TFrom: "Karl E. Debus-Lopez" <ked37_at_georgetown.edu>
Georgetown University will be developing a policy to assist collection
development staff in making decisions related to electronic journal
backfile purchases. As you know, the number of backfiles that are being
offered to libraries is increasing, and, will most likely continue to
increase as publishers make their older material available online. The
backfiles are usually very expensive and it is often impossible to
determine whether the pricing has any relationship to the cost involved in
creating them. What I am interested in knowing is whether other libraries
have developed *specific* policies to help selectors evaluate potential
backfile purchases. This would be in addition to collection development
policies that determine whether the backfiles are in scope for the
collection. In many cases they are because the print was previously
purchased. How do you determine when an electronic backfile is truly
needed and takes precedence over other purchases?
Thank you,
Karl
--
Karl E. Debus-López
Associate University Librarian
for Collections and Technical Services
Georgetown University
Lauinger Library
37th & O Streets, NW
Washington, DC 20057-1174
e-mail: ked37_at_georgetown.edu
phone: (202) 687-5160
fax: (202) 687-7503
Received on Tue Jun 29 2004 - 15:35:40 EDT