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Objective – To determine the impact of electronic journals on interlibrary loan (ILL) activity. The hypothesis predicted that ILL requests would fall by approximately 10% during a four‐year period, that e‐journal use would increase by 10% per year and that there would be a correlation between the two.Design – Longitudinal data analysis of interlibrary loans over an eight year period from 1995 to 2003. The second part of the study is a retrospective data analysis of ejournal use from 2001‐2005.Setting – The 26 largest libraries in the state of Illinois, USA; all but the Chicago Public Library are academic institutions.Subjects –1. Journal article photocopy requests originating in the 26 libraries divided into three data sets: 1995/96, 1999/00 and 2002/03. 2. Electronic journal usage statistics from 25 libraries subscribing to packages within the EBSCOhost database for the fiscal years 2001‐2005.Methods –A retrospective analysis was conducted using interlibrary loan data for journal article photocopy requests either originating from or being satisfied by the 26 libraries in the study. It examined the data in three ways: the 26 libraries together, requests sent to libraries in the state of Illinois excluding the 26, and requests using libraries outside the state. The second part of the study examines usage data of electronic journals available in 25 of the 26 libraries.Main results – In the period from 1999 to 2003 a reduction in ILL requests of nearly 26% was observed within the participating 26 libraries. Analysis by broad subject discipline demonstrates that social sciences and sciences show the largest drop in requests – a 25% decrease from 1995‐2003. The number of requests from an individual journal title drops significantly in science by 34% within the state and by 37% for out‐of‐state requests. While the humanities actually showed an increase in the number of requests, the large increase in out‐of‐state requests (20.6% overall between 1995 and 2003) slowed significantly with an increase of only 2.6%from 1999‐2003 indicating that sources other than ILL are providing articles to this field. Nearly identical peaks and troughs in ILL requests over the three study periods demonstrate predictably consistent high and low use subject areas. Use of the e‐journals collection was shown to increase at well over 10% per year. Of the most highly requested ILL titles, 46% were available as e‐journals, indicating a significant lack of awareness or inability to access electronic resources among some library users.Conclusion – The hypothesis that state‐wide ILL requests would decline by 10% was far surpassed. Libraries most frequently borrowed titles that were low‐use and outside the scope of their collections. Titles requested more than 20 times in each study period were those least frequently borrowed, as well as least requested from outside the state, which demonstrates a cost‐effective use of library resources. This indicates that libraries are judiciously providing access to high‐use titles locally. All three data sets included in‐state titles requested more than 20 times, as well as 18 titles requested from out of state, suggesting that they should be considered for purchase within Illinois. While access to e‐journals appears to have reduced the number of ILLs, there is clearly a need for some libraries to improve the way in which they help their users access the collection.

Objective – To apply the principles of evidence‐based librarianship to the decisionmaking process regarding the cancellation of print serials.Design – Quantitative analysis of local and national data from various sources.Subjects – Data sources included 1249 current unbound print journals, 3465 Medline‐indexed electronic journals, statistics from the Association of Research Libraries and American Association of Health Sciences Libraries, as well as traditional library statistics.Setting – The study was conducted in the Yale University’s Cushing/Whitney Medical Library located in New Haven, Connecticut U.S.A.Methods – Several sources were targeted for data. A three‐month periodical usage study of the current issues of the library’s 1249 actively received print titles was undertaken. Excel‐generated alphabetical listings of titles were used by shelvers to indicate, with a check mark, which issues were shelved during a specified week. The workflow was adjusted to ensure only items under study were counted. Signs asking patrons not to re‐shelve journal issues were posted. Usage data were collected weekly and entered into an Excel spreadsheet where the total use of the journals was tracked. In‐house circulation, photocopy, and gate count statistics were also used. In addition to the survey, SFX statistics for the library’s electronic journals indexed in MEDLINE(3465) were gathered during the same 3 month period covered by the print usage survey. MEDLINE was chosen as the delineating factor to ensure consistent subject coverage with the print journal collection. For perspective and trends, statistics from the Association of Research Libraries and the American Association of Health Sciences Libraries were considered.Main Results – Based on the study’s findings, 53% of the print collection (657 titles) received no use during the study period; 7.1 % (89 titles) were used more than once per month; and 1.28% were used one or more times per week. Further, only 10% (125 titles) of the collection represented 60.7% of the total print collection use. There was also a direct correlation between the drop in patrons coming to the library and the decrease in print periodical use. SFX statistics revealed that of the 3465 MEDLINE indexed titles 14.8% (513 titles) were not accessed at all and 10% of the journals represented 56.8% of all SFX usage. These results were consistent with statistics from the Association of Research Libraries and the American Association of Health Sciences Libraries.Conclusion – Titles that were used the most in print were also used the most electronically. Further, the study revealed that print journals are used only a fraction as often as their electronic counterparts.Indeed, in both the case of print and electronic journals the largest use came from a small number of subscribed titles. Print collection maintenance is more labour intensive and costly than electronic. Consequently, resources spent supporting 53% of the print collection that is not used seriously impacts efficiency. With constraints on acquisitions budgets, funding unused collections does not make sense. Examination of the print serial collection is only part of ensuring effective collections.A s this study has indicated, unused electronic titles are also a drain on resources and further analysis of electronic packages is warranted.

Currently, there exists little evidence concerning how various characteristics of research cultures are associated with patterns of use of electronic library resources. The present study addresses this gap by exploring how research-group membership, across-fields scattering of literature, and degree of establishment of research area are related to patterns of digital library use. The analytic dimensions are derived from Richard Whitley's (1984) theory of the social and intellectual organization of academic fields. The article represents a first attempt to operationalize Whitley's concepts in a large-scale study of e-resources use. The data used in the study were gathered in 2004 by the Finnish Electronic Library (FinElib) through a nationwide Web-based user questionnaire (N = 900). Membership in a research group significantly increased searching in journal databases, the importance of colleagues as sources of information about electronic articles and journals, and the use of alert services. A significant interaction effect was found between degree of across-fields scattering of relevant resources and degree of establishment of research fields. A high degree of across-fields scattering of relevant literature increased the number of journal databases used mainly in less established research areas whereas it influenced the use of journal databases less in established fields. This research contributes to our picture concerning the complex set of interacting factors influencing patterns of use of e-resources. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Abstract: As libraries increase their electronic journal collections, would dependence on interlibrary loan decrease? This paper reports a case study at the University of Nevada, Reno, University Libraries (UNR) focusing on the usage of the Elsevier online journal package and interlibrary loan (ILL) borrowing activities. It analyzes four-years'' worth of UNR usage and ILL statistics, gathered between July 1999 and June 2003. It also provides observations and explanations from a perspective beyond statistics, at the level of library services and the campus demographic and research environments. [Copyright &y& Elsevier]