grey literature, peer review

[Kathy Chung]

Well, the article about grey literature and peer review was long and the
issues are complex so this is just a few first (tangential) thoughts ...
none of which specifically addresses the issue of peer review and
authority :-)

(1) This is not a reponse to electronic journals but prompted by
electronic reference sources.  Here is a situation: what would be your
response if you, as an instructor, received an undergrad essay in which
*all* the bibliographic reference sources other than the primary literary
text were electronic? -- *not* electronic journal articles but CD-ROM
encyclopedia entries and definitions of literary terms from a university
department's reference web-page.

(2) This is probably a naive question and those technically informed can
probably reassure us but . . .  Are there mechanisms in electronic
journals and reference sources to prevent tampering of the text,
particularly if they are download-able?  For example, I can download the
text of an email message I receive, edit it, print it out, and another
reader will not be able to tell the difference.  In fact, I can simulate,
on my wordprocessor, a completly fictional email message.

(3) I spoke with a special collections librarian recently and she
expressed concern regarding the preservation of electronic media.  Not
only are there electronic journals but some theses are now submitted in
electronic format: webpages, CD-ROMS, whatnaught.  How long do electronic
media last?  If you have an electronic journal, created under a given
format, stored in a given electronic medium, will someone 50 yrs from now
be able to read it?  Will CD-ROMS still exist?  Will internet browers 50
yrs from now still be able to read HTML 4.0?  Also, how long do
electro-magnetic records last?  e.g. video tapes deteriorate after a
number of years, audio tapes likewise.  I don't have the reference at hand
but there was a really great article published in the _Scientific
American_ about 2 years about the obsolescence of storage media and the
loss of historic data.  Does anyone remember the article?

Sorry for going a bit off topic but anyone have other thoughts to add?

Cheers, --- Kathy.  (a member of Luddites for Progress!)