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If you would like to write for this, or any other Emerald publication, then please use our Emerald for Authors service information about how to choose which publication to write for and submission guidelines are available for all. Please visit www.emeraldinsight.com/authors for more information. About Emerald www.emeraldinsight.comEmerald is a global publisher linking research and practice to the benefit of society. The company manages a portfolio of more than 290 journals and over 2,350 books and book series volumes, as well as providing an extensive range of online products and additional customer resources and services.Emerald is both COUNTER 4 and TRANSFER compliant. The organization is a partner of the Committee on Publication Ethics (COPE) and also works with Portico and the LOCKSS initiative for digital archive preservation.

If you would like to write for this, or any other Emerald publication, then please use our Emerald for Authors service information about how to choose which publication to write for and submission guidelines are available for all. Please visit www.emeraldinsight.com/authors for more information. About Emerald www.emeraldinsight.comEmerald is a global publisher linking research and practice to the benefit of society. The company manages a portfolio of more than 290 journals and over 2,350 books and book series volumes, as well as providing an extensive range of online products and additional customer resources and services.Emerald is both COUNTER 4 and TRANSFER compliant. The organization is a partner of the Committee on Publication Ethics (COPE) and also works with Portico and the LOCKSS initiative for digital archive preservation. AbstractJournals being offered for open access have been on the increase for over a decade, growing to around 1,200 journals to date. Authors wishing to be published are charged a publication fee, and their papers are made available without any charge to the public. However, journals in the scientific and scholarly field, a total of approximately 25,000, are rarely offered for open access. International pressure from scientists wishing to unblock the barriers that stop the dissemination of research results has caused a rift with publishers, who fear a decrease in publishing revenues.

Looks as the long‐term implications of library digitization and suggests that the changes thus far may be merely an introduction to a much greater transition that lies ahead. Refers to the experiences of academic libraries, where there has been a sweeping transition to electronic journals and growth in the availability of other digital collections. Wider access to rare and special collections is offered by digitization and steps to achieve more universal access to international repositories are under way. Also examines the experience to date of digital library operations beyond academia – public libraries, and schools – and the growth of online library reference services. Feels that as digital library resources increase, the importance of the library as a physical setting where patrons go to find information and borrow books appears to diminish and increased reliance on digital collections is leading to a decline in the importance of collections of printed materials.

If you would like to write for this, or any other Emerald publication, then please use our Emerald for Authors service information about how to choose which publication to write for and submission guidelines are available for all. Please visit www.emeraldinsight.com/authors for more information. About Emerald www.emeraldinsight.comEmerald is a global publisher linking research and practice to the benefit of society. The company manages a portfolio of more than 290 journals and over 2,350 books and book series volumes, as well as providing an extensive range of online products and additional customer resources and services.Emerald is both COUNTER 4 and TRANSFER compliant. The organization is a partner of the Committee on Publication Ethics (COPE) and also works with Portico and the LOCKSS initiative for digital archive preservation.