2 messages:

1)----------------------------

Subject:  Re: adding online versions -- Cindy Lafferty
From:  Dan Lester <dan@riverofdata.com>
Date:  Thu, 10 Apr 2003 07:18:36 -0600

Wednesday, April 9, 2003, 8:33:03 AM, you wrote:

SC> I am new to serials and feel quite at a loss.  My boss has asked me to
SC> look into ways to determine whether we should spend money on the online
SC> versions of journals we already receive.  How do you decide if it is
SC> worth it to spend money on an online version of a journal you receive in
SC> print?

Many libraries are switching from print to electronic journals.
Instead of keeping it in both formats, you can often switch to
electronic for the same price, or sometimes even for a slightly lower
price.  You provide better access, save processing costs, and save
binding costs.  If you can get both for the same price, I can't
imagine why you wouldn't provide it in both formats.

Maybe someday the continuing change from print journals to ejournals
will end up with a standard way of pricing, doing business, and so
forth, just as we had a standard way of dealing with print journals
for many decades.

Good luck.

dan

-- Dan Lester, Data Wrangler dan@RiverOfData.com 208-283-7711 3577 East
Pecan, Boise, Idaho 83716-7115 USA www.riverofdata.com Have you
forgotten 9/11?

2)---------------------
Subject:  Re: adding online versions
From:  Patricia Thompson <pthompso@sewanee.edu>
Date:  Thu, 10 Apr 2003 08:43:57 -0500

On Wed, 9 Apr 2003 09:07:32 -0500 Cindy Lafferty wrote:
 >My boss has asked me to look into ways to determine whether we should
 >spend money on the online versions of journals we already receive.
How >do you decide if it is worth it to spend money on an online version
of >a journal you receive in print?

I am interested in others' responses to this, but I would say that you
can't answer that question in a vacuum. It has to be in context with
your whole approach to selecting journals. An online journal is often
more convenient because it's available all over campus and not just in
the library, so there is value-added for that. We generally don't
purchase online versions of journals that are available in full-text
databases that we already subscribe to. Also, many of the journals have
free online access if you already buy the print. Also, we have attempted
to find out whether an online version INSTEAD of a print version would
satisfy the needs of the faculty in a certain subject area.

At this institution, the faculty have the responsibility for selection.
Several years ago we began setting up meetings with each academic
department to talk about what they want. We prepare data on all the
subscriptions we currently have in their subject area, whether it's
online or print, the holdings available, and costs. It's a lot of work,
but it has been worth it because the faculty are happier, we know our
money is going for what they want, and we have been able to cancel some
titles, purchase others, or  switch some titles to online-only. We have
34 academic departments, and we've only done this with about 9 of them,
but we started with the sciences where the subscriptions were the most
expensive, and where the faculty were most unhappy with what they were
getting. Also, once you gather all that data and talk to them, then it's
easier to tweak things each year with cost changes, changes in faculty,
and new opportunities with consortial pricing and database deals.

It's all very complicated, of course, and takes teamwork in the library
because one person can't do it all.

Pat Thompson

Patricia R. Thompson
Head of Cataloging
Jessie Ball DuPont Library
University of the South
735 University Avenue
Sewanee, TN 37383
(931) 598-1657
pthompso@sewanee.edu