Group items tagged

NYPL offers ability to download audiobooks, etc

The Shift Away From Print By Eileen Gifford Fenton and Roger C. Schonfeld For most scholarly journals, the transition away from the print format and to an exclusive reliance on the electronic version seems all but inevitable, driven by user preferences for electronic journals and concerns about collecting the same information in two formats. But this shift away from print, in the absence of strategic planning by a higher proportion of libraries and publishers, may endanger the viability of certain journals and even the journal literature more broadly - while not even reducing costs in the ways that have long been assumed.

This is a study that is available for purchase for $90. The link contains some tables with the study's survey results.

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.

This can be deleted. I bookmarked it under the name of the article, "Do Libraries Really Need Books?"

Scholarly Publishing The Electronic Frontier Robin P. Peek and Gregory B. Newby Scholarly publishing is changing and the changes will have an impact on all members of the academic community and on how they will go about creating and maintaining scholarship. Scholarly Publishing: The Electronic Frontier examines the critical issues facing universities, academics, libraries, and scholarly presses in the turbulent time when publishing is likely moving from a print to an electronic paradigm. The essays by all of the major participants in this "electronic revolution" explore the technical, social, and organizational impact of computer-mediated communication. They examine both ends of the continuum and everything in between-from how the system might be completely overhauled to a gradual retrenching where much remains the same but paper is no longer the communication medium. Some of the subjects, implicit in the various possible futures for scholarly publishing and covered here, include the role of the library with respect to electronic publications, protection of intellectual and economic property, and plagiarism.

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.

While interesting, this article doesn't point toward the feasibility of an all digital library. This can be deleted.

Link to PLANETS "Report of Usage models for Libraries, Archives, and Data Centres." This report is a .pdf document that discusses the results of a study or user requirements for digital documents. The study discusses the following topics as they relate to digital documents: access, trustworthiness, retrieval, and flexibility.

A 2004 article about the estimated costs for the print-to-digital transition at the University of California. Discusses the idea of a central print repository to back up electronic journals. Some numbers discussed, but not many.

This page features the results of the collaboration between Google and the LOC to digitize Congressional hearings. I tried the Immigration collection, and found it easy to download and search the .pdf document. This is a great resource for researchers.

How will scholars have access to print collections if libraries go digital? "This working group was convened in December 2007 to advance the work originally begun under the auspices of the North American Storage Trust, to develop a common understanding of the inter-institutional agreements necessary to promote cost-effective management of legacy print collections. The committee was charged with compiling and synthesizing policy documentation for shared print collections so that common requirements might be identified."

This is the initial data from a Deep Log Analysis study currently underway in the UK. The study analyzes the clicking behavior of ebook users, and then places that data into context: do people go to the brick-and-mortar library, or stay home? How long do they spend reading the books or articles? This report captures the results of 20,000 e-book users in the UK between January and May, 2008.

"With digital technologies profoundly changing how researchers produce and share scholarship, universities must take a "much more active role" in disseminating that work. That is the central message of a "call to action" issued jointly today by the Association of Research Libraries, the Association of American Universities, the Coalition for Networked Information, and the National Association of State Universities and Land-Grant Colleges."

"Living Digital: The Future of Information and the Role of the Library Thursday, January 14, 2010 (8:30am-4:30pm) Boston, Massachusetts"

"And Now for Something Completely Different: Our Future from Outside the Box an ALCTS Symposium at ALA Midwinter 2010 Friday, January 15, 2010 from 8:30 a.m. - 5:00 p.m. Boston, Mass. Event Code: ALC2 Several cutting-edge thinkers will prepare short opinion pieces on future trends/issues/developments that are likely to impact research, instruction, and scholarly communication. These essays will serve as the foundation for panel discussions between some of these thinkers, selected respondents, and attendees on emerging roles for libraries and librarians, particularly collections and technical services librarians. This symposium will build upon the themes developed in the ALCTS Symposium, "Living Digital.""