Revenues from library subscriptions to Florida Entomologist have not declined in spite of the fact that since 1994 all articles have been freely accessible on the Internet shortly after publication. In fact, in inflation adjusted dollars, revenues from library subscriptions were 2.5% higher in 2000 than in 1994 (Fig. 1). On the other hand, the rate of decline in library subscriptions to ESA journals, which are not freely Web accessible, has been greater than for Florida Entomologist.

Posting Florida Entomologist articles on PubMed Central (PMC) is desirable but not yet feasible. It is desirable because PMC will eventually be a major portal for those searching the research literature in biology and because it offers permanent, free posting. It is currently not practical for FES to post its articles there because articles must be in SGML format and our printer is currently unable to provide that format at a reasonable cost. Prospects seem good for this to change. As proposed before, when posting on PMC becomes feasible, FES should initiate a fee for immediate PMC posting of articles while continuing to use page charges to pay for immediately posting articles on the Florida Center for Library Automation server.

On several occasions, I’ve been asked if free access to current Florida Entomologist articles has resulted in a reduction in FES membership. Teresa has supplied me with membership data for 1998, 1999, and 2000. Variation is great but no trends are apparent.

The July 2000 ESA Newsletter described the steps FES has taken to make articles in Florida Entomologist freely Web accessible.