Creating a virtual reference library: experiences at Suffolk Libraries and Heritage Available to Purchase

This paper describes the creation of the Suffolk Libraries and Heritage virtual reference library in the UK and its links with the Co‐East project. In particular this case study reviews a pilot experiment in four small rural libraries, which, for a period of three months, had their reference books removed to test whether they could indeed become virtually resourced. In place of the printed reference sources users were able to access subscription services from Ebsco and KnowUK as well as the Web.