Ever-Growing Information Universe

More information has been generated during the past two decades than ever experienced in the history of modern thought. Also a historical first, as a result of technological innovation, is that the information generated has become available in both print and electronic formats on the World Wide Web. As a result, scholars are now navigating an ever-growing information universe.

Regarding the increase in journal literature, Dr. Carol Tenopir and Donald King state:

The estimated number of journals published in the United States increased 62 percent, from 4,175 in 1975 to 6,771 in 1995, while the number of scientists more than doubled during that same period, from 2.64 million to 5.74 million in 1975 and 1995 respectively. Scientists in the United States published an estimated 312,200 articles in domestic and foreign journals in 1975 compared to 577,100 in 1995, representing a decrease of approximately 15 percent in the average number of articles published per scientist. Nevertheless, the average number of pages published per scientist increased almost 70 percent.

Looking at the growth of scholarly literature from another perpective, the University of California Office of Scholarly Communication says:

From 1986 to 2002, the number of journals published increased by 58 percent. During roughly the same period, world-wide production of books increased approximately 50 percent.

In the realm of scholarly publishing, technological innovations have translated into a surge in the number and variety of commercial entities harnessing information and restricting its accessibility. To access the restricted information, subscribers must purchase the rights to electronic resources under licensing agreements with a publisher or vendor.

At the same time, publishers have been trying to augment their profits by launching new scholarly journals. Armed with abundant resources, publishers can lure scholars to help them start up specialized journals, resulting in diversified product lines and greater profit.

As journal prices keep climbing drastically in face of stagnant or shrinking budgets, academic libraries are not able to catch up with the specialization of journals. The outcome is that access to scholarly literature has decreased.