The Use of Academic Libraries in the Digital Age: What the Numbers Say
DOI:
https://doi.org/10.6017/ihe.2017.88.9684Keywords:
Academic libraries, circulation, borrowing, loans, gate count, library visits, digital information, library space, learning commonsAbstract
Given the early twenty-first century’s wealth of information, it is a fair question to ask: “Are we approaching a time when academic libraries will no longer be necessary?” According to academic library usage data, the answer to this question is clearly “No.” While over the last ten to twenty years the number of books borrowed from U.S. academic libraries has plummeted, the number of people setting foot in those same libraries has significantly increased. And although longitudinal data for the use of non-U.S. libraries is hard to come by, a small sampling of academic libraries outside of the U.S. reflects a similar trend of fewer books borrowed coupled with more visits. The paper concludes by suggestions reasons for why students are making increased use of academic library spaces in the Digital Age.
Downloads
Published
How to Cite
Issue
Section
License
Copyright (c) 2017 International Higher Education
This work is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution-NonCommercial-NoDerivatives 4.0 International License.
Authors who publish with this journal agree to the following terms:
- Authors retain copyright and grant the journal right of first publication with the work simultaneously licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution License that allows others to share the work with an acknowledgement of the work's authorship and initial publication in this journal.
- Authors are able to enter into separate, additional contractual arrangements for the non-exclusive distribution of the journal's published version of the work (e.g., post it to an institutional repository or publish it in a book), with an acknowledgement of its initial publication in this journal.
- Authors are permitted and encouraged to post their work online (e.g., in institutional repositories or on their website) prior to and during the submission process, as it can lead to productive exchanges, as well as earlier and greater citation of published work (See The Effect of Open Access).
- Authors will be required to sign our standard License Ageement before publication.
A Word document containing the License Agreement is available for download here.
