Articles on Demand: Library Perspectives

ReadCube Access at the University of Utah

Mark EnglandCollection Development

Librarian

ReadCube / ReadCube Access

• ReadCube is a content delivery platform launched in 2011– A reference manager and enhanced PDF reader

with built in discovery tools and single click article download

– A web reader integrated into publisher websites

• ReadCube Access is a patron-driven article acquisition system assembled within the ReadCube platform– Available for 100+ journals available on

nature.com

University of Utah and the Marriott Library

• Marriott Library serves a major research institution– 31,000 students, 2,000 faculty– 72 undergraduate majors and 90 fields of

graduate study

• Journal budget around $2.6 million

We Need to Explore Options

80% Didn't Use ILL

20% Used ILL

Do researchers use interlibrary loan to get articles?

Traditional collection management through journal subscriptions is unsustainable

Access to journals is decreasing while demand is increasing

Nearly 60% of users report they don’t use library when coping with a publishers paywall

Only 20.6% of users request an interlibrary loan when faced with paywall

How Do People Cope with Pay Wall Barriers

• 2012 ReadCube survey: the single most common response was to use some form of file sharing to find the article

• 2011 Access to Scholarly Content survey: obtain article from a colleague 17.5% of the time, look for a version on the web 19% of the time

• 2010 study by Ken Masters: a single medical networking site was responsible for $1.4 million in illicit file sharing during a single year

ReadCube Removes Access Barriers

Purchasing articles through ReadCube Access was intended to be easier than file sharing

• No intermediary

• Instantaneous delivery

• Library pays, so “free” to end-user

• Designed by researchers to fit into the researcher workflow

First Year Pilot

• Only 29 journals offered• Promotion was limited to approximately 1,320

faculty, post-doctoral fellows, and graduate students

• Excluded medicine• Trial was originally set to run for a semester but

ran for a year• ReadCube client required, user ID and password

authentication• No printing allowed

Second Year Experience• Expanded to 37 journals• Campus wide access from November 2013 to present date• New pricing with printing available in both purchase tiers

• Third, unrestricted PDF purchase option added

• Relies on IP authentication with remote access through proxy

• Allows users to access content directly from the publisher’s website and client not required

• Cloud technology introduced to automatically synchronize content across devices and permit perpetual access

• ReadCube queries link resolver and doesn’t charge for content available from another source, e.g. EbscoHost database

ReadCube Access panel replaces PPV options on publisher website

Informed ManagementPurchase histories

Tools to monitor users, journals, and options

Statistics to analyze costs and use

You can select the journals and the purchase options you wish to offer

First Year Results

Of 1,320 possible users, 102 registered to use ReadCube Access

TitleSubscripti

on CostReadCub

e UsesReadCube Costs

ILL Uses

ILL Costs

(estimate)

Nature Climate Change

$4,985 12 $96 3 $21

Nature Communications

$3,525 25 $195 27 $900

Second Year Results

TitleSubscriptio

n CostReadCub

e UsesReadCube

CostsILL

Costs

Pay-Per-View

Nature Climate Change

$5,237 26 $273 $854 $800

Nature Communications

$5,921 359 $3,303$13,8

41$11,48

8

455 users made 812 purchases and spent $9,900

No one would pay $11,000 for a $6,000 journal but slide shows the comparable costs for same level of use.

Second Year Results

TitleRentals

Cloud Purchase

Pdf Purchase Total Cost

Nature Communications 48 297 14 $3,302.78 Nature Reviews Gastro. & Hepatology 0 4 39 $939.96

Nature Reviews Neurology 0 1 35 $709.99 Nature Reviews Clinical Oncology 0 1 25 $584.99

Nature Reviews Endocrinology 2 0 22 $507.98

Nature Protocols 7 42 1 $428.56

Nature Reviews Rheumatology 1 2 14 $369.98

Nature Reviews Cardiology 0 0 14 $350.00

Nature Reviews Urology 1 5 11 $278.94

Nature Climate Change 2 19 5 $272.84

What Library Learned

• Article PDA is sustainable for some journals

• ReadCube Access is highly cost effective

• ReadCube Access used much more than interlibrary loan

• Library achieved significant cost savings while meeting the needs of many users

• Program abuse does not exist

• We want more publishers and a greater range of content

User Feedback

• Users thrilled with the immediacy of ReadCube Access

• People don’t like digital rights management and will select unrestricted version if the option is available

• Accepted by most people as an alternative to subscription - emphasize affordability rather than convenience or cost-effectiveness

• Unmediated, patron-driven solution saves time and money

• Users want better discovery tools (additional databases)

Further Research

Title

Open Access Downloads

(2013)

Pay Wall

Denials

(2013)ReadCube Purchases

Nature Communications 632 1,597 359

Nature Climate Change 0 464 26• Reading first page and deciding against

purchase?• Resisting DRM?• Need training on process?

Calculating the Best OptionTrue level of use is hard to determineILL is very expensive if usage is high enough for copyright fees

0 50 100 150 200 250 300 350 400 450 50005

101520253035404550

PDA ($9.99) Inter Library LoanPay Per View Subscription Cost Per Use

Number of Uses/ Year

Co

st

Pe

r U

se

($

)

Best value from PDA

Long Term Vision for ReadCube

• A cross-publisher PDA platform for journal articles• Fully automated system reducing costs and complexity

ArticlesArticles

Licensepurchase

Licensepurchase

Summary

• ReadCube and ReadCube Access was developed in collaboration with libraries and publishers to improve access to scholarly literature for scientists

• Initial trials of ReadCube Access show it to be affordable, efficient and effective

• Demand-driven article acquisition can play an important role in the access to scholarly literature

• Demand-driven article acquisition can reverse the trend of library disintermediation and help limit the devaluation of libraries

Contact Details

Mark EnglandCollection Development LibrarianMarriot LibraryUniversity of Utahmark.england@utah.edu

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