Hi,

I would caution about cancelling titles in aggregator databases. Full text of titles can be embargoed or pulled out by publishers with little to no warning. Even with warning, you may not be aware which titles are held precious by the faculty and there'll be a lot of consternation down the road.

We had a situation recently where a faculty member was quite upset that current content of his favorite journals were no longer available. A publisher had yanked one and embargoed the other, and we had to subscribe to the titles independently on the publisher's platform.

Additionally, there is nothing to stop an aggregator from pulling out titles from a database you subscribe from and putting them in another database you don't subscribe to, or a database that you just have indexing for. Then you are in a bind.

This has happened with another professor's favorite journal -- full text was moved exclusively into a database that's already overpriced for just indexing.  We had canceled the print, but we chose to resubscribe to the print title rather than pony up thousands for the full-text level database. More recently, I noticed a number of journals were moved out from a large DB into another, new one that the aggregator is trying to sell.

BTW, on the subject of storage: we could participate in a shared storage system that promises fast document delivery.  We've thought about storing some bound periodical volumes that are in EBSCO.  But our space isn't quite so tight as to force us to undertake this, yet. (JSTOR withdrawal projects and print subscription cancellations are helping to ease the demand for shelf space).

--

Diane Westerfield, Electronic Resources & Serials Librarian
Tutt Library, Colorado College
diane.westerfield@coloradocollege.edu
(719) 389-6661
(719) 389-6082 (fax)

-----Original Message-----
From: SERIALST: Serials in Libraries Discussion Forum [mailto:SERIALST@list.uvm.edu] On Behalf Of Abbigail C Gregg
Sent: Wednesday, January 09, 2013 10:14 AM
To: SERIALST@LIST.UVM.EDU
Subject: Re: [SERIALST] checklist for priority titles?

Good afternoon!

I'm glad you found my email informative.  With regard to your questions, it very much depends on the title, its importance and its cost.  If it's in a database we get through Ebsco like ASC or Business Search Premier, it's pretty much guaranteed that it will be cancelled.  We haven't had to worry as much about publisher databases, but I think that if the title was expensive enough, we would likely cancel it and reconsider if the publisher decided to change their policy.  Like I said, it would probably depend on how critical the title was.  We have to weigh the concerns about perpetual access with cost.  Cost often wins.  We are also looking at more stable databases like JSTOR to deal with the concerns about the title being pulled.  We haven't had too many problems with loss of older material due to rolling access because we usually don't cancel unless we have archives access in our databases, so I don't have much insight into that situation.  Embargoed material will still be!
  cancelled in some situations.  We haven't gotten rid of any print archives yet and probably wouldn't unless we had a big space issue to consider.

Abbi

-----Original Message-----
From: SERIALST: Serials in Libraries Discussion Forum [mailto:SERIALST@list.uvm.edu] On Behalf Of Heather Shore
Sent: Wednesday, January 09, 2013 10:35 AM
To: SERIALST@LIST.UVM.EDU
Subject: Re: [SERIALST] checklist for priority titles?

Good morning Abbigail,

Many thanks for your email.
It is heartening to hear that you had good response from your profs.
I also compile a complete list of titles, broken down by department and send them once a year to our departmental representatives.  It is requested that they peruse the titles for their department to determine whether the current titles support course and research needs.  At this time, they may cancel and request new titles to reflect changes in the courses/curriculum.  Generally speaking, I receive "renew as is", 2-3 weeks beyond the stated deadline for renewals, and although it may not be a fair statement, I ponder whether the list has been given much consideration.  Particularly when we have some humanities titles that are 1-4 years behind/delayed in publication, and not one person has ever asked about the most current issue(s).

Your point with respect to journals from other departments being useful in multiple departments is well taken.
It may well be worthwhile for us to ask the professors to peruse all titles and to note which titles "owned" by other departments are valuable/useful for them as well, in case the "owning" department chooses to cancel that specific title.

Questions for you:
You mentioned that if a title is expensive, and in a database, the individual title is cancelled.
Do you differentiate between aggregated databases like Academic Search Premiere (Ebsco) and publisher databases like Wiley-Blackwell when determining a course of action.
Are there concerns for perpetual access and whether or not the title may be pulled out of the database?
Have you had problems with "rolling walls" and the loss of older material?
If the title is in the database, and an embargo is in place (for, say, 6-12 months), would the title still be cancelled?

Additionally, if your institution were to cancel a print title based on database access that has many years of coverage, would you get rid of the physical print issues that are covered in the database?

Sorry to be so long winded here.
Your email and information is very much appreciated.
Thank you again.
Sincerely,
Heather
________________________________________
From: SERIALST: Serials in Libraries Discussion Forum [SERIALST@list.uvm.edu] on behalf of Abbigail C Gregg [acgregg@GENEVA.EDU]
Sent: January-08-13 1:51 PM
To: SERIALST@LIST.UVM.EDU
Subject: Re: [SERIALST] checklist for priority titles?

We are currently doing that right now as well.  The most important thing for us was to know what was required for accreditation purposes and what professors use most.  I compiled a list of titles for each department based on our coding system and sent them out to whoever was the dept secretary so that she could then forward it to the profs for evaluation.  I got more of a response than I thought I would, and some good backing for some of the more expensive titles, especially in the sciences.  Another benefit of doing this was that some profs were exposed to titles that they didn't even know we had, and were excited to use them.  Another important criteria for whether to cancel or not is what kind of online access we have.  If it's expensive and it's in a database, we cancel.

Abbigail Gregg
Library Technician
Geneva College - McCartney Library
acgregg@geneva.edu
724-847-6693

-----Original Message-----
From: SERIALST: Serials in Libraries Discussion Forum [mailto:SERIALST@list.uvm.edu] On Behalf Of Heather Shore
Sent: Tuesday, January 08, 2013 12:19 PM
To: SERIALST@LIST.UVM.EDU
Subject: [SERIALST] checklist for priority titles?

Hello,

We are working towards doing an evaluation of our current journal subscriptions, to ensure that they are indeed required/useful for our academic departments.
I am trying to create a "checklist" of categories in order to establish a priority list of titles for each department in the event that titles may have to be cancelled due to budget cuts.  It is understood that the departments themselves would be contacted for their input, and it would be helpful to have a guiding document.

Currently, there is no collection development policy to address journal subscriptions.
Degrees are granted at all three levels, but not for all departments.

Has anyone done this sort of exercise before?
Would you please be kind enough to share ideas for such a "checklist" and your experience?

Your input, experience and ideas would be very much appreciated.

Thank you.

Sincerely, Heather

Heather Shore
Serials Specialist/ Spécialiste Des
Périodiques
Massey Library / Bibliothèque Massey
Royal Military College of Canada / Collège militaire royal du Canada National Defence /  Défense nationale PO Box 17000, Station Forces / CP 17000, Succursale Forces Kingston, Ontario , Canada K7K 7B4 heather.shore@rmc.ca Telephone / Téléphone 613-541-6000 x 6666 / Facsimile / Télécopieur 613-540-8077 Government of Canada / Gouvernement du Canada

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