College Libraries: the Long Goodbye
University of Texas’ Dennis Dillon wrote this short article in the December Chronical of Higher Education discussing the problems libraries face in an electronic future. As he points out, journal subscriptions are skyrocketing while simultaneously growing in number and becoming more specialized, creating a situation where libraries may be forced to become more specialized themselves. As Mad Librarian notes, what he’s describing is the Serials Crisis, which, combined with Google’s torrent of project announcements, leads some to believe that books are on the way out. However, as Dillon points out,
Here are the certainties: People will continue to write books, people will continue to read books, and the academic-publishing process needs to be reformed so that we can continue to meet our goal of scholarly communication in an economically sustainable way.
Anyway, check out the whole article. It’s a fun take on the whole issue.