Value for Money in Electronic Journals
Abstract The author examines the proposition that electronic journals provide enhanced value for their costs when compared to print subscriptions. At the journal, article, and use levels, the author reviews the pricing policies of two different journal publishers, one commercial and one nonprofit. He confirms and extends these findings using recently published research. Whereas much research remains to be undertaken on the basis of standards, and definitions must be agreed on, the existing, albeit imperfect, evidence indicates that both libraries and their readers benefit significantly from electronic journals in the areas of cost per use and convenience of delivery of scholarly and research literature. This proposition serves as a clarion call for more detailed research based on agreed-upon on standards. Serials Review 2003; 29:83–88.
Measures for Electronic Use: The ARL E-Metrics Project
Libraries are spending a larger proportion of their materials budget on electronic resources. In 2001, members of the Association of Research Libraries (ARL) spent more than $132 million on electronic resources. In order to determine if their dollars are being well spent, 24 members of ARL self-funded a research project to develop measures for describing the resources, expenditures, and usage of electronic resources. The project resulted in a set of recommended measures and a data collection process that will continue to be refined and tested by ARL members.
E-METRICS: MEASURES FOR ELECTRONIC RESOURCES
A group of 24 ARL libraries funded and participated in the ARL E-Metrics Project from May 2000 to December 2001. This paper details the rationale and context for this project; and it describes the issues identified, the lessons learned, and the possibilities and challenges that this set of issues bring to the research library community