OP:
Cancellation decisions
From: Sarah Hamrick<sarah.hamrick_at_gallaudet.edu>
Hi all -- My library is faced with a major budget cut and we will need to cancel some of our electronic subscriptions -- both e-journals and databases. We're looking at usage and considering how broadly each title serves our user population.
Have any of you created formulas or other systems that you use to decide which electronic resources to cancel? Any information you can share will be much appreciated.
Sarah Hamrick
-- Sarah E. Hamrick Director of Library Public Services Gallaudet
University Library 800 Florida Avenue NE Washington, DC 20002 (202)
651-5214 V sarah.hamrick_at_gallaudet.edu
------------------------------------------
#1
CDL: Cancellation decisions?
From:
Steven Knowlton <steven_knowlton_at_hotmail.com>
The California Digital Library has created a Weighted Value Algorithm
that is highly useful for determining the value of a title to your
institution.
Their site is at
http://www.cdlib.org/cdlinfo/2012/02/13/calculating-scholarly-journal-value-through-objective-metrics/
But if you'd like to read an article that discusses its use in a
research project, please see:
*Knowlton, Steven A., Adam C. Sales and Kevin W. Merriman.**"A
Comparison of Faculty and Bibliometric Valuation of Serials
Subscriptions at an Academic Research Library."**/Serials Review/ 40,
no.1 (2014): 28-39.
#2
*
RE: Cancellation decisions?
From:
Jonathan Harwell <JHARWELL_at_Rollins.edu>
Hi Sarah,
A librarian colleague came up with the idea of streamlining the serials review process by creating a system to manage the data and recommend titles to consider for cancellation, based on all these factors. Another librarian colleague, Geoffrey Timms of Mercer University, went to work on creating this system. Geoff and I talked a lot about the specifications, how we wanted it to work, and the importance of making it user-friendly and available for free to libraries. We came to call it OARS: the Ongoing/Online Automated Review System. I've tested it with the collections of two very different libraries where I've worked-- one much larger than the other. My colleagues and I have found it invaluable for taking a large set of data and getting a big-picture view, resulting in an easy way to generate a list of titles to review for possible cancellation (the "low-hanging fruit" we're always trying to identify). Upload the data in an Excel template. Need to cut a certain dollar amount
, or a certain percentage? Just pop that in, adjust the weights as you like, and there's your list of low-hanging fruit for librarians and faculty to evaluate.
Check it out for yourself athttp://libraries.mercer.edu/tarver/about/library-innovations/oars-online-automated-review-system
See the "About OARS" link or our Charleston Conference paper athttp://docs.lib.purdue.edu/cgi/viewcontent.cgi?article=1114&context=charleston for a full explanation of how it works. You're more than welcome to use (and modify) it for free. You're even more welcome to think about, and improve on, the concept of how we took data items and melded them with a flexible weighting mechanism.
Geoff believes that the infrastructure he created is already dated, and that interested librarians might work with their Systems Departments to devise a system which works for them in their contexts. There's nothing really complicated about it. It involves entering and storing data and then running the OARS report. The OARS report is where our concept is utilized. For example, a similar system could be built by creating the structure in the Python-based Django (with a PGSQL database) which offers an out of the box administrative backend and convenient form generation. You could also do something similar by just using Access.
If it looks like an idea that works, use it. Play with it. Spread the word. And salute Geoff for his hard work!
Cheers,
Jonathan
**************************
Jonathan H. Harwell
Head of Collections and Systems
Olin Library
Rollins College
1000 Holt Avenue
Winter Park, FL 32789
jharwell_at_rollins.edu
(407) 646-2148
Received on Fri Jun 20 2014 - 03:01:33 EDT