Evolving Digital Collections at the Harvard Science Libraries: A Perspective By Michael Leach Head, Collection Development Cabot Science Library Harvard University

Overview Indexes/Abstracts eJournals eBooks Data Integration M. Leach 1 June 20122

Indexes/Abstracts Talking about INSPEC, BIOSIS, PsychInfo, Web of Science/Knowledge, etc. Seeing a drop in usage for some of the specific, subject based packages ◦ May cancel some in near future (2-3 yrs) WOS still have heavy/increased usage GoogleScholar is fast becoming the “replacement” for many Indexes/Abstracts M. Leach 1 June 20123

eJournals Cancelling print in favor of “e” ◦ Like most libraries New titles only “purchased” in “e” ◦ Yes, we still get new materials Budget restrictions ◦ Again, like most libraries Evaluation of titles and packages ongoing ◦ Cancellations are ongoing M. Leach 1 June 20124

eJournal Packages Some are “complete” ◦ E.g. Springer Others are title-by-title ◦ E.g. Elsevier Most “big package” deals are: ◦ One year ◦ Negotiated every year  Internally & externally  Harvard Library is a “consortium” unto itself M. Leach 1 June 20125

eJournal Packages Increasing use each year ◦ Based on COUNTER reports Drop in cost/use for most packages ◦ Of course, package cost goes up each year Overlap between publisher and aggregator packages are a concern M. Leach 1 June 20126

eBooks Currently have packages from Springer, Oxford U. Press, Safari, etc. Many individual titles “purchased” Also have aggregator purchases ◦ Issues of overlap No patron driven acquisitions ◦ Due to complexity of internal collection $$ M. Leach 1 June 20127

eBooks Heavy usage (COUNTER) ◦ Especially Safari! Cost/use on par with eJournals Use of “package titles” showing unexpected subject area usage ◦ E.g. urban environments MARC records from vendors/publishers ◦ Quality varies M. Leach 1 June 20128

eBooks Challenges regarding addition of new titles to a given package/platform ◦ And removal of titles  E.g. the “Safari” issue Printing can also be an issue: ◦ Some platforms limit amount ◦ Chapter by chapter vs. whole book When to get print vs. “e” ◦ Or get both! M. Leach 1 June 20129

Data Data Management is in its “infancy” ◦ Pilot projects have begun  E.g. Dataverse Trained librarians is an issue ◦ We have a “core” but need many more ◦ Train-the-trainer has begun Outreach to faculty ◦ Challenging! M. Leach 1 June

Data Continued Metadata ◦ Hard to gather automatically ◦ Manual entry is labor intensive Level of “preservation” ◦ Have yet to detail ◦ Working on “procedures” Costs: still unknown ◦ Especially over time M. Leach 1 June

Integration Access is still a challenge ◦ ILS is primary platform ◦ “e-resource” discovery page(s) ◦ Google/Scholar Patrons appear to want seamless access ◦ Regardless of format or type of info/data ◦ And managed by various citation and similar tools (RefWorks, Mendeley, etc.) M. Leach 1 June

Thank you! Contact information: Michael Leach M. Leach 1 June