An Electronic Journal Impact Study: The Factors that Change when an

Academic Library Migrates from Print

Carol Hansen Montgomery, Ph.D.Dean of Libraries, Drexel University

June 3, 2002

Funded in part by a grant from the IMLS, NR-00027

Introduction

Institutional Environment Developing E-Journal Collection Operational Impact IMLS-funded Research Impact on Users Lessons Learned Next Steps

Drexel University

Technologically Oriented Urban Undergraduates: 10,000 Graduate Students: 2,500 Faculty: 500 Research Intensive

W.W. Hagerty Library Centralized 100K square feet 400K volumes 40 FTE staff $4M budget for 2001/02 Fully wired & wireless network 100 public access desktop computers 50 circulating laptops

E-Journal Collection

Goal in 1998:

Migrate to an all electronic journal collection as quickly as possible

E-Journal Migration

Date/Type

1998 1999 2000 2001 2002

Print 1,710

1,475

1,000

300+

370

E-Journal 200

4,400

5,000

7,600

8,600

Institutional Readiness Administrative support Computer literate users Infrastructure in place Poor current journal collection Major budget increase Distance education programs Resource-rich environment

Developing the E-J Collection Much more complex Many more variables than print Purchased in package “Deals” Price/Contract negotiation------------------------------------------------ Database to manage selection Large transition period complete

Additional Variables Comparability Subscription or full-text Competitive sources Pricing plans Access restrictions Provision of statistics Linking capabilities------------------------------------------------ Archiving policy Lending via ILL

Print Collection 2002

“Browsing” Journals Fashion and Design Journals Core Library Science Journals Other Journals not yet Available

Electronically

IMLS Project Goals

Case Study Impact on staff activities Impact on costs: reduced, increased, re-allocated?

Stimulate Research Develop a methodology

Methods* Calculate capital costs, amortize Space for print Computing infrastructure for

electronic Calculate operational costs Staff costs Other operational costs e.g. subscriptions, binding Calculate subscription costs Compute/organize use data

*Using King model.

Impact on Staff & Costs: Measured by Department

Administration Technical Services Infrastructure/Systems & Space Circulation/Access Information Services------------------------------------------------- Document Delivery

Analyzed by Function Re-organized staff data to: Acquisitions Collection development Physical processing Record-keeping Reference Teaching Communications Public relations

Research Question

Hypothesis:

Electronic journals are less expensive

than print journals.

DEFINITIONSWhat is an Electronic Journal?

E-Journal [pure]: Individual subs or publisher packages

Aggregator: Individual journals from different publishers

Full text database: Search tool with selected full-text

DEFINITIONS What is a Print Journal [Serial]?

Continuations/Annuals? Newsletters? Newspapers?

DEFINITIONS What costs matter?

What is the unit of measure? Cost per: Journal title? Journal volume?

Journal issue?Journal article?

Journal “pages”? “words”?Article use?

DEFINITIONS What is a Use?

Print Re-shelving an issue or volume? Electronic Opening html file? Downloading a PDF document? Click on E-J database link More than X time spent viewing?

What about duplicate views/session?

Impact: Per Title Costs Vary [2002]

Print “only” 370 $112/title E-subscriptions 2,542 $137/title Aggregator 347 $ 83/title Full-text database* 11,200 $ 5/title

*Allocated half the cost of the database to the electronic journals. Non-unique.

Use Data Print (98/99) Bound & Current Use

All 1,710 titles 45,000 Print (00/01)

All 300+ titles 34,000

E-Journals (00/01) Measurable Use

Individual sub. 2,542 titles 100,881 Aggregator 347 titles 23,058 Full-text dbase 11,200 titles* 269,555

*Not unique.

Cost per Use (00/01)

Print Journals $1

Individual subscriptions $3 Aggregator $1 Full-text database* $0.21

* Allocated half the cost of the database.

Cost/Use Range

Print $1 to $50 Individual subscriptions $2 to $18 Aggregator $0.42 to $ 5 Full-text database $0.11 to $ 1

Impact: E-Journal Operational Costs Offset Print Savings Higher level staff required Selection/acquisitions costs high Statistics collection not automatic Onerous “claiming” procedure Inventory control made difficult by

E-Journal “volatility” Demanding of administrator time

Impact: Lower Use of Print Re-Shelving Statistics

0

5,000

10,000

15,000

20,000

25,000

30,000

97/ 98 98/ 99 99/ 00 00/ 01 01/ 02

Date

Use

Unbound Bound

Impact: Development Costs High E-J Management Database MSQL database PEARL to create html Features:

Creates web pagesSearch for print or E-J titleAllow updating by non-techie

Impact: Users Prefer E-Journals

84% prefer E-Journals to print

Increasing use of E-Journals

Need for training/awareness

Impact: Users Satisfied[1=no agreement; 10=strong agreement]

Mean E-Journals save time 7.7 E-Journals make work easier 8.6 E-Journals result in better quality research 8.1 E-Js enable me to find more 8.5

Lessons Learned

Don’t depend on full-text databases for core journals

Keep a larger browsing collection Assume a limited paper archiving

responsibility if justified Re-develop all related policies, e.g.

binding

Next Steps

Complete analysis Compare to previous studies of print

journal economics Measure cost to users of electronic

vs print journals