E-Resources in Academic Libraries: Trends, Strategies, Possibilities

SIBF-ALA Library ConferenceSharjah, UAENovember 12, 2014

Michael Levine-ClarkAssociate Dean for Scholarly Communication and Collections ServicesUniversity of Denver Libraries

Our role is evolvingThe “collection” is now “content,” and we must:

• Manage multiple streams/understand multiple models• Digital subscriptions• Demand-driven Acquisition (DDA)• Licensed perpetual access to digital content• Print• New types of content

• Understand licensing• Understand usage data

A conflict for librarians

Which aspects of print collection development are core to the library, and which should be reinvented?

Is perpetual access (or ownership, or whatever else you want to call it) something that matters as an end in and of itself? Is it ok to pay someone else to preserve content for us?

Two basic roles for an academic library

Provide the content that our students and faculty need

Build collections for eternity

An Evolution in Thinking

Collection as the end

• Just in case• The future

• Perpetual access• Collection building• Collection development

Collection as a means

• Current users

• Access• Subscription• DDA

Access to everythingA variety of models make this possible

• Aggregated subscriptions to books and journals• No say in what’s included• Lots of material

• DDA• Purchase only when there’s a proven need

• Evidence-Based Selection (EBS)• Buy only what makes sense

• Packages (Big Deal or not)• Discount based on bulk purchase

Challenges

• Declining buying power• New resource types• Research support• Research measurement• Video• Primary source collections• OA support

• Expectation that we can provide everything

Determining Value

• Aligning acquisition and access models to library mission, vision, and values

•Measuring usage to understand how to assign value to content and delivery choices

ACQUISITION AND ACCESS MODELS, USING EBOOKS AS AN EXAMPLE

Access Models: Balancing Rights, Cost, Long-Term Access

Temporary Access Perpetual

Low

C

urati

on

Hig

h

Low

C

ost P

er U

se

Hig

h

Heavy DRM Light

Aggregator

Publisher

Access Models: Balancing Rights, Cost, Long-Term Access

Temporary Access Perpetual

Low

C

urati

on

Hig

h

Title-by-TitleEBS

Package

DDA without STL

DDA with STL

Subscription

Low

C

ost P

er U

se

Hig

h

Heavy DRM Light

Title-by-Title:

• Heavily customizable• Staff time

• High cost per unit• No guarantees of

usage• Perpetual Access• If on publisher platform,

light DRM

Access Models: Balancing Rights, Cost, Long-Term Access

Temporary Access Perpetual

Low

C

urati

on

Hig

h

Title-by-TitleEBS

Package

DDA without STL

DDA with STL

Subscription

Low

C

ost P

er U

se

Hig

h

Heavy DRM Light

Subscriptions (especially on an aggregator platform)

• Little to no customization• Content can be removed

at any time• Heavier DRM

• Lots of content for relatively low cost

• Not much staff time

• Helps build critical mass

Access Models: Balancing Rights, Cost, Long-Term Access

Temporary Access Perpetual

Low

C

urati

on

Hig

h

Title-by-TitleEBS

Package

DDA without STL

DDA with STL

Subscription

Low

C

ost P

er U

se

Hig

h

Heavy DRM Light

Subscription Packages• ACLS HEBS• Books 24x7• ebrary• EBSCO• Knovel• Safari

DDA• EBL• ebrary• JSTOR

Perpetual Access• Duke• ebrary• EBSCO• OUP• Springer

EBS• CRC• Palgrave

~575,000 titles

46%

36%

13%

5%

Subscription Packages• ACLS HEBS• Books 24x7• ebrary• EBSCO• Knovel• Safari

DDA• EBL• ebrary• JSTOR

EBS• CRC• Palgrave

~$600,000Perpetual Access• Duke• ebrary• EBSCO• OUP• Springer

31%

42%

21%

6%

The Potential for eBooks*

*or any other digital content

• A vast collection to meet current needs• A variety of access and selection models• Whatever is cheapest/most efficient

• Every title available as an ebook• User choice about format• Library choice for model/platform

CAN ALTERNATE MODELS WORK FOR JOURNALS (OR ARTICLES)?

Journals – Current Landscape• Big deals and aggregated subscription

packagessupplemented by

• Single-title subscriptionssupplemented by

• Article-level acquisition• On the margins• ILL• PDF purchase

The Big Deal

• Cost effective• Incredible deals for University of Denver• Lots of bang for the buck• Access to many more titles than possible with

title-by-title selection• Probably not sustainable with current

academic library budgets

Aggregator Journal Packages

• Very cost effective• Low cost per use• Access to many titles • No control over what titles are included• How much does this matter?• Embargoes

Cost Per Journal Title at the University of Denver, 2012

Journal Packages Individual Titles Aggregators ILL$0.00

$100.00

$200.00

$300.00

$400.00

$500.00

$600.00

$700.00

$800.00

$133.33

$742.27

$2.51 $3.93

Cost Per Use (Article), 2012

Journal Packages Individual Titles Aggregators ILL$0.00

$0.50

$1.00

$1.50

$2.00

$2.50

$3.00

$3.50

$4.00

$4.50

$5.00 4.7

0.26

1.83017656500803

Cost Per Use (Article), 2012

Journal Packages

Individual Titles

Aggregators ILL ILL Copyright$0.00

$5.00

$10.00

$15.00

$20.00

$25.00

$30.00

$35.00

$40.00

$45.00

4.7

0.26

1.83017656500803

41.54

HOW DO YOU REPLACE THE BIG DEAL?

Journal vs. Article

• The article is what matters• The unit most people want• (Relatively) affordable per item• Easily discoverable

Replacing the Big Deal

•Medium or small deals•More title-by-title selection• Unmediated article-level purchase

Why DDA is Ideal for Books*

• High cost per use (but cheap unit cost)• Low overall use• As percentage of collection (40% not used)• Per item (most only used 1-2 times)• High publishing output• ~1 million titles annually (UNESCO)

*But aggregated subscriptions may be even better (as with journals)

Articles (Why DDA May Not Be Ideal)

• Low cost per use (but generally expensive absolutely)• High overall use• Smaller publishing universe (but still

impossible to get it all)• ~350,000 titles (EBSCO)

New Models

• Sliding scale of prices• PDF costs more than a

read-only version

• So far, only Nature Pubs

• Similar model• Only work directly with

end users

• Article rental, fees to publisher• Based on usage• So far, only for course-

assigned materials

USAGE DATA

Usage Data: eBooks

• Project COUNTER• Standardized reports• Non-standard implementation• With ebooks, you can’t easily compare across

platforms• BR1: Number of Successful Title Requests• Only used when the entire ebook can be accessed

as one file• BR2: Number of Successful Section Requests• Vendors can define “section” but often don’t

Custom Vendor Reports

• Often more nuanced• Time in the book, number of pages printed,

etc.• Not comparable from vendor to vendor

Measuring Usage: What Matters?

• Number of uses?•Which type of use?• Cost per use?• Length of use• Value to the discipline• Redundancy/uniqueness• Important use/marginal use

Which is more important?

• Database A• Heavy use by many users• Partially duplicated by another database• Low cost per use• Database B• Heavy use by a few users• Unique content• High cost per use

THE COMPLEXITY OF E-RESOURCES

E-Resources

• Allow us to rethink the collection, and even the role of the library itself• Allow us to be more user focused• Allow us to provide content we never

could in the print world• It’s crucial to understand business and

access models• Usage is not straightforward• A nuanced view is best

Questions?Michael Levine-ClarkAssociate Dean for Scholarly Communication & Collections ServicesUniversity of Denver Librariesmichael.levine-clark@du.edu