American Library Association Analyzing The Next-Generation

Library Technology Reports October 2011 vol.47 no. 7 Libraries have entered a highly competitive marketplace for providing content to their constitutents. Researchers are finding convenience in paying for material from highly accessible websites over assessing materials for free from a library. Web searach engines and crowd-source content portals have shifted the value of a library dramatically. However, libraries have begun a transformation from the physical space anc collections to the electronic medium. This issue of Library Technology Reports analyzes five different academic libraries to better understand why they have made an investment in a next-generation catalog and wht the outcome of this investment has been.