Recent trends in information science and publishing brought by technological advancements have direct implications for the serials or the periodicals section managed by serials librarians around the world. The study aimed to examine perspectives on the future of the periodicals or serials section in libraries by analyzing discussions from online forums. It explored opinions and insights of both librarians and forum participants interested in library-related discourses on platforms, Reddit and Quora regarding the impact of rising online subscription costs on library budgeting and resource allocation. The results revealed that challenges in managing serials include accommodating varied user preferences, bridging gap in the digital divide, adjusting with increasing subscription cost and print phase out, dealing with decline demand/usage, experiencing budget cuts, and struggling with limited physical space in the library. Accordingly, libraries address these challenges by maintaining hybrid collections, offering personalized services, maximizing open access resources, shifting to online collections, marketing their library resources, enhancing librarians' skills, and weeding print collection. The study provided a reflective understanding of how the online communities, comprising librarians and anonymous participants, perceived the issues faced by libraries in managing serials collection in this evolving information landscape. The findings are particularly relevant to libraries in developing countries, where digital transitions, open access integration, and budget constraints remain pressing concerns.
Daniel Jr Soriano Balbin (Wed,) studied this question.