Serials Case Study

You need to cancel approximately $8,000 worth of journals in order to balance your budget for 2020. Based on the data below, which of these will you cancel? How did you arrive at your decision?

 

Title Publisher Cost Aggre-
​gator
cover-
age
Faculty 
Comments

Institu-
tional author articles/
editors

Use 2018
(down-loads)

Cost per Use
 

ILL/
course
reserves
allowed

Journal
Impact
Factor

Multi-year
license due
when

Perpetual Access
Journal of Nano Commercial $2,000

no

considers
essential
8 plus editor 1,000 $2 yes 4.3 2022 yes
Journal of Energy Commercial $2,000 no

keep

6 2,000 $2 yes 3.3   yes
Journal of Airplanes Nonprofit $2,000  yes, 3 months embargo keep 5 50 $40 yes 3.5   yes
Journal of Modeling Nonprofit $2,000 yes,
1 year embargo
keep for future hires, not essential currently 0 50 $40

no

 

1.5   yes
Journal of the Society for Remote Sensing Society $1,000 OA but $1,000 is requested contribution keep 15 plus editor 200

$5

 

yes 3.5   yes
Journal of the Society for Robots Society $1,000 no keep 3

2,000

 

$.50 no 4.5

 

 

no
Journal of Statics Commercial $2,000 no Prefer to keep but reviewing
standards have
lowered.
5 500

$4

 

no 1.5   no
Journal of Circuits Commercial $2,000 no keep 0 100

$20

yes 1.5   no

--Jill Powell, June 2019

Case Studies

Case Study eBooks Vendor Decision

With a limited budget you have to choose between 2 ebooks vendors. Both cover the same subject area and have a mix of popular and scholarly titles. Bayside covers more popular titles but includes academic titles. Sassafras covers more scholarly title but includes popular titles. Below is a table with more details.  Which one do you decide to lease? Explain your decision-making. How will you fill unmet needs by not having both?

Vendor Scope Usage Lease/Own User Privacy Indemnification, Extra site fees Nondisclosure
agreement
Walk-in
use
ILL/reserves
Bayside

Mix, more popular titles

10,000 / year Lease Yes no  no yes allows
chapters
Sassafras Mix, more academic titles 5,000 / year Lease No no no no none allowed

  1. User privacy refers to whether or not the vendor tracks names of individual users or keeps data anonymous.
  2. Nondisclosure agreements refer to whether the institution must keep vendor prices confidential.
  3. Indemnification refers to where any lawsuits would be litigated.
  4. Extra sites refers to whether the vendors charges extra for access from other campus locations than the main campus.
  5. Might be worth looking at monthly usage, to see spikes. 

The case studies on this page are adapted from ideas in Fundamentals of Collection Development and Management, 4th edition, by Peggy Johnson, ALA, Chicago, 2018.