Due to the ongoing commitment and support of nearly 2,000 participating institutions and 230 participating publishers, JSTOR enjoyed a banner year in 2003. The archive now contains more than 13.4 million pages of scholarly literature. There were over 130 million significant accesses of the archive - up more than 60% from last year. Library participation grew by about 25%, and publishers now contribute some 460 titles to the 11 available collections.

These are pleasing results, but we continue to be challenged by standards that are more difficult to measure. How many scholars still do not have access to the content under our stewardship? I think of the developing world as a key bellwether for JSTOR's progress.

There are many special problems with providing scholarly literature to the developing world. A primary difficulty is that, even when institutions have Internet access and skilled users, there are still too many nations where insufficient bandwidth and sporadic electricity effectively bar scholars from meaningful use of online resources.

On these difficult terms, JSTOR's progress in 2003 offers both encouragement and challenge. More than 50 of these nations still do not have JSTOR access in a single institution. But there are also signs of increasing interest from scholars and librarians in developing countries. From 2001 through 2003, usage in developing nations has increased by 280%. That is more than double the usage growth rate of US institutions, and somewhat exceeds usage increases in developed countries outside the US.

We understand the high value of electronic resources to scholars, and we continue to press forward with efforts to expand JSTOR access in developing nations, working closely with philanthropic foundations and groups of institutions to bring them access and training. There is much work to be done, and this will continue to be a focus during 2004.

Michael P. Spinella

Last updated on September 8, 2006