At least half the readers of NewJour are librarians who assess these items and decide whether to make Internet e-journals available to their clients. And it is also a truism that, at least for the present, the tidal wave of print publication shows few signs of abating. For libraries, that means that most electronic information costs are added costs. In practice, the net effect of electronic information on library budgets for the foreseeable future is a substantial increase in information costs. It is so far characteristic of electronic information that it rarely comes to libraries, when they pay for it, as free of 'strings' as did print material.
Books are their purchasers' to keep and preserve.
Electronic information, however, characteristically comes with license agreements that constrain rights in various ways. Potential loss of knowledge. If at the end of that time, they cease paying the lease price, prior investment may become worthless as the information is taken away. License restrictions on use probably mean that libraries cannot let all and sundry make reasonable use of materials but must employ passwords and user IDs to restrict use to formal members of specified academic or scientific communities. Limitations on users' rights.