W(h)ither print indexes and abstracts?

We have a lot of indexes and abstracts in the Library; now rarely used due to the rise of electronic databases. These range from the majestic Chemical Abstracts (127 shelves worth) to the more specialised Zinc in Agriculture (1 box). Many we no longer subscribe to, and for some our holdings are completely duplicated online. This being the case, we would like to make our reference collection on Level 2 much more workable by removing most of the indexes/abstracts to stack. Those that we do still recieve, we would keep the most recent 10 years in the reference collection.

We are also considering removing from the collection completely some of the abstracts that are online. These are:

• Chemical Abstracts (SciFinder Scholar),
• Science Citation Index (Web of Science),
• Mathematical Reviews (MathSciNet),
• Index to scientific and technical proceedings, from 1990 onwards (Web of Knowledge)
• Analytical Abstracts, from 1978 onwards (Analytical WebBase)
• World Textile abstracts (World Textiles),
• Anthropological Index (Anthopological Index Online)

Before we do this however, we do want to know if the removal of the print versions would be a serious disadvantage for academic staff. Please let me know your thoughts, either by commenting on this post, or by e-mailing me at K.Chisholm@massey.ac.nz.