Sir

I would like to respond to the article by Rex Dalton about the acquisition of electronic journals at California State University (“Bumpy ride for ‘core e-journals’ project,” Nature 400, 200; 1999). It is true that CSU will license fewer e-journals for its Journal Access Core Collection (JACC) than were initially projected. But the future of the project is by no means uncertain. Indeed, we consider our efforts highly successful. This project has laid the groundwork for other universities to follow in the future. For CSU it represents the first of what we hope will be many attempts at licensing additional e-journal resources which conform to JACC requirements.

Dalton's statement that the JACC project is “widely seen as a radical move with little faculty input” is inaccurate. The selection of 1,300 titles for JACC was based on the fact that 15 or more of the 21 CSU libraries were already subscribing to those titles in print. Faculty members have always had input to the selection of journals at CSU libraries and they all look forward to the many benefits that our transition to the electronic form will bring.

Finally, we understand that some libraries remain wary about dropping print subscriptions and are taking a wait-and-see approach to JACC. But this attitude is universal and it's not just about JACC. It's about the entire medium and has everything to do with the fact that many publishers have yet to consider the realities of a changing market and the needs of their customers.