Comparing paper and electronic short loan collections

Reports on a comparative cost‐benefit analysis of the paper short loan collection and the ACORN electronic short loan collection at Loughborough University. Describes the tasks associated with the creation and maintenance of each collection; analyses those tasks for related costs, drawing particularly on the experiences of Project ACORN; and then compares the advantages of each collection type. Concludes that although the electronic collection is currently more expensive to maintain, the benefits of electronic access to high demand material could be seen to justify those costs, and that in time ‐ as technologies improve and associated costs decrease ‐ it is likely that electronic collections will provide a cost‐effective value‐added service for libraries and their users.