Digital Resources and Libraries

Jennifer Howard, “Scholars' View of Libraries as Portals Shows Marked Decline,” Chronicle of Higher Education, August 26, 2008, http://chronicle.com/daily/2008/08/4351n.htm, describes a report issued by Ithaka about the “relationship between libraries and the faculty at institutions of all sizes, and how the digital shift is altering that relationship.” According to Howard, “The report confirms what everyone already knows—that electronic resources are ever more central to scholarly activity. It emphasizes that scholars still value libraries as buyers and archivers of scholarship, and many still use them as gateways to scholarly information. However, it also confirms that researchers increasingly find what they need through Google Scholar and other online resources, a trend the report's authors anticipate will accelerate as more and more knowledge goes digital.” “In an interview, the report's authors said that they hoped the report would get librarians talking about whether libraries should ‘ambitiously redirect resources’ toward new and better ways to serve scholars operating in a digital environment.”