The Public-Access Computer Systems Review (abbreviated PACS Review) was a free electronic journal about end-user computer systems in libraries.
It was established in 1989 by Charles W. Bailey, Jr., who served as Editor-in-Chief for volumes one (1990) to seven (1996). It was published by the University of Houston Libraries.
The establishment of the journal was announced on the PACS-L list on August 16, 1989. A call for papers was issued on October 16, 1989. The publication of the first issue was announced on January 3, 1990. The journal was cataloged on OCLC on February 1, 1990 (record number 20987125) by the Library of Congress National Serials Data Program (it was assigned an ISSN number at the same time).
Initially, the journal published scholarly papers (Communications section), columns, and reviews. Papers in the Communications section were selected by the Editor-in-Chief and the Associate Editor, Communications. A private mailing list was utilized for communication with editorial staff and Editorial Board members. Most communication with authors was done via e-mail, including paper submission.
The PACS Review was published three times a year. New issue announcements were distributed as e-mail messages on the PACS-L list, and users retrieved the ASCII article files from the University of Houston's LISTSERV via e-mail. (LISTSERV distribution was suspended in 1999.)
Authors retained the copyright to PACS Review articles, and they gave the University of Houston the nonexclusive right to publish the articles in the journal and in future publications. Authors could republish their articles elsewhere, but they agreed to mention prior publication of the articles in the PACS Review within these works. Copying of PACS Review articles was permitted for educational, noncommercial use by academic computer centers, individual scholars, and libraries.
On October 29, 1991, the journal adopted a more flexible publication schedule that reduced article publication time.
A Refereed Articles section of the journal was announced on November 11, 1991, and a call for papers was issued on February 6, 1992. The Refereed Articles section included papers that were peer reviewed by Editorial Board members using a double-blind review procedure, which was usually conducted via e-mail. The publication of the first refereed paper was announced on April 6, 1992.