I get press releases. Oh do I get press releases from publicists on some of the wackiest topics out there. I’m not going to go into that because there is one that actually relates to something in which I’m interested. I’ve written about the shrinking print collection before, especially when it relates to primary materials. I have advocated cancelling reporter subscriptions because there is so many alternative sources for it in subscription and free databases. Mind you, it should be a thoughtful cancellation considering how well the online alternatives can be a solid substitute. The same applies to secondary sources where the treatise is available through an electronic subscription via Lexis, Westlaw, or another electronic library package. I believe we at DePaul are not unique in considering the issues.

Well, back to the press release part. The Primary Research Group has issued a commercial study on the shrinking print collections. It’s called Law Library Plans for the Print Materials Collection, ISBN 978-157440-353-4. Here’s a sample set of stats from the publication:

The cumulative 2-year drop in spending on print resources from 2014-2016 by the law firms in the sample is expected to be 22.6%.

For small law firm libraries the number of subscriptions to print journals went from 66.67 to 51.67 and then to an anticipated 45 over the three year period, a cumulative 2-year drop of 32%.

Primary works accounted for a mean of 35.53% of spending on print legal materials with a median of 30% and a range of 5% to 90%. For law school libraries, print primary materials accounted for 54% of the total print materials budget, a much higher percentage than for law firm libraries 28%, or government law libraries, 32.86%.

The last one is interesting. We in the academic business try to prepare students for the tools that they can expect to use in practice. If law firms are buying less print, and I’m assuming a firm in this situation is using an online database, why are academic libraries still buying at a much higher percentage? But, hey, that’s just me wondering that.

Here is more information about the report:

The study is currently available as a PDF and will be available in book format on September 9, 2015 and can be ordered now. The price for either version is $135.00; site licenses are also available. To view the table of contents, an excerpt, questionnaire and list of participants, view our website at http://www.PrimaryResearch.com or visit the product page for this report at http://www.primaryresearch.com/view_product.php?report_id=561.

The question I’m thinking about now is how to utilize the space that will become available. I’ll write my thoughts about that later.

Mark