Moving to e-only from a library perspective Sarah Pearson 30 th and 31 st March 2009

Collection development principles  Web based resources are the preferred medium  Research libraries will continue to maintain hybrid collections for the foreseeable future  Budgets are designed to be responsive to changes in course contents and research directions  Negotiate greater value for money (eg through national deals)

Some statistics from UoB  24,000 free and subscribed e-journals  1,000 e-resources (340 subscribed)  4,000 e-books  eLibrary service - 70,000 logins per month  2300 print only journals

Benefits of electronic (Users)  Opening up the collection  E-delivery adds value  The big deal

Benefits of electronic (libraries)  Ease space problems in print collections  Easier to analyse usage  Necessity – publisher format shift

What are the problems?  Does technology exclude some users?  Licensing and authentication complexity  Complexity of access entitlements  VAT  More time consuming to administer

What are the problems?  Lack of control over collection development  Differing departmental priorities  Ownership  Preservation

Learning Points  Don’t expect to go completely e-only!  Usage is an important tool but don’t forget about feedback  Big deals have benefits but there are also trade-offs  Negotiate. Negotiate. Negotiate.

Thank You! Any Questions?