Scholars may worry that publishing their work in an electronic venue is a gamble. Plus, it may not always be clear which e-journals are here to stay. Electronic resources seem to pose fewer thorny questions for students. Distance education students, who may have difficulty getting to campus for library trips, can now access a substantial amount of information online, from full-text journal databases to websites. These can supplement traditional materials that may need to be mailed by the student's university library.
Advanced students can also complete much of the legwork for research excursions ahead of time.
As archives, museums, research institutes and the like put catalogs of their holdings online, it becomes easier and quicker for students to identify those institutions that have the resources they need. This helps not only students doing research in the U.S., but also graduate students who may need to do archival research abroad. Master's and doctoral students can also benefit from online venues for publishing their theses and dissertations, bringing these papers out of their traditional obscurity. When a graduate's paper is sold, the author receives royalties. While fledgling scholars are unlikely to make much money this way, these dissertation services allow their research to find a wider audience, possibly helping them make contacts in their fields.