If the Academic Library Ceased to Exist, Would We Have to Invent It?

By Stephen Downes - Stephen's Web. If the Academic Library Ceased to Exist, Would We Have to Invent It?
This article makes the case for the academic library by predicting what might happen were its services discontinued. Sadly, the predictions aren't very imaginative; people continue to need monographs and textbooks, and try to find them offline (since they aren't available online). My own prediction beings a lot like the authors: save $2.7 million by ceasing journal subscriptions and textbook purchases. Instead, the library takes the money and spends it archiving placing academic staff publications into an institutional archive, freely accessible to the public as a whole. The university's original mission. More...