Anecdotal evidence and intuition – at least from my perspective – suggests that the utility of a book as a container of information is rapidly decreasing. Personally, I go digital whenever possible. It’s convenient, often freely accessible, and the information is much easier to manipulate. And so, after reading an article entitled, “The End Of Academic Library Circulation”, I wasn’t shocked by the various data points.
Actually, that’s not entirely true.
When I saw the enrollment figures compared against the decrease in total academic circulation, I thought, “DAMN, this is happening quicker than I suspected”. Libraries, if you consider the circulation of books a primary indicator of their usefulness, are racing towards obsolescence. And that sucks – for everybody.
I’m not sure (academic) libraries can survive in their current form, but I’m positive they can survive IF they’re nimble and flexible enough to continually innovate and adapt. That means as much failure as success.
The author sums up the situation quite well -
The most important thing to take away is that, regardless of cause, user behavior has changed and by all data points is still changing. In the end, the greatest question is how will academic libraries adapt? It is clear that the answer is not as simple as a transition to a new media. To survive, librarians must find the answer before we have enough data to prove these predictions.
Right on.
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