PurposeThe purpose of this paper is to describe how the tipping point may have been reached with regard to the transition of periodicals between print and electronic.Design/methodology/approachThe literature search encompassed articles on the transition of periodicals between print and electronic status.FindingsLibraries will soon have to decide, based on budget, what is affordable in terms of periodicals. Vendors are integral to this process and libraries need to negotiate skillfully with them in order to keep costs in line. Electronic resources will serve researchers well, since they provide easy computerized access (searching, cut and paste) to materials previously only found in print.Research limitations/implicationsThere is a dichotomy of feelings represented in the literature on the transition of journals from print to electronic. Most of the literature seems to indicate that the move to electronic journals is good for researchers.Practical implicationsThe move to electronic resources will provide a rich base of digital literature that was not available to researchers before, and this will result in upgraded efforts at publication. Searching electronically can be an enormous timesaver and provides a previously unknown range of searching.Originality/valueThe research includes examples of what experts in the field suggest to resolve this issue.