Physics journals and their electronic version: a comparison

The comparison between electronic and print journals is a very present problem, and it is not always simple to interpret in the right way the demands of our users in order to find the most appropriate tools to satisfy them. In his study, Enrico Martellini analyses the most important characteristics of electronic and print journals using the physics journals of the library of the Scuola Normale Superiore di Pisa. The study analyses in particular the contents and the full-text standard formats of e-journals, the number of back years available in electronic version, the search tools and additional services that e-journals offer, the timeliness of publication and the possible use of the data contained in the e-journals. These data are compared with those pertinent to the print journals.