ABSTRACT
Since the mid-1990s, the number of e-resources available to library users has grown dramatically. Libraries now provide users with access to myriad e-journals, e-books, digital images, electronic indexes and abstracts, and many other e-resources. As libraries make this transition in their collections, successfully managing and providing users with access to e-resources has become a growing challenge. While libraries initially relied upon such tools as Integrated Library Systems (ILS), hand-coded HTML pages, and Access databases publishable to Web pages, there has been an increasing realization that the effective management and access to e-resources necessitates the development and maintenance of an infrastructure of integrated tools. To meet this need, a variety of new tools have been unveiled by vendors and developed by libraries. As these tools continue to evolve with new services and new systems, there are a growing number of paths that a library can take in order to create an e-resource infrastructure. Selecting which path to take in its development of an e-resource infrastructure requires that a library assess the unique combination of e-resource access and management tools that will meet the varying needs of both users and the library itself.
