Introduction: E-Publishing: A Rapidly Maturing Industry

Electronic publishing has had an unprecedented impact on what is available for libraries to acquire and on purchasing practices. Unfortunately, as the number of useful digital products and users' desire for them escalate, many libraries also are facing unusually severe financial constraints.

Publicly funded libraries have had drastic funding cuts because of state budget problems. Private academic institutions also have suffered because of reduced return on endowment investments.

Moreover, many in the higher education community believe that declining budgets are not simply the natural consequence of cyclical forces but instead represent a fundamentally changed outlook that will continue for some time. (1)

These analysts argue that cuts in university funding occur because education is no longer regarded as a public good to …

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Publication information: Article title: Introduction: E-Publishing: A Rapidly Maturing Industry. Contributors: Not available. Journal title: Library Technology Reports. Volume: 40. Issue: 6 Publication date: November-December 2004. Page number: 5+. © 2003 American Library Association. COPYRIGHT 2004 Gale Group.

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