The electronic publishing initiative at Columbia (EPIC) and the use and costs evaluation program

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The Electronic Publishing Initiative at Columbia (EPIC) has developed strategies and models for ongoing, sustainable programmes of electronic scholarly publishing that take advantage of the available new technologies while maintaining the traditional quality and purpose of university-based research and publishing. The Andrew W. Mellon Foundation has awarded EPIC with a grant to examine the effects of the use of electronic resources on the scholarly communication process. This involves examining how the shift to electronic resources has affected the producers of scholarly information, academic libraries, college faculty, and college students. This article provides an overview of both the electronic publishing programme at Columbia University and findings from the evaluation research programme. Research to date indicates that electronic resources are indeed affecting the way libraries deliver scholarly information, and the way faculty and students search for, evaluate, and use scholarly information.