| This work consists of seven chapters. It was designed as a case study in response to the claim made by Lancaster, Thompson, and others that electronic publishing will replace print publishing, and libraries will disappear by the year 2000. The objectives of the study were to review the literature on the subject, to collect data, to examine the possibility of the impact, and ultimately, to provide knowledge for practical purposes as well as for satisfying academic curiosity. Three libraries in Atlanta, Georgia were selected for the study. The expenditure for, and the usage of, the two forms of publishing in the selected libraries were examined.; For obtaining usage data, ten online databases with parallel publishing in print form were chosen from the Dialog Database Catalog. Three questionnaires were constructed. The administrator, reference librarian, and ten endusers in each selected library were surveyed. The collected data are arranged in 24 tables shown in Chapter Five. The correlation and variance analyses were used. For the former, the Pearson r was applied; for the latter, the ANOVA or t-test was employed. The SPSS-x was taken to do computing.; Various programs and analyses are appended. The results of these analyses are sorted into two tables in Chapter Six. Based on the literature review, the collected data, and the results of different analyses, the study does not support Lancaster and his associates' claim. Detailed discussion, conclusions, implications, and recommendations are summarized in Chapter Seven. |
