The Net was supposed to drive down the cost of spreading around knowledge–not increase it. Why, then, as reported by Great American Libraries: The 2004 HAPLR Ranks (PDF file), are U.S. public libraries paying more per use for electronic material than paper material?
Whatever their sizes–whether serving populations under 1,000 or over 500,000–America’s library systems are paying dramatically more per use for electronic items. The average is $1.66 for electronic material compared to just 75 cents for paper.
Granted, electronic resources save time for both patrons and librarians, and, granted, they normally are more up to date and more popular with the public. But should libraries be paying such a high premium for this? How much of the price differences could result from inefficiencies of the database owners and other content-providers? Or just plain greed? I’d welcome some explanations from the people involved.
Needless to say a nationwide TeleRead-style approach could introduce new efficiencies into balkanized information systems in the United States and elsewhere.
