Integrating Print and Digital Resources in Library Collections

Get informed answers to your questions and concerns about integrating the materials in your library’s collection

Library collections have always included materials in many formats—handling a mix of material types is an accepted part of library work. And in recent years, the very concept of “collection” has been significantly redefined by the addition of electronic resources. But are print and digital materials really merged in library collections or are they treated and maintained as separate entities? Integrating Print and Digital Resources in Library Collections examines a variety of collection management issues, combining practical theory, research findings, “how-to” articles, and opinion pieces to encourage efforts in establishing fully integrated and accessible collections.

While achieving a truly integrated collection can be difficult, the failure to do so can lead to duplication of access, effort, and expense. Integrating Print and Digital Resources in Library Collections can help guide you through the difficult aspects of keeping your collection up-to-date, including the “Big Deal” and consortial purchasing, shifting the emphasis from purchasing print to procuring online resources for library reference work, analyzing use patterns of electronic versus hard copy resources, serials workflow studies, and review projects.

Integrating Print and Digital Resources in Library Collections examines:

• the implications of electronic resource licenses
  
• future directions of academic reference collections
  
• technologies that can help integrate electronic resources into reference collections
  
• the “Big Deal”—the purchase of access to large aggregations of materials in electronic formats
  
• integrating electronic resources into the collections of ARL libraries
  
• a corporate library’s progression to an all-digital collection
  
• how to decide what can—and can’t—be digitized
  
• how large e-book collections affect the circulation of comparable print collections
  
• and much more!

Integrating Print and Digital Resources in Library Collections is an invaluable resource for librarians—experts and beginners—seeking to develop the best collections for their patrons.