Full-Text Databases: A Case Study Revisited a Decade Later

In 1999 librarians at the University of Colorado at Colorado Springs evaluated the feasibility of canceling print subscriptions for journals available in full-text aggregators. Finding deficiencies in currency, coverage, graphics, and stability of online journals, they recommended caution in using titles available in aggregators as replacements for journal subscriptions. Today print subscriptions are giving way to online subscriptions through a variety of subscription models. Nevertheless, full-text aggregators remain vital content providers. Using the journals featured in the 1999 study as a lens, this study investigates how the world of full-text content has changed over the past decade.