[Original posting on this subject appeared in COLLDV-L no. 1295 and is
reproduced below; the response follows it.]
From: Mary Anne Trainor <trainor_at_fhs.csu.McMaster.CA>
I was interested to read about the efforts at the University of Kansas
Libraries to provide access to journals cancelled or not held by the
Library through a customized UnCover gateway at no cost to the user. Over
the last 5 years, the McMaster Health Sciences Library has lost over 27%
of its journal collection to cancellations. Needless to say, we are
looking for less expensive ways of providing access to journals.
Has anyone else adopted a model where the library has cancelled very high
cost core research journals such as BBA, Brain Research, Journal of
Comparative Neurology or Gene, and set aside a finite sum to subsidize or
pay for document delivery through a commercial service like UnCover or
Swetscan? If you have done this, even as a pilot project, I would be
interested in any information you could share with me.
Mary Anne Trainor Tel: 905-525-9140 x24169
Head of Acquisitions & Serials FAX: 905-528-3733
Health Sciences Library Internet:
McMaster University trainor_at_fhs.mcmaster.ca
1200 Main St. W.
Hamilton ON CANADA L8N 3Z5
===============================================================
(1) From: Alfred Kraemer <akraemer_at_post.its.mcw.edu>
A few years ago we offered a document delivery option -subsidized by a
rather low budget allocation. When the money ran out -faster than we
expected- the document delivery option was withdrawn.
I believe this experience at a time when document delivery was not
offered to soften the impact of journal cancellations, steered us away
from making document delivery an access option for canceled journal titles.
Instead, we chose to utilize one of our system's capablities and record
internal use for all of our 1,200 journal titles. This allows us to price
uses and make inevitable cancellation decisions on a rather solid basis.
(Although some uses will be missed, it is reasonable to assume that such
misses do not favor particular titles but have an even effect on all titles)
One key observation was that many high-priced journals had the number of
uses to make a subscription preferable to document delivery, this
included Brain Research, Gene, and similar titles.
Had we focussed on high-price journals only, we would have made some bad
decisions with regard to cost-effectiveness.
Also by cutting low-use titles we have -I feel- lessened the impact of
cancellations due to high journal price increases and thus not 'incurred'
an obligation to provide 'free' document delivery as an alternative to
canceled journals.
I have expressed my strong opinion against the short-sightedness of
'sweetening' journal cancellations with 'free' document-delivery.
My main concern is the clear potential for 'free' document-delivery to be
only a temporary 'fix'. Many academic libraries have not disclosed to
their patrons, library committees, etc. what the budgeted limitations for
'free' document delivery are or present an overly optimistic picture for
the current fiscal year only. If an academic library offers 'free' document
delivery in exchange for journal cuts, how can one comfortably -and with
good justification- withdraw or restrict the document delivery 'carrot'?
Such a development would certainly sour relations with faculty
representatives who may accuse librarians of an underhanded deal.
I don't want to portray document delivery as an option in view of painful
journal cuts. If there is no practical alternative method to make
inevitable journal cuts, some form of subsidized document delivery has to
be part of the picture as long as the whole picture is presented!
It seems it's still too early for empirical studies of the impact of
'free' document delivery/journal cancellations arrangements, however, I'm
very curious about their short- and intermediate term outcomes.
I hope my e-mail answers some of your concerns.
Alfred B. Kraemer
Head of Technical Services
Medical College of Wisconsin Libraries
8701 Watertown Plank Road
Milwaukee, WI 53226
(414) 456-4273
E-Mail: akraemer_at_post.its.mcw.edu
Received on Mon Jan 06 1997 - 16:57:24 EST