The History of JSTOR

Originally conceived by William G. Bowen, President of The Andrew W. Mellon Foundation, JSTOR began as an effort to ease the increasing problems faced by libraries seeking to provide adequate stack space for the long runs of backfiles of scholarly journals. The basic idea was to convert the back issues of paper journals into electronic formats that would allow savings in space (and in capital costs associated with that space) while simultaneously improving access to the journal content. It was also hoped that the project might offer a solution to preservation problems associated with storing paper volumes.

To demonstrate the concept, the Mellon Foundation sponsored a pilot project to provide electronic access to the backfiles of ten journals in two core fields, economics and history. Five library test sites were selected initially. Every issue of the ten participating journals published prior to 1990 -- approximately 750,000 total pages -- was converted from paper into an electronic database residing at the University of Michigan and mirrored at Princeton University. Using technology developed at Michigan, high-resolution (600 dpi) bit-mapped images of each page were linked to a text file generated with optical character recognition (OCR) software which, along with newly constructed Table-of-Contents indexes, permitted complete search and retrieval of the journal material.

Initial users of JSTOR were enthusiastic, and it was evident that the concept had great promise. Linking a searchable text file to the page images of the entire published record of a journal offers a level of access previously unimaginable. Authorized users are able to view and print articles using standard PC equipment at any time and from any networked location. Issues of journals are never "out"; they are always available, and in pristine condition. In sum, the addition of powerful search and printing capabilities makes the JSTOR system more than just a way for libraries to save capital costs; it has become a scholarly tool of enormous potential value.

JSTOR was established as an independent not-for-profit organization in August 1995.

Last updated on September 8, 2006