How to make your e-resources earn their keep

Ruth Stubbings

UK Serials group seminar 2003

e-resources earning their keep what e-resources?

journals and databases

monitor usage stats & value for money

promotion of resources Database of the Month

MetaLib & SFX

MetaLib and SFX MetaLib

portal of all our databases simultaneous searching of Z39.50 compliant

databases

SFX links article records to library catalogue

and/or e-journals open URL

Implementation of MetaLib

large team approach Systems, Support Services & Academic

Librarians

long time scale March – September

smaller, separate team implemented SFX

Discussions Look and feel Branding Contents (electronic & print) Authentication (VLE username &

password) Library’s web pages (which should

exist) Information literacy skills

Cataloguing & configuring cataloguing easy

form driven quality & content testing

configuration difficult who should configure?

technical staff / academic librarians how many databases are Z39.50

compliant?

Pilot of MetaLib and SFX 3 Academic Departments

focus groups questionnaire

positive feedback

“Live” and maintenance “Live” in September 2002

Training generic and departmental (80 participants to 3 sessions) Handout http://www.lboro.ac.uk/library/dbase/metalib.html Online tutorial http://inhale.hud.ac.uk/perl/jump.pl?13-56

Enquiries easier to answer

smaller MetaLib group on average half a day per week upgraded June & November 2003

Statistics increase in usage of databases

609%

0

20,000

40,000

60,000

80,000

100,000

120,000

140,000

160,000

1st Q 2nd Q 3rd Q 4th Q

20012002

Stats by database usage up

Zetoc 1385%SportDiscus 1207%ICEA 225%INSPEC 73%OCLC 79%ABES 36%IBSS 31%Beilstein 23%

usage downPsycinfo -

63%Lexis-Nexis -51%Mintel -36%RAPRA -31%UKOP -6%Art Abstracts -12%Compendex -4%

Top ten databases in 2003June July August September October

ArticleFirst Zetoc ArticleFirst ArticleFirst ArticleFirst

Zetoc ArticleFirst Zetoc Zetoc Zetoc

IBSS IBSS IBSS IBSS AnteOPAC ASSIA ASSIA ABM IBSSAnte Ante Ante OPAC ASSIAASSIA OPAC OPAC Ante OPACCompendex Inspec Inspec ASSIA Inspec

Inspec Compendex Compendex Inspec SportDiscus

BHI SportDiscus BHI Ceramic Abs Medline

Medline Medline SportDiscus Compendex BioSci

Comp & Info Eng Mat Medline Medline Compendex

BioSci Polymer Polymer SportDiscus Comp & Info

What does this mean? students

less googlisation? cross searchable versus

most appropriate?

Researchers & academics using MetaLib cross search

more than anticipated

The future investigate:

usage stats for e-journals searching behaviour of readers

incorporate new features of MetaLib e-journals