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International Publication Exchange Program
INTRODUCTION
One way for a research library to build its collection of scientific works, share knowledge, and promote the exchange of scientific information is to establish publications exchange partnerships with sister institutions. The Gunter Library of the Gulf Coast Research Laboratory (GCRL) has over 250 exchange partnerships with marine research stations, natural history museums, science academies, state and federal governmental agencies, and universities within the United States and around the world.
HISTORY OF GCRL'S PROGRAM
Dr. Gordon Gunter, GCRL director from 1955 to 1971, recognized the need to build a strong library collection. As early as 1956, Dr. Gunter initiated measures to begin a publications exchange program. In an early 1956 quarterly report he stated, "We have also started stacking up reprints of various publications of staff members with the view of putting out a set of Collected Reprints for the purpose of building up a library exchange.' This institutional effort to acquire reprints in trade for reprints was an expansion of the traditional exchange of reprints among individual scientists. The exchange of reprints was then and is today a time honored method of scientific communication. Building on the tradition, Dr. Gunter laid the foundation for establishing formal exchange agreements with national and international research institutions. By 1960 the research and teaching staff had published 97 articles based on original research done at GCRL and focused on the "Fertile Fisheries Crescent' of the northern Gulf of Mexico. In 1961 the first issue of Guff Research Reports, the scientific journal of GCRL, was published. With a journal to offer as an exchange publication in addition to staff reprints, the exchange program was expanded and agreements with other marine laboratories were formalized. Within a few years, nearly one hundred different journals and other printed materials were being received on a regular basis by the Library.
EXCHANGE PARTNERSHIPS TODAY
Exchange of publications continues to be a significant means for transferring scientific information. Printed materials are "archival" records documenting the progress of science. The permanence of paper, the convenience of format, and universal acceptance of the written word increases the value of collecting, maintaining, and expanding hard copy journals of record in libraries.
Today libraries still build collections using exchange publications. Often the emphasis is on foreign journals which are difficult to obtain due to cost and irregular publication schedules.
Gunter Library actively seeks new exchange partnerships at every opportunity. Since January 1996, ten new agreements have been formalized with libraries as far away as Vietnam, Japan, and Mexico and as near as Florida and Louisiana. Environmental conservation, fisheries management, and other coastal concerns are global issues impacting the lives of all people who make the seaside their residence and livelihood. Sharing the scientific information generated by the researchers at GCRL and others dedicated to Gulf of Mexico marine sciences with their national and international counterparts is the purpose of building and maintaining our publication exchange program. Knowledge shared is knowledge that could change the world.
