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A five-question survey randomly presented to users at Ohio State University (OSU) as they viewed articles in OhioLINK's Electronic Journal Center (EJC) in fall 2002 probed the user's status, academic unit, reason for viewing, path to the article, and frequency of EJC use. Usage by faculty and graduate students, by frequent users, and by those in the sciences predominated, as did usage for a class assignment and browsing a journal's issues. OSU Polls in 2003 and 2004 probed EJC awareness and actions after viewing articles. Half of undergraduates were non-users. Printing was favored over reading entire articles online. (Contains 3 tables, 6 figures, and 12 notes.)

Discusses why innovation is important for technical services and lists requirements: the ability to envision the future, the use of intuitive thinking and creativity, and well-managed implementation. Examines systems for verification and delivery of bibliographic records (OCLCs Passport for Windows and PromptCat), and outsourcing and centralization of selection (Hawaii/B&T contract and Indianapolis-Marion County Public Library). (PEN)

Discusses the managerial, business, and personal skills that will be needed for acquisitions librarians to remain central to the virtual library. Considers the issues of self-leadership, management, and survival in a continual state of change, and the need for creativity and innovation, as well as more traditional skills. (Author/AEF)

Presents three perspectives on the future of library acquisitions. Discussion includes changing roles of academic administrators and acquisition librarians; acquisitions management and the role of the digital library; and technological development and the professional character of acquisitions. (AEF)

Discusses the three key components in fostering innovation in library technical services. Ability to envision the future; Use of intuitive thinking and creativity; Well-managed implementation.

Focuses on the prospects for acquisitions functions in libraries in the United States. Description of the acquisitions functions in libraries; Duties of acquisitions librarians; Changes affecting the acquisitions functions.

This article reports that as availability and usage of electronic journals have increased, so has interest in learning more about the nature of that use and its impact on library collection development practices and on scholarly communication. Rising costs of electronic journals coupled with declining library budgets also have led to heightened interest in being able to justify expenditures by gaining a better understanding of the benefits being realized. Vendor statistics often provide information about relative levels of use of electronic resources, but people have tended to know less about the users themselves and what they are doing with the electronic content that they access. Ohio State University's faculty and students are offered access to more than 5,600 electronic journals through the Ohio Library and Information Network (OhioLINK), a consortium of 84 Ohio academic libraries and the State Library of Ohio. OhioLINK has usage data organized by publisher, journal title, institutional affiliation of the user, and time period for articles in its "Electronic Journal Center," which was established in April 1998. These data show, for example, that overall usage in terms of the number of full-text articles downloaded has increased dramatically each year.

Examines the circumstances that led the Ohio State University Libraries' Acquisition Department in Columbus to undertake a multiyear project to evaluate and eliminate serial exchanges whenever feasible. Description of the project design and its goals; Problems encountered; Time line; Evaluation of the project's results.