Canceling electronic resources/databases: What criteria do you use?

[Schuster, Janice]

Dear ERMIG colleagues,

We are trying to formalize how we decide which electronic resource/database subscriptions to recommend canceling. We currently use cost per use data from my annual usage data analysis as well as anecdotal information from our Research & Education librarians and others about how the resource is being used. But we would like to have more criteria spelled out to focus our decisions in the future.

 

Here are some criteria that come to mind:

• Cost per use data
• How do we think or know it is being used?
• Trends in cost increases
• Trends in cost per use data
• Does the resource still fit in with our curriculum?
• Is it needed for accreditation?
• Who requested that we subscribe?

 

What criteria do you use?

 

Thank you for your insights!

 

Janice

 

 Janice G. Schuster, M.L.S.  
 Electronic Resources & Serials Librarian / Associate Professor
 Phillips Memorial Library / Providence College   

 One Cunningham Square, Providence, RI 02918 
 Janice....@providence.edu      

 401-865-2631 office / 508-801-8414 cell    

 https://works.bepress.com/janice_schuster/    

 

 

 

 

 

 

[Wentz, Erin]

Hi Janice,

Some of the other criteria we consider are:

• how easy it would be to obtain the content through interlibrary loan or pay-per-use options. Content that cannot be loaned, is only carried by a small number of libraries, or that requires extra hoops may be worth retaining.
• the sheer volume of use. Sometimes, a subscription is well used but just has a large price tag. If cancelling the title will save on a collections budget, but create huge amounts of labor for our interlibrary loan staff, it may be better to keep the subscription.
• the size of the program. Some of our programs are tiny, but still need to be supported. We are more likely to keep a low-usage subscription for those programs than for larger programs.
• uniqueness. It is easier to cancel something if similar content is available from other sources. 

Happy planning,

Erin

---

From: acrl-ne...@googlegroups.com <acrl-ne...@googlegroups.com> on behalf of Schuster, Janice <JSCH...@providence.edu>
Sent: Thursday, August 12, 2021 5:29 PM
To: acrl-ne...@googlegroups.com <acrl-ne...@googlegroups.com>
Subject: [EXT]: {ACRL NEC ERMIG} Canceling electronic resources/databases: What criteria do you use?

 

CAUTION: This email originated from outside the organization. Do not click links or open attachments unless you recognize the sender and know the content is safe.

--
You received this message because you are subscribed to the Google Groups "ACRL NEC ERMIG" group.
To unsubscribe from this group and stop receiving emails from it, send an email to acrl-nec-ermi...@googlegroups.com.
To view this discussion on the web visit https://groups.google.com/d/msgid/acrl-nec-ermig/DM6PR01MB36609EFAEB327DC89E90AB82A9F99%40DM6PR01MB3660.prod.exchangelabs.com.

 
 
Erin Wentz
Electronic Resources Librarian, Assistant Professor
Library and Learning Resources
MCPHS University
179 Longwood Avenue | Boston MA 02115
erin....@mcphs.edu

[Berens, Patricia]

Hello all,

 

Another set of considerations are user-related and technical, for example, user interface, ease of searching, discoverability, direct linking, authentication issues, interface issues, and vendor support.  Resources developed primarily for the corporate market don’t always function so well in the academic environment from a technical standpoint.  While these might be secondary considerations, they all contribute to the overall assessment of a resource, and these problems contribute to declines in usage.

 

Patricia

***************************************************

Patricia Berens

Horn Library

- Content Management & Research Librarian

- Economics & Finance Liaison

Babson College

pbe...@babson.edu

To view this discussion on the web visit https://groups.google.com/d/msgid/acrl-nec-ermig/MN2PR12MB4469E384F1C3283E2D1C878F89F99%40MN2PR12MB4469.namprd12.prod.outlook.com.