1 A New Paradigm for Assessing the Potential of a Digital Resource: The Paid Trial Lee A. Pedersen, Brown University Sasha Gurke, Knovel Corporation ASEE 2007

2 Knovel Library

3 Interactive Tables and Graphs

4 Brown University Stats: Entire University  Undergraduates – 6146  Graduates & Medical students – 2094  Faculty – 684 Chemistry & Engineering  Undergraduates (declared) –178  Graduates – 153  Faculty – 56

5 Library Budget & Acquisitions: Total collections budget $7.8 M Books only $2.1 M Chemistry & eng. acquisitions  Books $28,500  Serials ~$800,000 Total book titles added >40,000 STM titles added >3200 Knovel titles 746 (>20% increase in STM new titles)

6 Brown – Knovel Chronology: 2005 Jan – K-Essentials May – training workshop for chemistry and engineering constituents Jun – one-month free trial Aug – allocated $2000 from book money for semester trial Sep – Beginning of semester paid trial Nov – E-resources vendor fair and training workshop Dec – End of trial; commitment to year’s subscription

7 User Sessions: 2005

8 Secure Title Visits: 2005 Trials

9 User Sessions: Fall 2005 vs. 2006

10 Usage Stats: Fall 2005 vs Sessions* All Content % Growth Title Visits* Secure Content % Growth Session Length* (min.) * Monthly average

11 Growth of Knovel Content YearMonth All Titles Interactive Titles 2005Sep Jan Dec102572

12 Lessons Learned One month - inadequate timeframe to capture chemistry and engineering interest One semester - too long to provide free access by the vendor Compromise of paying for a trial - gamble that paid off in internal support to fund the subscription Cost of paid trial – reasonable Effort to promote - continuous

13 Benefits of the Collaboration Reliable data for a big investment Incentive to budget for promotion on campus $2000 invested to have time to  Promote among end-users  Round up a budget  Collect and analyze usage data Immediate access for constituents

14 The Story Goes On Now in the serials budget Included in a class assignment Use has gone thru the roof