Drexel University made a switch from mostly print to mostly digital electronic journal collection. A study was conducted to determine whether user patterns changed after the change from print to digital. The outcome of this study was favorable and further studies are planned.
Now, most of the attention on changes in scholarly publishing has been focused on e-journals. We wish to expand that circle of light so that it takes in the indexing of serials. The index, as every scholar knows, is critical to the quality of the research. The value of a library's serial collection is only as good as its indexing. What scholar has not wondered about the impact of overlapping, inconsistent, and incomplete indexing services on their work? When the weaknesses of the current indexing services are matched against the potential of open-access systems, we may have a tipping point in convincing scholars that the profession would be far better served by open-access publishing systems. We argue that a primary candidate for scholarly publishing's tipping point is the coherence, integration, and precision that these open-access systems can bring to the scholarly exchange and enhancement of knowledge, especially when compared to the current state of the serial index and the hit-and-miss of full-text Web searches.
There is a chart of costs of some electronic indexes, although it may be outdates (2000-01).
This article examines the degree of overlap between different academic databases.
John Willinsky: "This paper reviews and addresses the critical issues currently confronting monograph publishing as a matter of reduced opportunities for scholars to pursue book-length projects. In response, it proposes an alternative approach to monograph publishing based on a modular design for an online system that would foster, manage, and publish monographs in digital and print forms using open source software developments, drawn from journal publishing, and social networking technologies that might contribute to not only to the sustainability of monograph publishing but to the quality of the resulting books."
This article mostly covers the process of mass digitization. One of the recommendations at the end of the article states, " A "digital lending right" should be created to provide universal access to all out-of-print works, through collaboration between national governments and creative communities. This would remove a barrier to the mass democratization of information access and make a contribution to the survival of some threatened languages."
"Against the Grain (ISSN: 1043-2094) is your key to the latest news about libraries, publishers, book jobbers, and subscription agents. It is a unique collection of reports on the issues, literature, and people that impact the world of books and journals"
This article was written in 1992, well before electronic journals and resources were common. This study examines the economic pressures on libraries, and embraces the possibility that new methods of electronic distribution of resources will help reduce these cost pressures.
This is the ICOLC Statement of Current Perspective and Preferred Practices
for Selection and Purchase of Electronic Information. The statement says, "Preferred Pricing Practices - Reaffirmed
A. Non-disclosure language should not be required for any licensing agreement, particularly language that would preclude library consortia from sharing pricing and other significant terms and conditions with other consortia.
B. Providers should not expect libraries to pay the entire cost of their research and development to bring new electronic products to market. These costs should be shared by the company shareholders and amortized by the provider so current prices for electronic information are sufficiently affordable to encourage experimentation and ultimately widespread use. This strategy will offer providers a better long-term revenue stream from which to recover their research and development costs.
C. Libraries should have the option to purchase the electronic product without the paper subscription, and the electronic product should cost substantially less than the printed subscription price. See Section A. below for more detail.
D. Bundling electronic and print subscriptions in non-flexible multi-year packages must not be the sole pricing option for purchasing electronic information. For example, licenses and purchase agreements for electronic journals, after the initial pricing year, cannot remain on an unchangeable fixed economic course." (paragraphs 12 - 16 of the URL)
Available to students in residential and online studies, the Learning Resource Center (LRC) focuses on developing an extensive, integrated online collection of Evidence-Based resources. Accessed via this Web site the LRC's online full text collections include over 2400 journals, over 550 reference and textbooks, and point of care products. The LRC is also an active participant in the National Network of Libraries of Medicine.
A 2004 article about the estimated costs for the print-to-digital transition at the University of California. Discusses the idea of a central print repository to back up electronic journals. Some numbers discussed, but not many.
Fulltext Sources Online is an index published by Information Today, updated weekly online and available twice a year in a print version. FSO "is a directory of over 42,000 full-text newspapers, journals, magazine, newsletters, and transcripts from 30 aggregators and content providers." Subscribers have access to all aspects of the index, while non-subscribers can search for free with only limited access to results.
Peter Brantley: "It could well be the case for most libraries that acquisition of print titles essentially ceases within 10 years, perhaps earlier (N.B. I had originally written 20 years; most independent commentators felt that was far too conservative; some think 5 years for ARL-class main libraries). More and more frontlist content is available digitally, and there is an inexorable transition toward the licensing of digital books - past, present, and future - along-side journals that are increasingly unavailable in print. On this battleground the skirmishes of the future will have more to do with licensing terms (could there be a SERU for Google Book Search?) and the timely acquisition of use data, rather than figuring out what to curate. Soon, the bulk of the world's published literature may be available online; libraries will just have to determine which content package they want, or can afford, to subscribe to."
"The new report examines the "unbundling of content" from traditional containers (books, journals, CDs) and distribution methods (postal mail, resource sharing). As the boundaries blur between content, technology and the information consumer, the report shows how format now matters less than the information within the container."
Abstract from the Website: "Provides a practical guide to gaining copyright clearance for making electronic copies of journal articles based on experience gained on the eLib project, Project ACORN. Includes tips on identifying and contacting copyright owners, elements to include in letters of approach, chase tactics, and dealing with refusals and charges."
Abstract from the Website: "This paper is the third in a series of studies emanating from the UK JISC-funded RoMEO Project (Rights Metadata for Open-archiving). It considers previous studies of the usage of electronic journal articles through a literature survey. It then reports on the results of a survey of 542 academic authors as to how they expected to use open-access research papers. This data is compared with results from the second of the RoMEO Studies series as to how academics wished to protect their open-access research papers. The ways in which academics expect to use open-access works (including activities, restrictions and conditions) are described. It concludes that academics-as-users do not expect to perform all the activities with open-access research papers that academics-as-authors would allow. Thus the rights metadata proposed by the RoMEO Project would appear to meet the usage requirements of most academics."
" Duke University Press is attempting to shake things up with its new program, the e-Duke Books Scholarly Collection. Modeled on the pricing structure of the e-Duke Journals Scholarly Collection, e-Duke Books offers online access to at least 100 new titles per year to subscribing libraries, in addition to access to many of the press's backlist titles."
"During the last several years CUL's online collections have grown considerably. Not only has the number of titles available online increased dramatically, but there has been a significant shift among many researchers in how those collections are being used. In her March 2006 memorandum to Cornell's Deans, Directors, and Department Heads, Sarah Thomas explained the rationale for reviewing part of CUL's journal collection for electronic-only access:"