Promises and challenges of electronic journals: academic libraries surveyed

In spring 1997, a questionnaire was mailed to 95 major academic libraries i n the United States to explore how serials librarians are responding to the boom of electronic journals (e-journals). Fifty librarians (52.6%) answere d the survey with one follow-up. The study found that over 70% of the libra ries that returned the survey had participated in e-journal-related activit ies. Questions relating to 'acccss' were consistently ranked high in explai ning why librarians in major academic libraries think e journals are valuab le, yet 'cost' seems to be a critical factor in determining e-journal adopt ion. For most of the libraries surveyed, the figure for e-journals appears modest, although some institutions claimed to have more than 1,100 titles i n their e-journal collections.