. The study found that there is a perceived need for more, easily accessible, information about archived e-journals. However, librarians expect a solution which goes beyond simply recording where a journal title is archived and tracking changes over time. Librarians need to understand, and be reassured about, their access route to journals if their normal route is unavailable. In addition, the archives and the registry must be sustainable over the long term.