An Electronic Journal Impact Study: The Factors that Change when an Academic Library Migrates from Print

1. 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

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

3. Drexel University • Technologically Oriented • Urban • Undergraduates: 10,000 • Graduate Students: 2,500 • Faculty: 500 • Research Intensive

4. 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

5. E-Journal Collection Goal in 1998: Migrate to an all electronic journal collection as quickly as possible

6. E-Journal Migration

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

8. 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

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

10. Print Collection 2002 • “Browsing” Journals • Fashion and Design Journals • Core Library Science Journals • Other Journals not yet Available Electronically

11. IMLS Project Goals Case Study • Impact on staff activities • Impact on costs: reduced, increased, re-allocated? Stimulate Research • Develop a methodology

12. 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.

13. Impact on Staff & Costs: Measured by Department • Administration • Technical Services • Infrastructure/Systems & Space • Circulation/Access • Information Services ------------------------------------------------- • Document Delivery

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

15. Research Question • Hypothesis: Electronic journals are less expensive than print journals.

16. 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

17. DEFINITIONSWhat is a Print Journal [Serial]? • Continuations/Annuals? • Newsletters? • Newspapers?

18. DEFINITIONSWhat costs matter? • What is the unit of measure? Cost per: Journal title? Journal volume? Journal issue? Journal article? Journal “pages”? “words”? Article use?

19. DEFINITIONSWhat 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?

20. 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.

21. 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.

22. 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.

23. Cost/Use Range • Print $1 to $50 • Individual subscriptions $2 to $18 • Aggregator $0.42 to $ 5 • Full-text database $0.11 to $ 1

24. 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

25. Impact: Lower Use of Print Re-Shelving Statistics

26. Impact: Development Costs High E-J Management Database • MSQL database • PEARL to create html • Features: Creates web pages Search for print or E-J title Allow updating by non-techie

27. Impact: Users Prefer E-Journals • 84% prefer E-Journals to print • Increasing use of E-Journals • Need for training/awareness

28. 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

29. 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

30. Next Steps • Complete analysis • Compare to previous studies of print journal economics • Measure cost to users of electronic vs print journals