Drexel University made a switch from mostly print to mostly digital electronic journal collection. A study was conducted to determine whether user patterns changed after the change from print to digital. The outcome of this study was favorable and further studies are planned.
This article discusses the cost-benefit analysis of journal subscriptions in research libraries. It also discusses the methodology used to determine whether or not journal articles are actually read and used by researchers. There is some discussion regarding the cost of digital vs. print resources, but the discussion is minimal.
We don't know how soon it will happen, but it is happening and it will be consummated soon. The commodity of the book, as we have known it for the last few decades, is vanishing and being replaced by new electronic media. Paper-and-binding books have irrevocably begun to fade away as products of mass consumption and will soon transform themselves into curios like vinyl records.
How should we be rethinking the research library in a swiftly changing information landscape?\n\nIn February 2008, CLIR convened 25 leading librarians, publishers, faculty members, and information technology specialists to consider this question. Participants discussed the challenges and opportunities that libraries are likely to face in the next five to ten years, and how changes in scholarly communication will affect the future library. Essays by eight of the participants-Paul Courant, Andrew Dillon, Rick Luce, Stephen Nichols, Daphnée Rentfrow, Abby Smith, Kate Wittenberg, and Lee Zia-were circulated to participants in advance and provided background for the conversation. This report contains these background essays as well as a summary of the meeting.
his research will evaluate the potential of a new generation of electronic document readers that present information across multiple displays - a design that anticipates the future availability of fast, bi-stable, display technology. Despite the fact that e-book readers have been available to the general public for several years, paper remains far more popular as a medium for reading and annotating documents. Although electronic devices for reading can provide unique affordances such as a large storage capacity, keyword search, indexing, and some interactivity, they remain unpopular probably because they fail to offer several core affordances of paper such as efficient page-to-page navigation, quick access to multiple documents, and efficient handling of annotations. Starting from an existing proof of concept, this project will design a fully functional prototype that addresses a large spectrum of reading activities that include: reading a book or magazine, lateral reading, and active reading. A set of deployable prototypes will be used to evaluate the potential of the design through a series of longitudinal studies. In producing prototypes of a next generation electronic document reader, this project will systematically study the design parameters that might enhance the reading experience on such devices in a wide variety of scenarios encompassing a diversity of reading activities. It is possible that digital displays will become the predominant technology for consuming text information. However, digital reading devices will be used only if they combine physical design, software infrastructure, and interface features that support a wide variety of reading patterns. Increasing amounts of reading material (both classic and modern) are available through digital distribution. By making it convenient and enjoyable to access this wealth of digital content, this project will spur new interest in reading both for work and pleasure.
Some of the findings that have proved to be of greatest interest have focused on these topics:
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Attitudes towards the possibility of a transition away from print format, both for scholarly journals and monographs
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Perceptions of libraries and their value, including specific library functions, and how these perceptions are changing
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Preferences in research practices, including disciplinary differences and changes over time
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Attitudes towards archiving of both print and electronic resources
* Preferences that lead authors to choose among scholarly journals in which to publish their articles, as well as attitudes towards digital repositories
Follow the link on this page to the "in depth white paper" which is entitled, "Ithaka's 2006 Studies of Key Stakeholders in the Digital Transformation in Higher Education" dated August 18, 2008. The Table of Contents lists:
INTRODUCTION; RELATIONSHIP BETWEEN THE LIBRARY AND THE FACULTY;
DEPENDENCE ON ELECTRONIC RESOURCES; THE TRANSITION AWAY FROM PRINT
FOR SCHOLARLY JOURNALS; FACULTY PUBLISHING PREFERENCES; E-BOOKS; DIGITAL REPOSITORIES; PRESERVATION OF SCHOLARLY JOURNALS; RECOMMENDATIONS; CONCLUSION.
I have tagged this article, but it has some great research and will merit a blog entry.
Lots of statistics on the print-to-digital transition, particularly the types of books being digitized (largely English language). This article looks at taking a "system wide view of library collections" to evaluate digital resources for collection development.