Electronic access is the default option to which our librarians adhere.  If archival access  is available on JSTOR, or contingent archival access is available via Portico, or the publisher is one of about a half-dozen whose site license and archiving policies have been deemed to render our access secure, our institution prefers the electronic edition.  With regard to reliance on Project Muse as an archive, our policies have been in flux.  There are all sorts of qualifications to the foregoing: pricing and terms of licensure can be problematic, some publications have pictorial content best rendered in paper, and  some publications live to be browsed.  We have seen large declines in the use of our print collection in recent years; we are uncertain as to what portion is driven by consumer preferences and what portion is driven by the fact that there is simply less current material in hard copy.  I imagine in the future we will have a very modest print serial collection, with the annuals and such allocated to the book collection and the reference collection and the remainder appended to the new book shelf: newspapers, news magazines, literary publications, opinion magazines, publications on art, archaeology, architecture, or antiques; and thinking-man's publications like the "Wilson Quarterly" or the old "Saturday Review".  It will be some years yet before we are there.  IW

I.  Woodward
Serials Office
Colgate University Libraries
Case Library and Geyer Center for Information Technology
13 Oak Drive
Hamilton, N.Y. 13346
Ph.:   315-228-7306
Fax:   315-228-7029

-----Original Message-----
From: SERIALST: Serials in Libraries Discussion Forum [mailto:SERIALST@list.uvm.edu] On Behalf Of Yacobucci, Karen
Sent: Friday, July 11, 2008 2:53 PM
To: SERIALST@LIST.UVM.EDU
Subject: [SERIALST] Libraries Moving Towards E-Only Access

Dear Serialisters,

Just out of curiosity, I am wondering how many libraries out there have dropped their entire print collections/subscriptions and gone E-only!

I am hearing about more and more libraries following this trend and was wondering how it has worked out for them and why they decided to make that move.  Thanks!!  I look forward to hearing from you soon.

Best,

Karen Yacobucci, MLS
Serials Librarian
New York Medical College
Health Sciences Library
95 Grasslands Road
Valhalla, NY 10595

Tel. 914.594.4213
karen_yacobucci@nymc.edu