THE EFFECT OF A LARGE-SCALE PHOTOCOPYING SERVICE ON JOURNAL SALES

The proposition is examined that large-scale photocopying, such as that practised by the British Library Lending Division, affects the sales of journals. There is little evidence of a reduction in journal circulation figures. In spite of large increases in journal prices (which have risen much faster, in terms of cost per page, than the Retail Price Index), university libraries have, since the NLLST was established, devoted an increasingly high proportion of their budgets to journals, though recent financial pressures are now forcing cancellations. An extensive survey of demand for journals at BLLD shows a heavy concentration on a relatively small number of titles, most of them well established journals, widely held by libraries and with large circulations. The demand for in-print issues of the average journal is small. It is concluded, in the absence of any evidence to the contrary, that economic difficulties experienced by journal publishers and the increased demand on the BLLD are unrelated, though both owe something to the economic pressures on libraries.