an evolving project john cox deputy librarian national university of ireland, galway
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IReL in BriefEstablished in 2004Government-fundedFocused on research communityAccessible at 7 Irish universitiesCovers most disciplinesc. 90 “products”25000+ e-journals40000+ e-books
IReL Content: STMACM Digital Library EI Village IOP Journals SIAM Journals
ACS Journals Crossfire Beilstein LWW Journals SpringerLink
AMA Journals Derwent Innovations Index
MathSciNet Synergy STM Jrls
AIP Journals Embase Nature Journals Taylor & Francis STM Jrls
APS Journals Emerald Xtra OUP Journals World Scientific Publishing
Annual Reviews ESDU Engineering RSC Journals Wiley Current Procotols
Biomed Central Euclid Prime Science Online Wiley Ref Works
Biosis Previews Faculty of 1000 Science Direct Wiley Interscience Jrls
BMJ Journals GeoScienceWorld Scientific American Web of Knowledge
CAB Direct Hindawi Journals Scientific World Jrl Zentralblatt Mathematik
Cell Press Journals IEL/IEEE SciFinder Scholar 110 Single Jrl Titles
IReL Content: AHSSBlackwell Synergy HSS Historical Abstracts Oxford DNB Sage Journals Online
Academic Search Premier & Business Source Premier
International Medieval Bibliography
Oxford English Dictionary
SourceOECD
CUP Journals JSTOR Oxford Reference Online
Taylor & Francis HSS Journals
Econlit Justis Philosopher’s Index Westlaw IE
Factfinder LexisNexis Professional
Project Muse Westlaw UK
Film Index International Literature Online PsycArticles Wilson OmniFile
Global Market Information Database
Making of Modern Law PsycInfo Women Writers Online
Hein Online MLA International Bibliography
Routledge Encyclopedia of Philosophy
World Development Indicators
IReL ManagementPart-time, voluntary groups staffed by member
librariesSteering GroupMonitoring GroupLicencing GroupWeb GroupIT Group?
Monitoring Group: remitCollate and monitor performance statistics in relation to
the value for money of IReL titles. Collate and monitor downtime of IReL titles. Suggest retention or cancellation of IReL titles based on
information gathered.
Provide summaries of changes of content in IReL major services i.e. deletions of titles or addition of new titles.
Note deficiencies of IReL information supply with regard to
specific areas of research. Suggest ways of continuing to promote the IReL service.
Monitoring Group: membersRosarii Buttimer, University College CorkJohn Cox (chair), National University of Ireland,
GalwayAoife Geraghty, University of LimerickArlene Healy, Trinity College DublinJack Hyland, Dublin City UniversityFiona McGoldrick, IRISNiall McSweeney, National University of Ireland,
GalwayClaire Moran, University College DublinVal Payne, National University of Ireland, Maynooth
ActivitiesDowntime registerUsage statisticsUser surveyOngoing interaction with:
Steering GroupUsersVendors
Usage StatisticsExcel templates for e-journals, databasesBasic quantitative indicators of uptake and
valueNumber of downloads/searchesCost per download/searchTop 10 journals per resource according to
downloadsNumber and % of journals per download “band”Turnaways
Annual frequency, with trend reports
Annual Report of IReL UsageMix of figures and commentarySummary table of download volumes and
costsMost downloaded journals overallAnalysis by download bandUsage by type of resourceTrends by disciplineComparison with earlier year(s)
Trends of interest (STM only)Strong uptake in nursing, chemistry Journal of Advanced Nursing has most
downloadsCost per download compares very favourably
to ILLUsage tends to increase over timeSignificant % of journals with <50 downloadsLower usage, higher costs for non-journal
resources
Compilation DifficultiesLabour-intensiveMix of COUNTER/non-COUNTER dataCosts – need to factor in:
IReL /local payments initially“maintained spend”VAT
Total consortium figuresSome vendors slow to respondTiming, eg synchronisation with subscription
decisionsUnanswered questions, eg impact, quality,
satisfaction?
2007 IReL Impact SurveyGiven priority over 2006 usage stats
compilationEssential complement to statistical dataPre-consultation with researchers and fundersFocused distinctively on:
Value to researchersPurpose of useImpact on workSatisfaction with coverage(Recognised) use of IReL resourcesRole of printAccess
Who Participated?2266 researchers in all disciplinesStaff
Research only, eg centresResearch and teaching
PhDsResearch Masters7 institutions
Findings of Note
IReL includes 75% of researchers’ “top 5” journals But… gaps include journal backfiles, newspaper
archivesSignificant access (eg off-campus) and discovery
issuesLack of association with IReL55% don’t need print copies of IReL journals
How IReL Benefits ResearchSpeedEase of online accessCoverage, including multidisciplinaryCurrencyStronger competitivenessEasier collaborationNew areas of research now possible
How IReL Benefits TeachingFaster transfer of ideas to lecture hallIntegration of online journals in BlackboardEasier access to course readingsWider choice of sourcesUpdated teaching materials
IReL is a Luxury, not a Necessity1,296 Disagree Strongly
622 Disagree62 Agree88 Agree Strongly
157 Don't Know
IRel is a luxury, not a necessity
1,4001,3001,2001,1001,0009008007006005004003002001000
Disagree Strongly
Disagree
Agree
Agree Strongly
Don't Know
58.2 %
28.0 %
2.8 %
4.0 %
7.1 %
Discontinuation = “disaster”, “Dark Ages”, “would leave”
Survey experience
Labour-intensiveSeemed to engage senior stakeholders more
than statsGood on impact, quality of experienceInfluential in likely continuation of IReL
fundingHelpful in identifying specific gaps in coverageBut important to correlate findings with stats
Usage Data: areas for development
Zero use titles?Correlation with impact factors?Cost per student/staff FTE?E-book dataOutputs, eg researcher publications