Choices must be made about how to prioritize the electronic source with other resources in that field, such as print resources. If an electronic source does have a print counterpart, the decision becomes more complicated. A related issue is preservation of the information for future generations of users. Data contained in new forms of electronic media may need to be converted as new storage technologies are developed, and that is a future cost the library must anticipate. Another factor to be considered when selecting an electronic database is ease of use for the patron.
Software interfaces vary in quality.
The library routinely obtains demonstration versions of new software and these are evaluated by the reference staff, whose job it will be to instruct library users. Most interfaces are fairly well designed, but in a few cases the reference staff has concluded that a particular piece of software is so cumbersome and difficult to manage that patrons will be able to get the information they want more quickly with a print source. The electronic versions of many major indexing tools, such as Psychological Abstracts, Medline, and the MLA Bibliography, are available through more than one interface. This means the focus of the selection process shifts from selection issues to access issues. Clearly, there is a great benefit to using a standard interface for multiple databases.