Print as a Type of Privilege
By Gwen Evans, VP Global Library Relations, Elsevier?
I took part in many discussions with academic librarians about a return to print due to reader preference in my previous roles as Director of?Access Services and the Executive Director of OhioLINK. Users and libraries are responding to struggles with ebook licensing, preservation of print vs. ebooks, research showing that print is a better medium for knowledge retention, etc. Ebook sales have slowed, there is pushback on textbook companies’ all-digital strategies, and?long-form readers still use print?although ebook use is increasing. However, in either a principle-driven or practical return to print, we shouldn’t let nostalgia for the print format obscure the shortcomings of print and hierarchies of privilege that the academic library universe embodies.
The cons of digital publishing are more widely noticed because it is relatively new and a nostalgic view of print can obscure some unintended side effects and underestimation of the fully loaded financial and social equity costs of print.?