Libraries – when to discard hard copy after digitization
By Paul Biba
This could be a useful report for the librarians among us who have to make some hard decisions about when to retain hard copy after a journal has been digitized. You can find all the details here.
Determining the value of retaining print after its digitization requires a system-wide analysis of the needs of all libraries and their users collectively, rather than focusing only on a region, a system, or a consortium,” stated Roger Schonfeld, Manager of Research at Ithaka S+R and co-author of this report. “Our analysis indicates that libraries today can safely de-accession certain print holdings that are adequately preserved in digital and print form elsewhere.
… Based on this analysis, the report concludes that certain print journal backfile sets are well enough digitized and contain few enough images that there is likely to be virtually no demand for them by users, and are sufficiently well preserved digitally and in print repositories that libraries can responsibly withdraw their own print holdings.
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