One of my responsibilities is to forecast, plan and build the future of the libraries at Georgia Tech. In carrying out that responsibility, I find that I walk the fine line of transition from print to multimedia digital publication. There are many questions and a cloudy crystal ball. While I feel confident that electronic publication of scientific and technical information will be the norm in 15 to 20 years, I cannot forecast, with any confidence, the mix of paper and electronic publication for the next 3 to 15 years. I have many questions and few answers.
Questions relate to print, electronic distribution, archiving, access and pricing.
Librarians are concerned with how they will acquire the material needed by faculty and students and how they will pay. In the immediate future there is likely to be a mix of print and electronic publications. It is difficult to foresee the disappearance of print. The initial intent of journal publishing was communication. Now print is used to authenticate and document the work of scientists and engineers.