Unfortunately for most academic libraries. IQ concentrates on scientific, technical, medical and business information and currently includes only a limited number of social sciences and humanities titles. Integration with the FirstSearch online reference service will take place in 1998, when document delivery will also be introduced. TOCs are available to all users, with abstracts and full text for subscribers only. It also promises support for those involved in consortia publishing.
Librarians have a number of decisions to make about online journals.
At the most elementary level, they need to decide whether to cancel any of their print subscriptions and replace them with electronic versions. This will in part be determined by how easily their users can access networked computers. Libraries not intending to subscribe to many online journals may not feel the need for an electronic intermediary service. After all, there is only one more year left of the HEFC agreement and free online access to the journals of its contributing publishers. Also, some major publishers ,like the Institute of Physics and Elsevier, are providing their own Web journals service, and so far have chosen to go it alone.