| The potential of the electronic dissemination of information to eclipse publication through print technology threatens the existence of academic libraries to the degree that the management of physical resources circumscribes their existence. The activities associated with the provision of electronic information resources are reshaping the operations of the academic library. The purpose of this case study was to describe and analyze the perceptions of Ivy Tech State College librarians concerning how the operations of its libraries have changed in the context of electronic resources and how the librarians foresee the subsequent impact on the future of Ivy Tech libraries. Five general findings emerged from the reports of their experiences with electronic resources. First, the librarians described the library operations that have persisted in the context of electronic resources. The librarians depicted electronic counterparts for the acquisition, circulation, reference, instruction, organization, and cataloging operations that remain in the context of Ivy Tech libraries. The librarians did not describe correlate operations that remain for preservation, interlibrary loan, or special collections. Second, the librarians reported that overall the electronic counterpart operations were more demanding of their time and effort. Third, the librarians reported efficiency gains. They described greater productivity for the time, effort, and money expended. Fourth, the librarians reported the need for greater cooperation in the utilization of electronic resources both within Ivy Tech and with external agencies. Fifth, the librarians reported that control of some factors related to the operation of Ivy Tech's libraries has shifted to external agencies. The overall expectation of the librarians for the future of Ivy Tech libraries was that they would persist in the context of electronic counterpart operations as they continued to eclipse the print-based operations over the next five to ten years. |
