20-24 septembrie 2009 - Biblioteca Metropolitana Bucuresti

Is going digital what users want?Researches on the usage of library collections inRomaniaOctavia-Luciana PorumbeanuFaculty of LettersUniversity of Bucharest – BucharestIntroduction. Romanian librariesMany librarians assert that electronic resources are preferred bystudents and this has led to the development of major electronic collectionsin libraries throughout the world. But, is this an erroneous assumptionmade without asking the users themselves how they consult materials? Thispaper investigates the situation in Romania where, it appears, most usersprefer paper resources to the available electronic resources.The last decades have meant major transformations of all aspects ofRomanian libraries, considering also how far behind Romanian librarieswere to those of developed countries. The transformation from traditionalto modern libraries based on the new information and communicationtechnologies wasn’t fast or easy, but at present the large Romanian libraries,in a similar way to libraries abroad, have made the transition to a mixedcollection, providing access to both paper and electronic informationresources for their users. And year on year the number of electronicresources has increased, developed and diversified.For Romanian libraries the financial considerations are important asthere are problems with efficiency and with cost-benefit analysis, because itcould be noted, even without formal research, that the electronic resourcesavailable have a limited use.Context of the researchIn the context of the changes that took place in Romanian libraryactivity, especially due to the introduction of the new information and