The Eword: is this the end for the printed medium in business research

1
The E-word is this the end for the printed
medium in business research?

• John Coll
• Business Information Services Manager
• National Library of Scotland

2
Flogging a dead horse?
When you discover you are riding a dead horse,
the best strategy is to dismount and
walk. However, there are alternatives
3
Flogging a dead horse?

• Buy a stronger whip
• Harness several dead horses together to increase
  performance
• Say things like We have always ridden a horse
  this way
• Set up an internal working group to study dead
  horses

4
Flogging a dead horse?

• Revisit the performance requirement for dead
  horses
• Shorten the track
• Declare that since the horse is dead, we must
  ride smarter, not harder

5
Purpose of talk
6
In addition.
7
Paradigm Shift what do we mean?

• Thomas Kuhn The structure of scientific
  revolutions
• Now commonly used to describe a major shift in
  thinking
• Requires Agents of Change

8
Agents of change in the information world

• E-Journals
• E-books
• Search Engines
• GooglePrint
• Blogs
• Wikis
• Unique identifiers

9
Recent developments

• NHS Scotland signs licence for 5,000 e-books
• Scottish academic library community makes public
  declaration in favour of open access publishing
• Trade Partners Information Centre removes
  print-based resources from its collection

10
The future of print possible trends

• British Library commissioned research into its
  long-term storage needs
• EPS Ltd appointed to provide forecasts into print
  and electronic publishing to 2020
• Key markets of UK, USA, Germany, Russia, China
  and Brazil were surveyed.
• Key data available via http//www.bl.uk/about/arti
  cles/pdf/epsreport.pdf

11
Key findings

• Only one in eight books in printed form by 2020
• Less than five percent of serials in print-only
  format by the same time
• By 2013, conference proceedings report
  literature will cease completely in print-only
  format
• Fragmentation of distinct publications are likely
  to occur from around 2014

12
The new information landscape what this will
mean?

• 24/7 access
• Aggregated content
• Context is king
• Distributed access
• Print-on-demand
• Role for a mediator?

13
The new information consumer

• Self-sufficient
• Satisfied
• Interactive
• Format agnostic
• Promiscuous!

14
Does print have a future?

• Yes, but print-only resources are likely to
  reduce significantly over the next 10-15 years
• Peer-reviewed journals and reference works are
  the least likely to remain in print
• Books will remain the largest area for
  print-based business resources

15
Does print have a future?

• Market research data will become increasingly
  hybrid in output glossy print versions for
  visibility, combined with electronic interactive
  features for analysis
• Business trade magazines will show a slower
  trend towards electronic format that scientific
  titles
• Statistical data and grey literature will all but
  disappear in print form

16
Downsides of a digital future

• Information rich information poor
• Relevance
• Authoritative data
• Impermanence
• Invisible web
• Preservation

17
What does this mean for SCOTBIS?

• Print will remain a core resource over short to
  medium term but
• Print-only business purchases likely to disappear
  within 5 years
• Electronic legal deposit likely to become of
  increasing importance within next 3 years
• Access will be the key issue rather than the
  medium

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Likely changes for SCOTBIS?

• Significant investment in infrastructure required
  to support the digital library
• National licenses for business information and/or
  remote access licences for SCOTBIS will form a
  key objective
• Significant investment in SCOTBIS website as key
  national business portal

19
Conclusions

• Not a paradigm shift
• New models will require new mechanisms for
  delivery
• Print will remain
• The LOIP word

20
Thank you

• John Coll
• Tel [phone]
• E-mail j.coll_at_nls.uk
• http//www.scotbis.com