It is up to each library to determine the appropriate level of local control versus expanded access versus cost. Electronic publishing, however, also promises to provoke a resurgence in academic press publishing with a likely decline in commercial control. This could result in further cost savings as well as increasing local control. Several academic departments at many institutions are also publishing electronic journals, often, for the present, for free. Whether the free access continues remains to be seen.
Electronic journals are a viable alternative to print journals.
While it is true that the majority of users prefer to read a printed medium and consequently will print articles, electronic journals provide enhanced access through fulltext searching of both single journal titles and all titles in a publishers' catalogue. Access could be enhanced as more electronic publications adopt metadata indexing. Electronic access also has the benefit of expanding efficient access at a lower cost. How much we can or should force users to change research behaviors is yet to be determined. Current trends indicate many academics will accomodate small changes in their field of research, but the impact across all users and curriculums is unknown.