Electronic Research Journals

Chris Knight from the U3A National Research Sub-Committee wants U3A feedback about online access to Electronic Research Journals

Have you ever wished you could gain access to electronic journals publishing research papers? Have you been able to do so in the past and would like to again? Do you want to keep up to date with published research in your field(s) of interest?

We have had a steady stream of enquiries about whether it would be possible for the U3A to arrange online access either from home or through a university library, so we’ve been doing a bit of research (!) to see what the options are.

The aim would be to be able to download full text articles from a wide range of research collections. Here is our assessment of possibilities:

1. Unless you have access through a university library/learning centre remotely it is almost always very expensive to subscribe to online journals. 2. An increasing number of U3As have partnerships with one or more local universities which sometimes allow U3A members to visit their learning centres where full text articles can be downloaded on a university PC and saved to a memory stick. 3. Also, many public libraries also have access to research journal collections where the same applies, i.e. you could download full text articles and save them for reading at home. However, these possibilities may not meet your requirements. We are therefore looking for feedback from TAM readers regarding both good and less helpful experiences in accessing online journals, particularly where none of the above options can be found locally, in order to gauge whether or not there is any need for us to pursue alternatives.

Please email us with your experiences – we are both members of the National Research Sub-Committee – Chris Knight, email This email address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it. and Rodney Buckland (Research Subject Adviser), email This email address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it..