THE VIRGINIAN-PILOT
Copyright (c) 1994, Landmark Communications, Inc.
DATE: Friday, November 11, 1994 TAG: 9411110661
SECTION: LOCAL PAGE: B6 EDITION: FINAL
SOURCE: BY JAMES SCHULTZ, STAFF WRITER
LENGTH: Short : 39 lines
The Virginia Beach Public Library system goes partially virtual by early January.
More than 500 magazine titles will become available then on new computer workstations at the Central Library at 4100 Virginia Beach Blvd. By mid-year, the system's six other libraries should be similarly equipped.
Librarians say the move to electronic magazines will be especially noticeable at the smaller branches, where readers will have a newfound wealth of periodicals from which to choose.
At the Pungo-Blackwater branch, for instance, available titles will balloon almost eightfold, from 35 to 273.
``The advantage to this is that every library (in Virginia Beach), no matter how small, will have access to the same periodical titles,'' said Toni Lohman, a collection-management librarian.
The estimated $200,000 conversion cost will be partially offset by subscriptions savings, as duplicate subscriptions are canceled and microfiche/microfilm back-issue backups are also eliminated.
Although hard-copy versions of magazines will still be available for browsing, once the originals decay, the only versions available will be in the public library's computer system.
Hard copies of archived articles will come courtesy of laser printers.
Late in 1995, project planners hope to open a gateway for home-computer users to plug into the library system's computerized periodicals.
``Libraries won't exist in the 21st century the way most of us are used to,'' Lohman said.
``It's like going from papyrus to movable type. You can find things electronically that you could never find going through the printed word.'' by CNB