The arrival and proliferation of electronic resources and digital libraries have a number of significant impacts on the use of print resources and traditional libraries. This study explores the extent to which graduate students in a metropolitan university setting use print and electronic resources. Reading preferences and use of print and electronic resources vary among different disciplines. Graduate students seem to expect a hybrid of print and electronic resources. They desire to meet their information needs through a mix of print and online resources, even though reasons for supplementing another type of resource differ. Circumstances that affect the selection of use between digital libraries and traditional libraries are also discussed. 2005 Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved.