Retention of retrospective print journals in the digital age: trends and analysis

Purpose: The issue of retaining retrospective print journals is examined in light of the shift to electronic titles, the reallocation of library budgets from print to electronic, and the changing research practices of today's library users. This article also examines the evolving role of the physical library and its impact on space allocation. Methods: To determine current practice and opinion, a survey of health sciences librarians and academic librarians was conducted. To demonstrate the use patterns of older journal issues, citation analyses and interlibrary loan statistics were examined. Results: All methods indicate that recent material is accessed more frequently than older material, with a significant drop in use of materials greater than 15 years old. Materials greater than 20 years old constituted less than 5% of interlibrary loans and less than 9% of articles noted in the citation analysis. Conclusions: It is possible to eliminate older years of a print journal collection without a large impact on the needs of researchers. Librarians' preference to maintain full runs of journal titles may be motivated by reasons outside of actual usage or patrons needs.