We present the results of a survey on the use of electronic journals by the academic staff of the universities belonging to the Consortium of Academic Libraries of Catalonia (CBUC). The results show that a high proportion of teaching and research staff are aware of the collection of electronic journals and that there is an increasing preference for the electronic to the detriment of the printed format. The collection of electronic journals is highly valued and most users expect to increase their use of them during the next few years. The results also confirm the importance of discipline and age as explanatory factors of the use of electronic journals. 1 Introduction and objectives This article presents the results of a study on the use of electronic journals by the academic staff of the Consortium of Academic Libraries of Catalonia (CBUC). The CBUC is composed of the eight public Catalan universities¹ and the National Library, though it allows other institutions to participate as users. In January 2006, the CBUC had subscribed consortially to 7,200 electronic journals which can be accessed by the users of the universities belonging to the Consortium. The main aim of the study was to supplement the results obtained in earlier studies,² which had provided very interesting general information on the use of the journal packages licensed by the CBUC. However because these earlier studies had been based exclusively on the analysis of the web access data supplied by the publishers, they failed to give information on the characteristics of the users. The present study aims to extend the information available on the use of the electronic journal collection in order to broaden the available knowledge on a series of questions: • The level of awareness of the collection of electronic journals. • Whether users prefer the electronic or printed format and the advantages and disadvantages that they observe in each format. • The demographic characteristics of the users of electronic journals-discipline, age and academic position-and the effect of these variables on use.

Particular characteristics of electronic resources allows information in this format to be used more widely and shared. Library consortia exist to help their members to obtain better prices: buying joint access for a greater number of users. Commercial publishers, for their part, try to combine their interests with the technical possibilities and demands of the libraries. Though the pricing models and the types of licences have improved considerably since the early years, a number of the parameters used in the calculation of prices are clearly unfavourable at present for some consortia. In 2001 the Consortium of University Libraries of Catalonia (CBUC) distributed to the most appropriate electronic mail lists a declaration``Why some libraries and consortia are paying too much for einformation''. This article aims to extend the viewpoints set down in this statement.

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This volume analyzes different facets of democratic struggles in these challenging times. Its first section addresses the democratization process in Mongolia, one of the least-studied cases of post-Cold War democratization. The second section broadens the analysis to cover democratic struggles in other parts of the world and considers in particular the governance of natural resources, which is a key concern for Mongolia and other countries that rely economically on the extractive sector. Its contributors are drawn from a range of different countries, disciplines and career stages. They use different approaches and methodologies in highly complementary ways to shed light on underexamined facets of democracy from a variety of perspectives.