There is more flexibility in working with text because sections can be saved with the cut and paste method. Key word searching may include all words in the article rather than just the title and abstract. Students are retrieving articles without a real awareness as to the context in which the articles are placed. Students view a journal article on the Net as no different from a statement mounted on a personal home page, and use the information interchangeably. Misspellings and grammatical errors occur all too frequently.
Electronic journals are the wave of the near future.
This past semester the Chemistry Department participated in a pilot project comparing print and electronic versions of some chemical journals. At the end of the semester teaching faculty and librarians jointly determined which print journals would be canceled in lieu of electronic versions and which journals should remain in print. These are the decisions that all departments will be called upon to make regarding both journal subscriptions and reference works. The educational implication is becoming clear. When there are advantages to paper formats, our students will need structured activities to illustrate what these advantages are.