Abstract
Electronic publishing currently reflects a vision of the future in which libraries face a balancing act, like trapeze artists on a high wire. This paper examines the challenges faced by academic research libraries, in the face of growing open architecture infrastructures for
the access of digital information resources over the Internet. New distribution models are emerging for e-Books and e-Journals,
which present a valuable opportunity to reassess library strategy at a time when the volume and range of library services has expanded far more rapidly than growth in budgets. Dramatic changes in the business model of academic publishing are challenging
the role of the library in the university, and forcing some tough decisions between maintaining staffing - and resultant service levels - or developing infrastructure for affordable e-resource delivery.
PEER (Publishing and the Ecology of European Research), is an exploration of these changes in unique collaboration between publishers, repositories and researchers that challenges the traditional role of the library in the publishing chain. The PEER project investigates the effects of the large-scale, systematic depositing of authors’ final peer-reviewed manuscripts (so called Green Open Access or stage-two research output) on reader access, author visibility, and journal viability, as well as on the broader ecology of the research
landscape. While the PEER investigation is ongoing, early findings would suggest that the expiry of the publishers’ embargo period opens up the possibility of e-journal distribution via repository infrastructures. Timely planning is required, in developing strategic direction towards limiting the cost and maintaining the sustainability of online information resources.