Sustainability in the Scholarly Information Market Place: the Search for Digital Library Business Models.
National Maritime Museum, Darling Harbour, Sydney, May 2nd 2000.
The Transition from Print to Electronic Journals: a Case Study
Neil McLeanMacquarie University
mclean@library.mq.edu.au
Introduction
This paper examines the experience of one university library, (Macquarie University Library), which has taken an aggressive approach to the provision of electronic access to full text journals. In doing so, the paper presents a case study of a partnership with Elsevier ScienceDirect in which the Library decided to subscribe to the electronic full text service for subscribed titles as a total substitute for the print subscriptions.Macquarie University: Developing Strategic Directions
In late 1993, Macquarie University Library formulated its first comprehensive Strategic Plan based on the following assumptions:- Because of its history, the Library was primarily a teaching library in terms of its collections and service priorities, although the University was specifically aiming to develop a high research profile, particularly in the areas of Science and Technology.
- There was a deep clash of values between those who wished to maintain a traditional library service and those who wished to embrace information technology and its related electronic information services.
- It was evident that, at the current rate of inflation, the cost of Science serial subscriptions would consume the entire learning materials budget by the year 2000, if no action was taken.
- There was a chronic under-investment in Library and University IT infrastructure.
- Enormous disparities were evident in terms of the ability of Library staff, academic staff and students to make effective use of IT for accessing networked information services.
- Much of the Library's resources, both human and physical, appeared to be locked into supporting traditional services.
- An aggressive approach to the development of IT infrastructure within the Library to support networked information services.
- A vigorous program of process improvement in order to 'free-up' physical and human resources.
- Comprehensive staff training programs for Library and academic staff, with a strong emphasis on the development of computer and information literacy skills.
- Electronic full text journal subscriptions as a substitution for print subscriptions wherever possible. (A resolution was passed to this effect in 1997 by the University Council).
- Customer focus as the cornerstone of all strategic planning and service delivery.
- A strong emphasis was placed on the task of 'selling' new electronic service scenarios to academic staff.
- Realignment of resources at 5% a year for five years.
The challenges presented by these strategic directions were formidable and it has been a constant struggle in the ensuing years to harness the profound organisational change implied in adopting such an ambitious agenda.
The partnership with Elsevier ScienceDirect arose naturally out of this strategic agenda in 1998 and this paper describes the nature of the partnership and the tentative outcomes based on the first twelve months of usage data.
The Macquarie University Library - Elsevier ScienceDirect Partnership
The partnership with Elsevier ScienceDirect was a natural outcome of our strategic agenda because of the following factors:- the Elsevier journals subscribed to by the Library (157) formed the most expensive segment of the total learning materials budget
- they were strategically important because they supported the most successful research centres and departments within the University
- these particular academic communities were prepared to take the risk of being totally reliant on the electronic full text service
- the deal fulfilled a key Library objective of trying to 'cap' the constant inflation creep inherent in the print subscription regime
- the technological infrastructure was in place to deliver the service to the desktop
- the discontinuation of the print subscriptions would ease the growing space problem in the Library.
The crux of the agreement was that the Library would retain a level of financial equity over a two year deal, which would be based on the value of the existing subscriptions, although these could be subject to change in the second year of the partnership.
The Science community would have access to a certain number of articles free of charge from the unsubscribed titles in ScienceDirect. Use over and above this agreed level was set at US$15 per article.
Elsevier ScienceDirect agreed to provide detailed usage statistics of every title on the database.
As the database was still under development, the contract stipulated that the Library could request hardcopy provision of titles which were not up-to-date for any reason.
Perhaps the most interesting area in terms of reaching agreement was that relating to archiving. This was a sensitive matter which was 'dear-to-the-heart' of those few academics who saw this change in direction as a threat and it was also a matter of concern to some librarians who felt they were becoming hostages to an unknowable electronic future. At this particular time, Elsevier ScienceDirect had no archiving policy, so it was largely taken as an act of faith that Elsevier ScienceDirect would develop a satisfactory policy in response to market forces.
There was a further caveat that the Library would receive all 1999 and 2000 back issues in print format, should the agreement between the two parties be terminated for any reason.
The partnership offered benefits to both parties because it was an opportunity to explore the implications of ScienceDirect as an electronic-only option and this resulted in a financial deal which proved satisfactory to both parties.
Such was the mutual confidence between the two parties that it was agreed that a seminar would be held during the second year to reveal the usage data and usage patterns, to share perceptions on service delivery matters and, most importantly, to explore new pricing models based on the Macquarie experience.
Implementation Strategies
The initial implementation of ScienceDirect was primarily directed at academic staff and postgraduate students in the Science based Divisions and Departments of the University.The subscribed titles were freely available to all staff and students through the normal IP range but access to the unsubscribed titles was via a login and password which were issued to academic staff and postgraduate students on request. The use of the login and password mechanisms was aimed at a notional control of the so-called 'free' access to the unsubscribed titles.
Elsevier ScienceDirect gave considerable assistance in mounting a fairly extensive publicity program and accompanying training sessions.
During the second half of the year, lists of ScienceDirect journals relevant to each College of the University were distributed by the Academic Outreach Librarians and this resulted in more use by postgraduate students in the Graduate School of Management and the College of Commerce. Logins and passwords for remote access were distributed to groups in Singapore and Hong Kong for the Graduate School of Management, the Centre for Money, Banking and Finance and the Master of Applied Linguistics.
A University-based ScienceDirect User Group was established as an email discussion list where announcements could be posted and feedback could be received and collated. The overwhelming response to the service was favourable and the list gradually declined in activity as ScienceDirect became part of the general 'suite' of online information resources.
Assessing Usage Patterns
A number of qualifications have to be made in presenting the preliminary findings from the first twelve months of usage data, namely:- the sample size is still relatively small and should be treated with some caution, given the varying rates of take up by the academic community
- the first year of operation was confined mainly to the academic and postgraduate Science community
- the prospect of a US$15 dollar charge for articles from unsubscribed titles may have had an inhibiting effect on use by some customers, but not others
- the agreement to open the entire database to the total Macquarie community in January 2000 changed the usage patterns and the measures in place under the original agreement.
It is emphasised, therefore, that the figures have to be treated with a degree of caution although the resulting trends have great significance for modelling the next phase of service development.
Usage Trends
The usage trends are summarised in figures 1-3 and brief a commentary is provided on each set of data.
TABLE 1.Usage Patterns for Subscribed Titles:
|
| Subscribed titles 184
A total of 14005 articles were accessed. (html or pdf) Usage range per title = 0 - 635 43 titles (23%) had more than 100 articles accessed per title. Based on a transactional cost of US$15, 81 titles (44%) paid for their subscription value. Based on the US$15 transactional charge, only 6 out of 31 (19.5%) titles priced at over US$2000 appeared to pay their way on a subscription basis. 37 titles (20%) had less than 12.5 uses per title. 14 of the 37 titles (38%) in the less than 12.5 use per title sector cost more than US$1000 per title. The top 38 titles (20.5%) accounted for 66% of use. |
The most salutary lesson to be learnt from this analysis is that librarians and academic staff appear to have been 'locked-in' to historical views of relevance in terms of journal title selection. There are a significant number of titles (some very expensive titles included) which had little or no use. It is revealing also to see that, based on Elsevier ScienceDirect's transaction value of US$15 per article, only 44% of titles appeared to pay for their subscription value. More importantly only 31 (19.5%) of titles priced at over US$2000 appeared to pay their way on a subscription basis.
TABLE 2.Usage Patterns for Unsubscribed Titles:
|
| Approximately 1100 unsubscribed titles.
A total of 6480 articles were accessed (html or pdf). 337 titles were accessed. Usage range per title = 1 - 254 Most use was in the range 1-5 articles per title |
This usage pattern further confirms the theory that the traditional pattern of subscribing to particular titles is probably unsustainable in terms of accessibility or value for money. This analysis shows that (even allowing for the US$15 per article charge) 31.5% of usage was from unsubscribed titles.
TABLE 3.Usage Patterns for Access to Complete Range of Titles by Total University Population in February 2000 |
| 1989 articles were accessed. (html or pdf)
522 unsubscribed titles were accessed. (html or pdf) 125 titles were accessed for the first time. |
This particular set of figures needs to be treated with great caution, however, it confirms the fact that unrestricted access encourages a much wider use of titles and is likely to generate a much higher number of annual transactions.
Conclusion
The partnership with Elsevier ScienceDirect has provided invaluable usage data of journal titles in a totally electronic environment. Even allowing for the caveats attached to the statistical analyses, there appears to be a strong case, based on the limited Macquarie experience, for rethinking the subscribed list of titles as a basis for a pricing model. This implies a new model using transactional access to the total database as a key determinant for pricing structures.
Copyright © Neil McLean 2000.All rights reserved.
mclean@library.mq.edu.au
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