High Speed, High Price, High Demand: Business Internet Resources and Databases in American Academic Libraries [paper]

Business school students and faculty increasingly expect the most current and accurate information to be available from their desktop (or wireless laptop). Often the demand is for information on the latest developments from the financial press, such as the collapse of another technology company, or for extensive statistics on international financial markets. The challenge for libraries and librarians is to keep up with this demand while keeping costs under control, maintaining a coherent organization of the increasingly virtual collection, and preserving access to important resources that are not yet web-based. The paper discusses the ongoing evolution of information resources for business from the perspective of academic libraries in the United States supporting graduate business programs. In all areas of business information, electronic resources are increasingly supplanting traditional print resources. Converting existing print resources to electronic form is reviewed, including cost and licensing issues. The proliferation of free information on the internet is discussed, as well as how to organize and manage this information by creating web guides for specific topics in business and economics. Electronic journals are also becoming dominant: at Rutgers University approximately 80% percent of business-related titles are available online. The use of databases to manage complex journal holdings is also discussed, including the Bel Jour database of business and economics journals (www.scc.rutgers.edu/beljour) developed by the author.Womack, Ryan. “High Speed, High Price, High Demand: Business Internet Resources and Databases in American Academic Libraries." Proceedings of Central Asia 2002: Internet and Library, Information Resources in Science, Culture, Education, and Business, Bukhara, Uzbekistan: 37-41 (October 2002).Author's version of paper presented on October 16, 2002 in Bukhara, Uzbekistan, at Central Asia 2002 Conference