Remote access: its impact on a college library

Abstract

With the phantasm of the Virtual Library looming large on the bibliographic horizon, librarians have looked to their future with a mixture of awe and uncertainty. The prospect of a new generation of patrons availing themselves of an electronic archive, never browsing the stacks or borrowing a book, gives pause to this public‐service oriented profession. What will happen to support for collections and reference when patron behavior changes and there is a perception that scholars no longer need to enter the library physically to satisfy their information needs? Will that, in fact, happen? The recent experience of libraries with regard to remote access to databases is an indicator of the future behavior of their clientèle. At Norwich University, delivering services beyond the physical confines of the library has had the result of increased performance in every category by which the library measures its success. Marked growth in these statistical yardsticks comes at a time when the student population has significantly decreased, further underscoring the importance of greater access to the delivery of service.

Citation

Heller, P. (1992), "Remote access: its impact on a college library", The Electronic Library, Vol. 10 No. 5, pp. 287-289. https://doi.org/10.1108/eb045179