Building a valuable backfiles collection

We digitised all Elsevier owned journals from 1994 back to volume 1 number 1 –1800 titles + discontinued, changed and split titles –Compiled and sold as complete subject packages Backfiles Project on ScienceDirect

Back Files Imagine having the ability to search a historical scientific archive of over 4 million articles directly from your desktop. This is exactly what the Science Direct back files program makes possible.

Accessing archives from the convenience of your desktop The back files program give researchers access to over a century of scientific progress directly More than full text articles from their desktop. They can use ScienceDirect's advanced functionality to search scientific articles from the 19th to the 21st century Back files availability for researchers usually increase the usage up to approximately 30%

So far….. 29 backfile packages launched.

Key Benefits Desktop access to historical data dating back to e.g., The Lancet-1823 One time purchase – no recurring fees Lighten physical archive by tons of paper (kilometres of shelf space ! ) Internal links and CrossRef enabled Free access to > 7 million abstracts The answer, or contingency plan in case disaster hits………

National Bosnian Library: the rubble is books & journals

What will happen, after Tehran possible earthquake ?!!!

Back-Files in Perspective Radarweg 29 Amsterdam 98 meters 25 floors 7 million articles = 62 million pages = 31 million doublesided sheets = 3.3 kilometers = 34 Elsevier Buildings

Are ScienceDirect customers who have purchased backfiles experiencing similar usage? Let’s take a look

Percentage backfile usage of total subject usage 2004 Launched in 2002 Launched in 2001 Launched in 2003 Launched in 2004

Backfile Usage in 2005 at Three Major Universities

The University of Cincinnati estimates that half of its online backfile collection is new material within the library. The delivery of historical information makes new discoveries possible. The “instant gratification” of desktop access and ease of use is greatly valued. (University of Cincinnati) Quotes from the White Paper The value of online journal backfiles to university libraries

“in the print world it was very difficult to determine whether you wanted a particular article from But with the enhanced searching capability, the ability to really interrogate the content of these journals, you can become aware of articles that you didn’t know you needed” (University of Nevada, Reno).

“We were able to save a lot of space. If it is in the Elsevier backfiles,there is no need to have it on campus”. (University of Cincinnati) “The backfiles just came at a point of salvation…the backfiles frankly are a godsend” to the library at Manchester. They needed to create space. (University of Manchester) Quotes from the White Paper The value of online journal backfiles to university libraries

Usage of electronic backfile articles at the university is % of our total full-text article usage; we have seen document delivery and inter-library loans drop by nearly 40% in two years, and photocopying has reduced by a quarter over all journal articles.” (University of Manchester) Quotes from the White Paper The value of online journal backfiles to university libraries

The Number of Downloaded Articles from Elsevier Based on Different Years

The Number of Articles of 5 Main Iranian Universities in ISI

Correlation Coefficient Between X & Y for 5 Main Iranian Universities X = The Number of Downloaded Articles from Elsevier Y = The Number of Indexed Articles in ISI Y XPearson Correlation.852 Sig. (2-tailed).000 N40

21 Articles published in Iran

22 Articles published by Iranian institutions

Step Change/ Transformation Re-birth Incremental Change

Current Usage of University X

Return On Investment calculator for Back files The calculation is: ILL costs = 25% number of current FTA requests * $15.00 (the ILL price) ROI (in years) = (Price back file) / (price ILL) University X has downloads on current content. Expected usage on the back file: annually Alternative costs via Document Delivery: * 15 US = US Assume you invest US in Back files : Your pay back period is: / = 2 years. From then onwards: ONLY savings!

So, was ScienceDirect built easily and cheaply …. in a garage perhaps………?

13 Mainframe computers

Rows of Servers

Storage in Petabytes!

Electronic Warehouse …. growing at 1000 articles per day…

Technology Investments - Storage 90 Terabytes of Data Storage 1.2 Petabytes of Tape Storage 1 Petabyte = 1,000 Terabytes = 1,000,000 Gigabytes = 1,000,000,000 Megabytes 90 Terabytes of Data Storage 1.2 Petabytes of Tape Storage 1 Petabyte = 1,000 Terabytes = 1,000,000 Gigabytes = 1,000,000,000 Megabytes

Chilled Water Plant Enough water to fill an average swimming pool every 8 minutes Chilled water tank – fills average swimming pool every 8 mins

Generators 99.6% performance reliability or 2 hrs down/month including planned down time Users know they can rely on ScienceDirect

Wet cell batteries– just in case……

Any Questions? Thank You!