We are told that we are living through the Information Revolution, a step-change in human history likely to be ranked with the Industrial and Agricultural revolutions of earlier times. Like the generations who witnessed those periods of change, we find it impossible to see what’s over the next horizon, but a glance in the rear-view mirror can often reveal how far we’ve travelled.
Comparing our most complete annual figures with those of 1993-94, (2 years after the World Wide Web was launched) reveals enormous growth in both the range of information resources we offer and the numbers supplied. This growth has been made possible by the information technologies of 21st century scholarship, which have untethered scholarly information from buildings and shelves, enabling us to deliver it to Heriot-Watt’s students and academics world-wide, 24×365.
| HWU (UK Campuses) Library Collection Statistics | 1993-1994 | 2013-2014 | % Change | |
| Printed Books | 107,926 | 159,812 | +48% | |
| Electronic Books | 0 | 74,711 | ||
| Total Books | 107926 | 234,523 | +117% | |
| Printed Periodicals | 1,550 | 3,000 | +94% | |
| Electronic Periodicals | 0 | 44,845 | ||
| Total Periodicals | 1,550 | 47,845 | +2987% | |
| Book Loans | 127,284 | 52,458 | -59% | |
| E-Book Section Requests | 0 | 431,325 | ||
| Periodical Article Downloads | 0 | 1,085,251 | ||
| Total Resource Requests | 127,284 | 1,569,034 | +1133% | |
| FTE Academic Staff | 496 | 752 | +52% | |
| FTE Students | 4,445 | 8,379 | +89% | |
| Total FTE Users | 4,941 | 9,131 | +85% | |
| Book loans per FTE Student | 29 | 6 | -78% | |
| Periodical Article Downloads per FTE Student | 0 | 130 | ||
| E-Book Section Requests per FTE Student | 0 | 51 | ||
| Total Resource Requests per FTE Student | 29 | 187 | 554% | |
| of which Book Loans comprised | 100% | 3% |
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