Shared Journals: Save Space, Improve Access with the Maryland Shared Distributed Journal Collections Project

The continued growth of collections poses many challenges when it comes to storage space for all types of libraries. Academic libraries have the most difficulty accommodating this growth due to their attempts to preserve materials. While converting existing journal collections to electronic format is a popular, tempting solution, budget constraints and lack of online surrogate availability make this a difficult process for most academic libraries. Budget constraints also prohibit smaller university libraries from reassigning low-demand materials to remote storage facilities. This paper offers one solution to this situation, which was taken by the library at Groucher College, and describes its successes and failures.