A research report published in the October 2001 issue of the Bulletin
of the American Library Association -- now published as the Journal
of the American Library Association -- confirms what many editors have
already concluded. Online journals are becoming increasingly more popular
than print journals.
According to a study by Sandra L. De Groote, M.L.I.S., visiting
assistant health sciences librarian and Josephine L. Dorsch, M.A.L.S.,
AHIP, associate professor health sciences librarian, print journal usage
decreased significantly since the introduction of online journals.
This decrease occurred regardless of whether a journal was available
only in print or both online and in print.
Interlibrary loan requests have also significantly decreased since the
introduction of online journals, the researchers found.
"The decrease in use of the print collection suggests that many
patrons prefer to access journals online," they concluded.
"These figures don't surprise me," stated Matthew McCoy,
editor of the Journal of Vertebral Subluxation Research, (www.jvsr.com)
that made the transition from print to electronic distribution in 2000.
"Doctors especially appreciate the ability to access issues of a
journal, download or print copies, or search for key words," he
pointed out. "This just isn't possible with the print journals."
Most health care and scientific journals have started publishing online
and many have eliminated their print version. Numerous college libraries
are finding it far more economical to purchase an institutional
subscription to a journal, which permits access by all students and
faculty, than to subscribe to print versions.
The phenomenon is not restricted to American colleges, or to
chiropractic.
Dr. Oliver Obst, head of a central medical library at a major German
university -- which served about 10,000 customers -- reported that one of
his first duties "was the cancellation of 300 journals, worth
£80,000. ... At the same time, we offer more and more journals in online
format from year to year."
While pointing out that some libraries encounter initial resistance, he
said "the scientist and clinicians of the medical faculty enjoy
electronic journals very much, quickly lose their inhibitions of and use
at least some of them heavily."
"That has been our experience as well," noted Dr. McCoy.
"Some doctors are reluctant at first to use online journals. They
don't know how to navigate a site or store passwords. But they learn very
quickly and find that, in the long run, having the online journal saves
them time and money. Suddenly, research information is at their
fingertips, ready to be used."
