E-Resources (Electronic Resources)

Objectives

• Describe the different types of e-resource• Contrast their features and functionality• Describe the different access routes for

electronic resources• Identify some of the access options available

within developing countries • Access scholarly electronic resources

What is an ‘electronic resource’?

Any information resource that can be accessed via computer, e.g.

1. Electronic journals

2. Scholarly databases

3. Information gateways

4. The Internet

Also e-books, reports, magazines, grey literature

Electronic journals

• Full-text - whole journal available– Electronic version of print – Electronic only– Examples at www.oup.co.uk/jnls/

• Partial full-text - selected articles only

• Table of contents or abstracts only– Examples at www.ajol.info

Why use e-journals?

• Up-to-date • Convenient: information at your desktop• Value-added features: search facilities,

links to other databases, supplementary information, graphics, etc

• Access to a wider range of material than might be available through your local library

Scholarly databases

• Bibliographic: references to published material

• Numeric: e.g. statistical tables

• Full text: complete publications

• Audio: collections of music

• Image: e.g. collections of slides

• Multimedia: audio-visual, animation etc

• Examples:EBSCO Host – licensed, range of electronic information

resources, huge volume of information

Why use scholarly databases?

• Provide information for a specific project or topic

• Provide an overview of research activity in a given area

• Up-to-date information on a specific subject area through regular scanning

• Allow searching over large bodies of data and academic type information

Information Gateways

• Subject Based Information Gateways (SBIGs): – web sites that act as a gateway to other sites and

information resources.

• Rely on human creation of meta data• Subject experts select, evaluate, describe,

classify• Smaller, subject-focused databases• Lower recall, higher precision• E.g. PINAKES (information gateway gateway!)

Why use information gateways?

• High quality information – selected by human subject experts

• Classification and description of resources

• Subject-specific focus

• Good starting places that lead to other quality resources

The Internet

• Huge information resource– 3-10 billion pages of information

• Continually growing and changing• No national, political, scientific barriers• Efficient search tools allow relatively

easy navigation, e.g.– www.google.com– www.alltheweb.com

INTRODUCTION

The evolution of the “information age” in medicine is mirrored in the exponential growth of medical and other web pages available on the internet.

The handful of computers linked by the

predecessor of the internet in 1969 has grown to more than 5 million websites today. In spring 1998, the world wide web (www) had at least 320 million web pages of general content.

Introduction……….

• Electronic resources have exploded in popularity and use

• The Internet provides free access to a great deal of the medical and other literature

• Intranet also provide in-house information of a particular University/Institution, etc.

Internet & Intranet

Internet Intranet•Internet is a very popular term used in every walk of life in these days.

•The Internet is computer network that connect millions of computer around the world and provide worldwide communication to business, homes, schools and government.

•Intranet is an in-house Web site that serves the employees of the enterprise.

•Although intranet pages may link to the Internet, an intranet is not a site accessed by the general public.

Internet Intranet

•It is a tool that libraries can use for communication and accessing of information globally

•It is a global collection of people and computers all linked together by many miles of cables and telephone lines, all able to communicate

•An intranet has many other different applications that can be utilized by the Institution. These include the Web publishing of corporate documents, Web forms, and Web-to-database links that allow users to access information•Intranets use the same HTTP server (Web server) technology, communications protocols and HTML hypertext links as the public Web.

Electronic resources: strengths

• Huge range of information available– >8 billion web pages– >20,000 journals

• Timely, up-to-date information sources• ‘Value added’ functionality (e.g. searching)• Additional skills development – ICT skills• Large volume of quality, free information

Electronic resources: weaknesses

• Technical barriers to use– need computers, network connection, software, etc

• Infrastructural problems– bandwidth and telecommunications issues– unreliable electricity supplies, etc

• Skills and training requirements• Costs can be high: technology and content• Variable quality of information

How can we access resources?

• Most academic e-resources are fee-based – often very high costs (although variable)– subscriptions to

individual/group/organisation/ nation/region– pay-per-view models

• Growing movement of “open access”• Authentication via username/password

or IP address

Preferential licensing agreements

• Publishers and development organisations working together to enable access to information to aid development– restricted to specific organisations in low income

countries

• Range of initiatives, focusing on different users, subjects, geographical areas, etc.– HINARI, PERI, TEEAL, eIFL, AGORA, etc.

• Free at point of use

Open access initiatives

• Significant movement in academic community that information should be “free” to all

• Access problems and costs are universal• Author pays versus user pays• Open archiving, pre-prints, open access, self

archiving, institutional archives or subject specific archives

• Tends to be techno-centric at present

Open access examples

• PubMed Central – hard sciences– www.pubmedcentral.nih.gov/

• BioMed Central – medicine– www.biomedcentral.com/

• DOAJ – all subjects– www.doaj.org/

• Bioline – research from developing countries– http://www.bioline.org.br/

Unit Costs of Electronic vs. Print Journals

23

Space

Systems

Supplies & Services

Staff

Drexel University

Total Operational Costs $138,000 $90,000 $258,000

Electronic Journals

$ 5,000

$ 10,000

($2,000)

$ 125,000

Current Journals

$ 40,000

$ 2,500

$ 600

$ 46,000

Bound Journals

$ 205,000

$ 2,400

$ 8,000

$ 42,000

Adapted from: C.H. Montgomery and D.W. King, “Comparing Library and User Related Costs of Print and Electronic Journal Collections: A First Step Towards a Comprehensive Analysis,” D-Lib Magazine, October 2002.

Nonsubscription Costs

24

Drexel University

Print Journals

Electronic Journals

Individual Subscriptions

Publisher’s Packages

Aggregator Journals

Full-Text Databases (non-unique)

Unique Electronic Journals

Titles

370

266

2,500

480

10,200

8,600

Adapted from: C.H. Montgomery and D.W. King, “Comparing Library and User Related Costs of Print and Electronic Journal Collections: A First Step Towards a Comprehensive Analysis,” D-Lib Magazine, October 2002.

Subscription Costs

Total Cost

$38,000

$115,000

$334,000

$29,000

$59,000

$537,000

Cost per Title

$100

$432

$134

$60

$6

$62

Drexel University Conclusions

Operational cost per use for print journals ($15) was much greater than for electronic journals ($0.45);

The highest cost per use ($30) was associated with bound journals, given the cost to house them and their relatively low use;

Full-text database journals were used heavily and were cost effective (at less than $1 per use);

Unit costs for publisher’s packages and aggregator journals were more cost-effective than individual subscriptions.

Criteria for Journal Selection for ReviewingCriteria for Journal Selection for Reviewing

International VS National VS Local Refereed VS Nonrefereed Currency Availability of E-version Visibility and Market share of the Publisher Circulation Statistics Language Subject Periodicity Professional Society Publication? SCI Covered? Coverage by I & A Services Impact Factor

Existing Knowledge Base

Organisations

Individuals

Associations

Corporations

Internet and Websites

Document Resources (Print / Electronic)

Books Technical Reports Conference Papers Patents Standards Journals

Policy & Plan Documents Staff Profiles Video

Course materials Multimedia Graphics Manuals News Clips Lectures E-mail Archive Photographs

Print vs. Electronic Journal Collections

Print Journal Collections:

– Holdings under one title and usually in one location.– Access is usually the same for affiliated and non-affiliated users.– Holdings tend to be very stable.

Electronic Journal Collections:

– ‘Holdings’ may be distributed over several different publisher sites – even though the title remained the same.

– Duplicate holdings often with differences in content/options. – Holdings tend to be more fluid.

Reasons: License price changes, aggregator content changes, etc.

E-only

No handling of print No binding of journals Less storage space required User satisfaction Seamless, one-stop access Individualised for the student Flexible for the teacher Universally accessible Easy to use

Variety of E-Resources

E-journals / e-serials Citation databases Full-text article databases Non-serial content such as e-books, government documents, numeric datasets, spatial data, eprints,

images, audio, video, websites, etc. Content manipulation tools.

Present Availability of Periodicals

Until some years ago, University libraries subscribed to a fair number of journals in different disciplines.

Now most journals have become unaffordable because increase in grants have not kept pace with increasing costs.

Presently very few periodicals are available even in major University libraries and departments.

E-Availability

A huge number of periodicals are now available in databases and can be accessed over the internet.

There is now an increasing presence of computers in Universities and Colleges.

Access to the internet, with reasonable bandwidth, is now available on some campuses.

Initiative by the UGC/INFLIBNET, resulted in a sharp increase in access to e-resources.

E-Journals Programme Partners

UGC ERNET The Inter-University Centres IUCAA INFLIBNET CEC National and international publishers

ERNET•Design & Installation•Maintenance•Providing Backbone•Hosting of Mirror sites•Training

INFLIBNET•Decide type of connectivity•Monitoring of Network•Provide the content in terms of Bibliographic database and e-subscription•Help Universities to setting up IT Infrastructure

UGC•Over all monitoring•Constitution of Joint Technical and Tariff committee for smooth execution of project•Providing finance support to the project

University•Place firm order to ERNET•Provide necessary accommodation•Identify two persons for training•Campus network/ access center

31

222

23 + 6 DB

7236

E-Resources Subscribed under UGC-Infonet

29

100 +100 subscribed, Access all 1200 titles

19

8

319

28 Lib. Sci.

34 Life Sci.

In addition - Access to 2 Gateway portal services to 28 univ. each

UGC-INFONET E-Journals Programme: Fields

Arts, Humanities and Social Sciences Physical and Chemical Sciences Life Sciences Computer Science, Mathematics, Statistics

Goal for e-journal

E-journals - Pros

Available 7 x 24

Remote access

Desktop delivery of information

Search / browse functions

Articles available upon publication

Hypertext link to related resources

Space saving

Cost saving

E-Journals - Cons

No perpetual access after cancellation In / out of journals in aggregator databases Embargo period Poor image / graphic quality Content not cover to cover Loss of access to back issues in case of change of publisher Not welcome by some readers

Pros and cons of e-journals

Pros• Desktop access• Faster access• E-pub ahead of print• Downloadable graphics• Linking • Seamless access via

databases• Saves time

Cons• No shelf browsing• Quality of graphics• Missing articles• Missing supplements• ‘Dead’ links to

articles/issues• Publisher’s site

unavailable

Criteria for E-Only Journals

Completeness Does the electronic version include the full cover-to-cover content of the print version – excluding advertising?

Quality, ease of use, timeliness, and reliability of online access. 

Does the full-text version offer fast and convenient access to full-text in pdf and

html, or –at minimum- pdf only? Is the electronic version reliably available before the print edition? Does the publisher have a good reputation for ensuring around-the-clock

access?

Cost Is the price of a license commensurate with the need for the journal? Use data for print and electronic version are available for most journals

provided.

How do we promote the use of E-journals?

• All e-journals are being catalogued

• E-journal title list and subject list

• E-portal link to Library resources

• User education / Online user guide

• Alert service

• SFX – provides links between citation and e-journals

Awareness of e-journals

Visit departments/ institutes Information on shelves News service Support on web pages

- FAQ, - troubleshooting

Feed-back forms on web

Open Discussion on Promoting E-Open Discussion on Promoting E-ResourcesResources

Some Feedback From Librarians:

Use Library website – Hot news, New additions of e-resources Special talks – training, internal seminar, user education, orientation programme etc Bulletin board service – notice circulation to replace paper Readers’ Services Counter – in-person consultation Posters Intranet Display List of New journals – with short description, coverage Get Feedback Staff Publications Email Alert on new content updates

Promoting your resources

Take advantage of free trial access Buy-in from senior management Attend curriculum meetings Develop close relationships with curriculum staff Post articles/notices on the Intranet and internal

newsletters Run training sessions for staff and students Ensure that access to those resources is widely

available to reach the maximum audience possible

Promoting your resources

Use available marketing materials and / or create your own

Send emails to groups of students (and staff if possible)

Have drop in sessions during lunch-times Understand and exploit the potential uses of e-

resources

Who uses e-resources the most?

men use more than women, are more willing to cancel print versions

young (under 35 years of age) use more than older and are more willing to cancel print versions

post-graduate students and researchers use more than lecturers and professors

Which disciplines use most e-

resources?

use is high: science, economics use varies: technology, health science use is low: humanities, culture, social

sciences

A Lot More for a Little Extra

• Access to all titles of publishers for little surcharge

• Multi year agreements with fixed annual price cap

• Users happy – Wider access

• Publishers happy – Guaranteed revenue, greater visibility of titles

• But what about non-major publishers?

• Discount on multiple print copies

Lack of awareness about consortia benefits

Slow acceptance of e-information by the users.

Difficulties in changing the mind setup of librarians

Maintenance and balancing both physical and digital library

Inadequate funds

Single point payment

Rigid administrative, financial and auditing rules

Problems of defining asset against payment

Pay-Per-View not yet acceptable

Uncertainty about the persistence of digital resources.

Lack of infrastructure for accessing electronic sources

Unreliable telecommunication links and insufficient bandwidth

Lack of appropriate bibliographic tools

Lack of trained personnel for handling new technologies

Absence of strong professional association

Big brother attitude

Consortia Constraints Specific to Indian Libraries

Access System“Service Providers”

CountryConsortium

Union Catalog

Delivery

E-Resources

Standards

Other Services

Consortium 1

Country Consortium Services

Consortium 2

Library

Library

Library

Library

Library

Library

R&

D/A

CA

DE

MIC

/CO

RP

-OR

AT

E

CO

MM

UN

ITY

Library and Consortial Relationships and Services

“ Man can live individually, but can survive only collectively. Hence, our challenge is to form a progressive community by balancing the interests of the individual and that of the society. To meet this we need to develop a value system where people accept modest sacrifices for the common good”

From Vedas – As quoted by Mr. Narayanamurthy (IFOSYS)

IRN GoudarUGC-Infonet-EJC 30 Nov 2004