Copyright Donald W. King and Carol H. Montgomery 2003.

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COMPARISON OF COST AND USE OF UNIVERSITY ELECTRONIC

AND PRINT JOURNAL COLLECTIONS

Donald W. KingResearch Professor, U. of Pittsburgh

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

EDUCAUSE, November 7, 2003

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

Journal Migration

0

2,000

4,000

6,000

8,000

10,000

12,000

98 99 00 01 02 03

Print Electronic

Institutional Readiness Administrative support Computer literate users Infrastructure in place Poor current journal collection Major budget increase Distance education programs Large commuter & part-time populations One central library Resource-rich environment

Developing and Managing the

Electronic Journal Collection Much more complex Many more variables than print Price/Contract negotiation Required more skilled (i.e. higher

paid) staff Volatility of collections Higher use

Print-Related Savings?

Check-in Claiming Binding Shelving Collecting statistics

Impact on Staff & CostsStudy Funded by IMLS

Infrastructure/Systems & Space Administration Technical Services Circulation/Access Reserve Information Services

IMLS Research Project

Case Study Impact on staff activities Impact on costs: reduced,

increased, or re-allocated?

Develop a methodology

Translate To

Research Question

Hypothesis:

Electronic journals are less expensive

than print journals.

Definitional Issues

What is an Electronic Journal? What costs matter?

[i.e. unit of measure] What is a use?

Methods - 1Distinguish Three Services

Electronic journals

Unbound print journals

Bound print journals

Methods – 2Annualize All Capital Costs

Space for print journals Actual space Shelving

Computing infrastructure for print and electronic journals

Servers Software Workstations

Methods – 3Calculate Operational Costs

Staff costs via time logs22 weekly samples over 1.5 yearsImpacted by transition

Other operational costs

Supplies, binding, printing,copying, etc.

Methods – 4Add Subscription & Use Data

Distinguish three services Annualize all capital costs Calculate operational costs Calculate subscription costs Compile/organize use data

Chart 1Summary Operational Costs

($10,000)$20,000$50,000$80,000

$110,000$140,000$170,000$200,000$230,000$260,000

E-Journals UnboundPrint

Bound Print

Space Staff Systems Sup/ Serv

Chart 2Operational Costs per Title

$60

$135

$16

$0

$20

$40

$60

$80

$100

$120

$140

$160

E-Journals UnboundPrint

Bound Print

Chart 3Subscription Costs Per Title

0

2,000

4,000

6,000

8,000

10,000

$0

$100

$200

$300

$400

$500

Number of Titles Cost per Title

E-J Individual Subscriptions

E-J Publisher Packages E-J Full-Text

E-J Aggregator Print Journals

$500

$135

$60

$6

$100

200

2,500

500

10,000

400

Chart 4 E- Journal Cost per Use

$0.00

$1.00

$2.00

$3.00

$4.00

$5.00

$6.00

Individual Publisher P Aggregator Full-Text

Subscription Costs Operational Costs

$6

$3

$2

$1

Chart 5E-J/Print Cost per Use

$0.00

$5.00

$10.00

$15.00

$20.00

$25.00

$30.00

$35.00

E Journal UnboundPrint*

Bound Print

Subscription Costs Operational Costs*Bound Print Subscription Costs/Use NA

$2

$6

$30

Major Differences

Operational cost per use of print journals higher than for electronic journals

Bound journals have highest cost/use; the major factor is storage space

Electronic journals require more reference support

Major Issue

How do we translate capital cost savings

[i.e. not building new library space to store journals] to:

operating costs to pay for electronic access

Caveats

Study is a first step Case study for one academic library

only Data “messy” in nature Need for more studies, improved

data

Faculty Information Seeking & Reading Patterns

How much do they read? Where readers obtain articles that

are read? What format do readers use? How do readers learn about articles? Trends are revealing

How Much Do They Read?

Depends on the reader’s field

University faculty read more than others

Fig 1. - Average Amount of Reading by Medical Faculty, Non-University Medical Professionals, and Scientists

322

232 228

276

204

98

0

50

100

150

200

250

300

350

UT Medical Faculty Non-UniversityMedical

Professionals

Astronomers Chemists Physicists Engineers

Ave

. N

o. o

f R

ea

din

gs P

er

Ye

ar

Where Do Readers Obtain Articles?

Reading per Person

% No.

Personal subscriptions 38 78

Library collections 43 89

From another person 7 14

Author Websites 1 2

Free Web journal 6 12

Preprint 2 5

Other 3 6

100 206

Age is Important

Source of Article 1st Year 2-5 Years Over 5 Years Library 33.5 53.2 73.3 Personal 56.3 28.8 9.2 Separate 10.3 18.1 17.5 Total 100.1 100.1 100.0

Sample Size: Total = 397, Scientists = 300, Non-Scientists = 97

Source: University of Tennessee (2000), Drexel University (2002), University of Pittsburgh (2003)

How Do Readers Learn About Articles?

Reading per Person

% No.

Browse 49 101

Online Search 24 49

Citations in publications

11 23

Someone told reader 13 27

Other 3 6

100 206

Format of Reading

58.955

73.2

41.145

26.8

0102030405060708090

100

All Faculty Scientists Non-Scientists

Pro

po

rtio

n o

f R

ea

din

g (

%)

Print Electronic

Source: University of Tennessee (n=96), Drexel University (n=92), University of Pittsburgh (n=209)

Format by Source

Personal Subscriptions 93% of subscriptions in print 90% of reading in print

Library Collections 80% of reading electronic Saves readers about 20 hours per year

Trends in Scientists’ Reading Patterns

They appear to be reading more

They rely on libraries more

Reasons for increased library use

Fig 2 - Average No. of Articles Read per Scientist

Year and Study

150172

188216

0

50

100

150

200

250

1977 1984 1993 2000 - 03(National Survey, n=2,350)

(National Survey, n=865)

(U of TN, n=89) (TN, Drexel & Pittsburgh, n=300)

Fig 3 - Source of Additional Readings

3752

92101

113 120

96115

020406080

100120140

1977 1984 1993 2000 - 03

Library Collection Other Sources

Sci

entis

t R

eadi

ng p

er Y

ear

Fig 4 - Average Number of Personal Subscriptions per Scientist

4.21 3.96 3.863.50

0

1

2

3

4

5

1977 1984 1993 2000 - 03

Fig 5 - Average Number of Articles Identified by Automated Searches Per Scientist

1 2

27

51

0

10

20

30

40

50

60

1977 1984 1993 2000-03Avg

. R

eadi

ngs

per

Sci

entis

t

Breadth of Reading Increased

Drexel as an example

Scientists’ Reading Read from about 13 journals in 1977 Over twice that amount now

Library Contribution to Usefulness & Value

Purpose of use Importance in achieving principal purposes Ways article affected the principal purpose How much do readers “pay” for the article? Achievers read more from library collections Readers are more productive than non-readers Make resources available Help users utilize collections

References King, D.W., Tenopir, C., Montgomery, C.H., and Aerni,

S.E. “Patterns of Journal Use by Faculty at Three Diverse Universities.” D-Lib Magazine, 9:10, October 2003. World Wide Web: <http://www.dlib.org/dlib/october03/king/10king.html>

King, D.W. and Montgomery, C.H. “After Migration to an Electronic Journal Collection: Impact on Faculty and Doctoral Students.” D-Lib Magazine, 8:12, December 2002. World Wide Web: <http://www.dlib.org/dlib/december02/king/12king.html>

Acknowledgements

Sara Aerni, Special Projects Librarian, University of PittsburghKathryn Brady, former Electronic

Resources Librarian, Drexel University

Matt Herbison, Graduate Assistant, University of Pittsburgh

Carol Tenopir, Professor, University of Tennessee