Objectives

The Collection Management Initiative is exploring the complex issues associated with integrating and managing research library journal collections composed of shared print and digital journals. The study will evaluate the factors that affect reliance on shared digital resources to relieve pressure on physical facilities and capital budgets to house and manage print materials. By temporarily removing print journals from some campus libraries to storage facilities and providing access through digital "equivalents" or requests for the print from storage, while also maintaining the journals on the shelf in control libraries, the project will gather data on the impact on the volume of usage, users and scarce library resources.

The specific project objectives are to:

• Study the behavior and attitudes of users when selected print titles, for which electronic access is provided, are relocated to a remote storage facility and primary use is of the electronic version.
• Ascertain the variety of factors affecting the acceptability of digital titles as a substitute for the equivalent print titles.
• Document any changes in usage of digital and print versions of selected journal titles when the print is relocated to storage.
• Examine the consultation and decision-making processes needed for selection, processing, relocation and administrative management of print materials relocated to remote storage.
• Document the costs incurred and avoided when print copies of journals are relocated to a storage facility and the primary access is to the electronic version.

The results of this research effort will be used to assess the institutional implications for library organization and operations, including facilities planning, capital budgeting, systems and resource management and to evaluate institutional strategies and policies for managing research library materials in a mixed print and digital environment.

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