Print Books and Ebooks: The New Equilibrium in an Academic Library

This article looks back at ALIA’s prediction from 2013 that ‘library print and ebook collections will establish a 50:50 equilibrium by 2020 and that this balance will be maintained for the foreseeable future’ in the light of the experience at Curtin University Library. It revisits the findings of an...

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Main Authors: Wells, David, Sallenbach, Anita
Format: Journal Article
Published: 2023
Online Access:http://hdl.handle.net/20.500.11937/92003
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author Wells, David
Sallenbach, Anita
author_facet Wells, David
Sallenbach, Anita
author_sort Wells, David
building Curtin Institutional Repository
collection Online Access
description This article looks back at ALIA’s prediction from 2013 that ‘library print and ebook collections will establish a 50:50 equilibrium by 2020 and that this balance will be maintained for the foreseeable future’ in the light of the experience at Curtin University Library. It revisits the findings of an article on the same topic published in 2015, and documents the situation at Curtin University Library as at 2022. It describes changes in the ebook environment and user attitudes over the past 6 years, as well as developments in the Library’s acquisition strategies and methods to increase ebook holdings, and the current state of the collection. The article finally provides a likely projection of the ebook and print book holdings situation at Curtin Library in 2050.
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spelling curtin-20.500.11937-920032023-06-09T01:29:14Z Print Books and Ebooks: The New Equilibrium in an Academic Library Wells, David Sallenbach, Anita This article looks back at ALIA’s prediction from 2013 that ‘library print and ebook collections will establish a 50:50 equilibrium by 2020 and that this balance will be maintained for the foreseeable future’ in the light of the experience at Curtin University Library. It revisits the findings of an article on the same topic published in 2015, and documents the situation at Curtin University Library as at 2022. It describes changes in the ebook environment and user attitudes over the past 6 years, as well as developments in the Library’s acquisition strategies and methods to increase ebook holdings, and the current state of the collection. The article finally provides a likely projection of the ebook and print book holdings situation at Curtin Library in 2050. 2023 Journal Article http://hdl.handle.net/20.500.11937/92003 10.1080/24750158.2023.2183560 fulltext
spellingShingle Wells, David
Sallenbach, Anita
Print Books and Ebooks: The New Equilibrium in an Academic Library
title Print Books and Ebooks: The New Equilibrium in an Academic Library
title_full Print Books and Ebooks: The New Equilibrium in an Academic Library
title_fullStr Print Books and Ebooks: The New Equilibrium in an Academic Library
title_full_unstemmed Print Books and Ebooks: The New Equilibrium in an Academic Library
title_short Print Books and Ebooks: The New Equilibrium in an Academic Library
title_sort print books and ebooks: the new equilibrium in an academic library
url http://hdl.handle.net/20.500.11937/92003