[Taxacom] Journals / papers collection

[John Grehan]

It may be that the issues is not that there is necessarily any intrinsic
value to paper vs electronic copies, but preference or necessity. If one
prefers paper for the tactile aspect then paper is naturally superior. If
one (as I have) grew up with paper then this might be a preferred mode of
access and if storage (that is proof against earthquakes, floods, tornados
etc) and other resources are available then this will be the best approach.
Its an interesting observation about not annotating "prized original
reprints and separates". I have seen rare books, for example, that have
been annotated and the annotation is historically just as interesting as
the original (e.g. Croizat's annotation of Brundin's transantarctic book).
Out of necessity I have had to adjust to a much more pdf oriented mode, at
least for articles, much as I would prefer paper so I sympathize with
Mark's perspective even as I have to rely more on the electronic form (and
with some natural trepidation over computer failures - although for one of
my subject areas I have included web page transfers as another form of
backup.

John Grehan


On Thu, May 1, 2014 at 4:44 AM, Mark O'Shea <oshea at markoshea.info> wrote:

> I am sorry Peter but I have to disagree that paper copies are not worth
> keeping.
>
> Yes pdfs are highly portable, I certainly agree with that because whilst I
> used to head into the field for 2-3months with a stack of (at that time
> non-duplex printed) papers for as reference material, now I simply update
> my sizeable pdf library with anything I need on the Mac laptop (and back it
> up to a Lacie 1TB Rugged Safe portable external drive).
>
> But there is something special about  early museum separates and journals.
> My collection goes back to the late 19th - early 20th C, my US museum
> separates library alone taking up some 9 feet on two shelves, with smaller
> collections from European, Asian, African, S.America museums etc.
> It is a thrill to be working through a paper, come across an old citation
> and think "I'm sure I have that on my shelves" and then pull down an
> original paper from 1912 or 1930. Breck Bartholomew at Bibliomania will
> tell you I was an avid purchaser of old papers by Taylor, Brongersma,
> Boulenger and others. Many of my original papers came from the libraries of
> the great and the good in herpetology and bear their signatures and
> dedications, even corrections in the margins.
> To keep track of what I have in my library I have listed them all in
> Endnote so it only takes a few seconds to check if I have an important
> paper on my shelves or whether I need to go searching for an online pdf.
>
> And talking about pdfs, is it just me or do others still prefer to read a
> print copy, albeit A4 off the laser printer, than a pdf on the computer
> display. It is a lot easier to flick through a hard copy, scribble in the
> margins and fold over corners - not that I would do that with my prized
> original reprints and separates of course.
>
> So I think there is a place and a purpose for each of these formats,
> computer pdf, original paper and printed pdf.
> It will be a sad day indeed when we are all reduced to cyper-papers and
> hard copy journals and papers disappear, literally into the ether.
>
> Mark O'Shea
> Herpetologist with 30 years tropical fieldwork experience and
> herpetological bibliophile
>
>
>
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