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 addition of powerful search and printing capabilities also 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. In the broadest sense, JSTOR's mission is to help the scholarly community take advantage of advances in information technologies. In pursuing this mission, JSTOR has adopted a system-wide perspective, taking into account the sometimes conflicting needs of libraries, publishers, and scholars. JSTOR's goals include the following: To build a reliable and comprehensive archive of important scholarly journal literature To improve dramatically access to these journals To help fill gaps in existing library collections of journal backfiles To address preservation issues such as mutilated pages and long-term deterioration of paper copy To reduce long-term capital and operating costs of libraries associated with the storage and care of journal collections To assist scholarly associations and publishers in making the transition to electronic modes of publication To study the impact of providing electronic access on the use of these scholarly materials