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Promises and challenges of electronic journals: academic libraries surveyed
Author(s) -
Chu Heting
Publication year - 2000
Publication title -
learned publishing
Language(s) - English
Resource type - Journals
SCImago Journal Rank - 1.06
H-Index - 34
eISSN - 1741-4857
pISSN - 0953-1513
DOI - 10.1087/09531510050145317
Subject(s) - boom , library science , electronic journal , political science , academic library , psychology , engineering , world wide web , computer science , free access , environmental engineering
In spring 1997, a questionnaire was mailed to 95 major academic libraries in the United States to explore how serials librarians are responding to the boom of electronic journals (e‐journals). Fifty librarians (52.6%) answered the survey with one follow‐up. The study found that over 70% of the libraries that returned the survey had participated in e‐journal‐related activities. Questions relating to ‘access’ were consistently ranked high in explaining why librarians in major academic libraries think e‐journals are valuable, yet ‘cost’ seems to be a critical factor in determining e‐journal adoption. For most of the libraries surveyed, the figure for e‐journals appears modest, although some institutions claimed to have more than 1,100 titles in their e‐journal collections.