Measuring the Cost of Migrating to an ‘All’ Electronic Journal Collection

In a time of flat library budgets and increasing journal costs, librarians are evaluating their approach to providing access to journals with an eye toward journal cost, shelving, ease of use, and staffing concerns. A workshop entitled “Working Together to Solve the E-Journal Puzzle” was held April 25, 2003, at the Mitchell Memorial Library of Mississippi State University. Dr. Carol Hansen Montgomery, Dean of Libraries at Drexel University, discussed her two-year study of the issues and costs involved in moving from a primarily print journal collection to one that is primarily electronic. Her presentation, “Measuring the Cost of Migration to an ‘All’ Electronic Journal Collection: A First Step,” explained Drexel University’s background, the reasons behind the migration, the methodology used in the study, and the results and implications found.