Rethinking the Boundaries of the Academic Library

by: Brian Lavoie and Lorcan Dempsey

This article describes a framework to aid discussions about the future of academic libraries. The framework is built around the concept of transaction costs, which help organize thinking about the dynamic forces acting on and reshaping universities and their libraries. The framework also has some application to public libraries, acknowledging, however, significant differences in the decision-making environments in which academic and public libraries operate.

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