Online searching and the print product: impact or interaction?

A survey of abstracting and indexing services was conducted to determine the extent to which they have detected an impact of online availability on the subscriptions to their printed publications. The picture that emerged showed that various types of printed publications were affected differently, that there has been 2–5% annual attrition in subscriptions to printed publications over the past five years but it is not related solely nor primarily to the availability of online databases, and, that the evolution of online databases and printed publications as separate and distinct entities is accelerating.