Comparative Analysis of Professional Journals

As students we are constantly seeking out new information that might help us learn important skills, insights, and knowledge about what we are studying. For this assignment we were encouraged to seek out two LIS journals to compare them, but I secretly suspect it was actually assigned to us so that we would begin exploring the various journals related to our field. No matter what the actual purpose of the assignment was, in the end I will have both compared the journals and become more knowledgeable about the wealth of literature that exists about the LIS field. The journals that I chose to compare were American Archivist  and the School Library Journal. In our assignment we were challenged to pick two journals, and one being not in the field we intend to study. The American Archivist was an easy choice as I intend to purse a job in an archive, however, my history and love of teaching sometimes pulls me towards being a school librarian. Thus I chose the School Library Journal as my other journal. I found that they have many differences and few similarities, but both hold important places in the part of the LIS field that they cover.

The American Archivist  journal was started in 1938 as an extension of the Society of American Archivist. American Archivist is a scholarly journal that produces two peer reviewed issues per year (Ulrich 2014). American Archivist issues contain informational essays on archivist practices and information on integrating archives with the rest of society, case studies produced by archivists, and reviews of books about the archival profession (Ulrich 2014). Subscriptions be either a online, in-print, or both. An individual gets access to one form of the journal for $169 and access to both forms for $199. Institutions get one form of access for $209 and both for $259.

The School Library Journal was started in 1954 as Junior Libraries, but changed its name to School Library Journal in 1961. The Library School Journal publishes an issues every month and focuses on issues facing school libraries (Ulrich 2014). The Library School Journal publishes stories on new techniques, technologies, and resources that can help school libraries. Information on how to increase literacy and how to integrate the school library into the classroom are also often topics for the journal. Book reviews of young adult literature are also included in every issue. A single subscription, which includes both print and online versions of the journal, can be found for $89. If a subscriber wants extra access to more reviews and resources they can pay to $130 for the upgraded subscription.

The American Archivist is just one branch of the Society of American Archivist association, and so not as much seems to be dedicated to it on the website for the American Archivist. Being that the American Archivist is a scholarly peer-reviewed publication, it seems almost as they take for granted that people respect the importance of it, that they do not need to add extras for it. They do have a social media presence, but that is more because the Society of American Archivist has that as an association. The Library School Journal, on the other hand, seems completely devoted to its journal. Which make sense because it is the whole of the entire operation. The Library School Journal website is filled with constant updates, post, and blogs specific to their journal, unlike the American Archivist. The Library School Journal seems to be more active in connecting to their subscribers, and even charge less, for more issues than the American Archivist. Though the Library School Journal may need to charge less as primary and secondary schools usually have smaller budgets than the colleges and museums that the American Archivist would be selling subscriptions to.

The American Archivist and the Library School Journal are also different in the audiences that they are trying to reach. The American Archivist focuses on those working in archivist positions, while the Library School Journal is focusing on school librarians. The differences in the websites could come from the different personalities of those working in primary and secondary school libraries compared to more scholarly archivists. It could also come from the more scholarly focus of the articles in peer-reviewed American Archivist than the more practical focus of the non-peer reviewed articles of the Library School Journal.

While I think both journals are important to their respective fields, it is interesting to see the differences in how each portrays their journal on their websites. The Society of American Archivist is a large organization that produces the American Archivist as a research and development arm of the archival field. It is a prestigious and peer reviewed article that portrays itself in a stuffy yet entitled manner. In contrast, the School Library Journal presents a more youthful, accessible, and energetic approach that is a perhaps a little more representative of their intended subscribers.

Works Cited

Ulrich's Web Global Series Directory. (2014).
Retrieved from: http://ulrichsweb.serialssolutions.com.proxy.lib.wayne.edu/?libCode=EYW