Original post:
On Mon, Oct 13, 2014 at 3:25 PM, John P. Abbott <abbottjp_at_appstate.edu
<mailto:abbottjp_at_appstate.edu>> wrote:
Assessing Print Journal Usage? From: Maris Hayashi <mhayashi_at_fau.edu
<mailto:mhayashi_at_fau.edu>>
Greetings,
How do you assess print journal usage at your library? What methods do
you use to evaluate usage? I am primarily interested in hearing from
libraries that undertake (or have undertaken) assessments of current
print journal subscriptions. How do you determine whether or not a print
only title should be renewed each year?
We currently don't have a way to track usage of print journals since
they are non-circulating and are shelved within the general circulating
collection. Plus, we do not keep statistics on titles that have been
reshelved. (Using a non-scientific method, I've physically gone to the
stacks to see if the issues look like they have been touched in the last
few months, or if they appear to have layers of dust, which they usually
do.)
Our library no longer provides quiet reading spaces where faculty can
come and read the latest issues of these journals. So, we are left to
wonder if the titles are getting used and if there is any justification
for renewing them each year. We speak with faculty and get their input,
but they let us know that the print journals are important and that they
should be renewed each year even when we explain that our materials
budget has remained flat, subscription prices have increased, and we're
finding it more and more difficult to add new material. When times are
tough and cutbacks have to be made, the STEM faculty are fine if we use
their book budget for journals, but faculty in some of the social
sciences, arts, and humanities are more hesitant and insistent that the
books AND print journals are necessities.
I should note that we go with e-only titles, when they are available per
our collection development policy, but some titles in literature
(English and non-English languages), business, education, and,
surprisingly, science are only available in print format.
Any insights, suggestions, anecdotes, or advice on how you've handled
reviews of your current print journal subscriptions are appreciated.
Thank you,
Maris Hayashi, MA, MLS
Head, Collection Development / Associate Librarian
Florida Atlantic University | Wimberly Library
Boca Raton, Florida 33431
==#1==
From:
Kathleen Baril <k-baril_at_onu.edu>
We have undergone several reviews of both print and electronic journal
subscriptions. Here are some of the things we did.
1. We are lucky in that we keep in house use counts for our print
journals. We ask patrons not to reshelve print materials whether in
reference or print journals and carts are kept in these areas and
brought to the Circulation Desk and scanned. Our student workers also
regularly walk around during the day and pick up materials laying around
and they are brought back to the Circulation Desk and scanned.
Obviously this is not an entirely accurate count but it does give us an
idea of how much the print materials are being used. Our stats show for
the most part, the print journals are rarely used. I don't not know if
your ILS could keep track or if this process would be too labor intensive.
2. For the most part, we have eliminated any print journals that we are
getting online subscriptions to, we had been getting dual formats for
some materials but not anymore. In some cases where the usage is
really low, if the journal is readily available in several databases, we
have cut the print journals.
I wish I had better advice, in general at our institution no one is
using the print materials unless they have to and we have not had any
strong objections once we were able to show the faculty our statistics
on the print journals. Interlibrary loan is much faster than it was in
the past also and I have had several professors remark this process is
adequate for their needs. That said, with a tight budget here, we will
have to make some hard decisions regarding journals once again this year.
Good luck,
Kathleen Baril
Director and Collections and Electronic Resources Librarian
Heterick Memorial Library
Ohio Northern University
419-772-2188
==#2==
From:
Jonathan Harwell <JHARWELL_at_Rollins.edu>
Hi Maris,
We've moved nearly all of our subscriptions to e-only. We still have some in print that are cheaper in that format or not available electronically. In terms of renewal decisions, we survey the faculty each year with a list of individual subscriptions by department, including cost and usage. We highlight titles that are high-cost, low-use, and low-impact, and we review those more critically for possible cancellation. We generate this list with the OARS open-source software that a colleague, Geoff Timms of Mercer University, and I developed to manage subscription reviews. It's freely available athttp://libraries.mercer.edu/services-technology/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.
Hope this helps,
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
==#3==
From:
"Brian C. Gray" <bcg8_at_case.edu>
We seal an edge of loose journals with a sticker like is used by postal
mail. When the loose issues are bound, we track how many issues are not
used versus the seal is broken. It does not give us an idea of how much
use but lets us identify no use titles.
Our loose issues are shelved with the bound, so often users put back on
the shelf or that is is what the faculty were claiming. We now have
evidence of no use in making decisions.
Brian
Brian C. Gray, MLIS
Team Leader, Research Services
Librarian: Chemical Engineering and Macromolecular Science & Engineering
Email: brian.c.gray_at_case.edu <mailto:brian.c.gray_at_case.edu>
Blog: http://blog.case.edu/bcg8/
Kelvin Smith Library 201-I
Office hours in Nord Hall:
http://researchguides.case.edu/profile/bcg8
Case Western Reserve University
Kelvin Smith Library
11055 Euclid Avenue
Cleveland, Ohio 44106-7151
Phone: (216) 368-8685
Received on Wed Oct 15 2014 - 10:10:58 EDT