Libraries had a problem. Books and periodicals continue to be printed at an ever increasing pace, far faster than space can be built and afforded. What could be done so that a library could maintain as complete a collection of books as possible, continuing to acquire new material and without having to get rid of old. This first bibliographic solution was microfilm, invented, ironically at the same time the first postage stamp was issued ( 1840), and by the 1960s most libraries kept their newspapers and most of their magazines on some form of microfilm. After 1990, rapid computerization has meant that most library materials can be stored on computer. Google already has millions of books and periodicals on line, including most of the collections of several major University libraries.
Philately hasn't solved its problem of growing bulk. We can digitize our philatelic libraries but a digitized collection is not philately, a situation similar to why art museums continue to thrive even though most of the great works of art have images on line. But stamp collections are getting bigger physically and, even more daunting, the mass of philatelic material is growing. Virtually nothing that has entered philatelic hands since 1850 has gone away. People create collections, sell them and the collections are dissembled with the best items being sold off and the remainder entering the great mass of philatelic remainders that fill our stamp rooms and warehouses. This process continues from generation to generation. We regularly sell older remainder collections that are over one hundred years old. This a problem for which I don't see a solution. But there is a warning-remainder boxes should be quickly worked through and sold. They don't get better with time.