Evaluating the Risks & Benefits of
Going E-only
UNY Science Librarians Meeting
Oct. 21, 2005
A. Ben Wagner, Sciences Librarian
abwagner@buffalo.edu
Science & Engineering Library
UB Arts and Sciences Libraries
E-only journals – The Issues
 Print-electronic
version equivalence
 Continuing access/archival rights
 Fair use/’walk in’ use/ILL
 Cost savings
 Reliability/Backup (mirror sites, 3rd
party archive, escrow arrangements)
Approach 1 – Semi-Quantitative
Form 1
 Quick
Screen Form
 Two “show stoppers”
– Does publisher offer e-only option?
– Is there at least a small cost savings?
 Ownership
of content options
 Assurance of continued access to
content (esp. if subs. cancelled at
future date)
Approach 1– Semi-quantitative
Form 2
 Column
1: 13 criteria
 Column 2: Point weights for criteria
 Column 3-5: Safe, ‘Iffy’, Unsafe
 Each
institution/librarian should
customize weights to their situation.
Approach 2 - Descriptive
1-2 page document for each publisher
 Content
 Quality
 License/Vendor/Publisher/Tech
Requirements
 Access
 Archiving
 Notes
Approach 2 - Descriptive
 Discussed
 General
at an ASL-wide meeting.
decision - go e-only or not.
 Subject
selectors could select specific
titles to “opt-out” of going e-only.
A
brief justification required to “optout”.
Reference - Going E-only
 Generally
same criteria, but different
weights.
 Continuing access less important –
most reference works become dated.
 Ease-of-use/navigation/search tools
for work much more important.
 Use restrictions more important.
 Upfront vs. annual pricing models.
The Rock and the Hard Place
Given library budgets:
 Going
to e-only reference means
wider access/more use of fewer
works, versus
 Staying with print means more
resources, but less use/access.
One more tool - Analyze
 SciFinder,
Web of Knowledge, & EI
Village II – analyze by journal name
 Identify journals your
dept./organization publishes in.
 For a given subject, what journals
your library should have.
 What journals you can cancel.
SciFinder Analyze 2004-05
Carbon Nanotubes
1.
2.
3.
4.
5.
6.
7.
8.
Jpn. Kokai Tokkyo Koho 344
Carbon 289
Phys. Rev. B: Condens. Matter Mat. 272
Los Alamos Prepr. Arch. Cond. Matt. 215
J. Phys. Chem. B 201
U.S. Pat. Appl. Publ. 184
Appl. Phys. Lett. 183
PCT Int. Appl. 156
SciFinder Analyze 2004-05
Carbon Nanotubes
9) Chem. Phys. Lett. 147
10) Abstracts, 227th ACS Nat. Mtg 146
11) Abstracts, 229th ACS Nat. Mtg 126
12) Nano Lett. 122
13) Phys. Rev. Lett. 121
14) Diamond Relat. Mater. 100
15) J. Am. Chem. Soc. 100
16) AIP Conf. Proc. 98