Arnold Hirshon

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Collection Management of Electronic Resources in
a Consortial Environment
International Seminar onCollaborative Management
of Electronic Resources

• Arnold Hirshon
• Executive Director

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about NELINET
helping libraries create the future
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• Membership
• About 650 member libraries (full, affiliate,
  consortia)
• Multi-library type consortium (academic, public,
  etc.)
• 6 New England states
• Infrastructure
• Staff 26 fte
• Gross revenues 13M

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(No Transcript)
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Presentation Overview

• Information industry trends affecting consortia
• The collaborative library environment
• The economics of collaboration
• Funding
• Pricing
• Purchasing
• Negotiation
• Cost sharing models
• Collaborative collection selection programs

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Information Industry Trends Affecting Libraries
Consortia

• The future of the Big Deal
• Commercial publishing accelerating the move to
  e-only
• The future of alternative publishing

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The Big Deal For Whom? Whats Next?

• Best for large publishers with large core title
  lists
• Libraries like cross-access
• Elsevier retreating from the Big Deal
• Consortial response
• Continue to apply pressure to retain cross access
• Encourage big libraries to refuse to sign
  agreements that lack the Big Deal

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The Move to E-Only

• Elsevier reports
• Sharply increased online usage promises higher
  margins than print publishing
• E-only generates lower revenue than print plus
  electronic sale, but has a positive impact on
  operational efficiency
• Implications for member libraries
• Hard to turn back after going e-only
• Web access only for current subscriptions
• No live archives (archival copies provided on CD
  with no access software)
• Dark archives dont solve immediate problems
• Immediate savings later eaten-up by other costs
• Solution should consortia create and sponsor
  shared e-journal live repositories?

Elsevier Corporate Report
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Alternative Publishing / Open Access

• The Upside
• May prove to be the best long-term solution

• The Downside
• May not reduce the rise in the cost of
  information
• Adds short-term costs
• Currently content is thin
• Barriers to introduction
• Reader loyalty to existing journals
• Brand recognition
• Peer review system

Source MorganStanley Scientific Publishing
Knowledge is Power (Sept. 2002)
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Alternative Publishing Keys to Success

• Increasingly robust content
• Strong advocacy by library consortia
• A new generation of scholars less tied to
  traditional publishing
• More concerned with article quality than journal
  title
• Changes in the academic reward system

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The Collaborative Library Environment

• Consortium business collection management
  models
• Strategic
• Tactical
• Operational and opportunistic

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An effective collaborative collection management
plan must be tailored to the general scope and
needs of the consortium
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Consortium Business Models
Operational and Practical
Governing board Members council Committees
Central accounts Deposit accounts Billing and
invoicing
Professional Support Volunteers
Tactical
Purchasing Union catalog Digital libraries Shared
storage
Consulting Education Digitization Tech support
Infrastructure Library system Portal
management Royalty management
Strategic
Purchasing Education Consulting
Government Multi-government Membership
Government Grants, foundations Dues service fees
Academic Public School
National Regional Local
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Strategic E-Collection Management

• What is the mission of the consortium?
• Where should collections be in 3 - 5 years?
• Is there sufficient funding to make a difference?
  
• How will e-resources enable the consortium to
  achieve its goals?
• Does the consortium want a core collection?
• How will the effect of consortium collection
  building be on member institutions?

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Tactical E-Collection Management

• How will user needs, abilities, and expectations
  affect decisions?
• What IT infrastructure is necessary to support
  the type of cooperative collection management
  that is envisioned?
• What process will the consortium use to decide
  among competing offers?

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Opportunistic E-Collection Management

• Is there a great deal for an e-resource that is
  available to us only if we act immediately?
• Should we pursue this great deal even if it
  does not necessarily fit our plan?
• If we pursue the offer, can we afford it? Can we
  afford not to purchase it?

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Which Collection Management Approach is Best?
Strategic? Tactical? Opportunistic?

• All of the above!
• You must combine strategy, tactics, and
  opportunities to have an effective collection
  management plan
• Use different methods at different times to
  achieve the maximum effect

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The Economics of Collaboration

• Funding
• Purchasing
• Negotiation
• Cost Sharing

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Funding the ConsortiumRevenue Sources for
General Expenses

• Volunteers
• no charges, no money
• External sources
• Government appropriations
• Grants, foundations
• Member contributions
• Dues
• Fees for services (e.g., surcharges)
• Investments
• Methodology cost-sharing (e-resources)

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What Types of Revenue Does Each Favor?

• Consortia
• Dues fixed and relatively predictable revenue
  source
• Problem does not expand (or contract) as volume
  of activity changes

• Members
• Fees pay only for what you use
• Problem not effective for supporting ongoing
  infrastructure

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Purchasing Model 1 Buying Club Model
each institution funds e-resources independently,
but purchases through the consortium
Consortium
Examples NELINET, JISC (post-NESLI)
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Purchasing Model 2 Central Funding Model
Central government funds (some) e-resources, with
collective purchase done through the consortium
Consortium
Libraries
Examples OhioLINK state funds, Canadian Site
Licensing Project
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Purchasing Model 3 Coordinated Purchasing
Some central funding, matched by local
institutions to fund total cost
Consortium
Examples OhioLINK war chest funds
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Coordinating Consortial Purchasing Cost-Sharing
Factors

• Size of institution
• Count of full-time equivalent (FTE) students
• Size tiers of institutions (e.g., Carnegie class)
  
• Actual usage
• Actual activity from the previous year
• Ability to pay
• Annual expenditures for library or library
  materials
• Base payments for journal subscriptions
• Equal-share
• Same amount regardless of budget or size
• Other factors
• E.g., proportion of courses taught in English

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Cost-Sharing Survey Results Funding Models for
E-Resources

• Central government funding
• Only 30 of consortia receive any funds
• Only 10 receive 100 of funding from government
  or central fund
• On average, for those who receive funds, only 22
  of the cost is paid from central funds
• Member funds 77 solely or primarily
• 53 fund e-resources solely from member funds

Total is gt100 because of overlaps among
consortia
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Cost-Sharing Factors Used by Percent of
Consortia

• Total is gt100 because multiple factors used in
  some formulae

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Cost-Sharing Best Practices

• Create a cost-sharing formula that is easy to
  understand and administer
• Customize the formula to your own situation
• Provide members with value, either through lowest
  price or added features
• Consider requiring some contribution from all
  members, even if there is a central fund and even
  if the amount is minimal
• Regularly re-evaluate practices and formulae

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Collaborative Collection Selection Programs

• Selection criteria
• Collection development policy
• License negotiation
• Measuring e-resource effectiveness
• Marketing e-resources

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Planning Process Steps Overview

• Setting the Stage
• Identify the decision-making group
• Engage in general education of the decision group
• Develop effective selection criteria
• Create a consortium collection development policy
  
• Establish the consortium budget for purchasing
• Develop effective communications mechanisms

• Implementing the Plan
• Identify e-resources for potential purchase
• Determine purchase priorities
• Establish database of membership profiles
• Negotiate license
• Generate orders
• Product training and support
• Measuring e-resource effectiveness
• Marketing e-resources

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Create an E-Resource Collection Development
Policy
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• Purpose of the e-resources plan
• To help the consortium predict and cope with
  higher user expectations, rapid change, and
  competitive pressures
• Consortium needs plans will vary
• Must be based upon the nature of the consortium
• The reality
• Many individual institutions have written
  policies
• Few consortia have written policies or plans
• Often opportunistic approaches or chaos
  management
• Select by opportunities and look backward to
  intuit the pattern

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Typical Scope of E-Resource Development Policies

• General/Institutional
• Organizational mission, vision, goals
• Analysis of user needs
• Locus of responsibility for resource selection
• Levels of collection strengths and collecting
  intensity
• Limitations (language, geography, form, etc.)
• Detailed policies by subject

• Special Consortial Issues
• Cooperative relationships among members
• Resource collection areas
• Types of materials (e.g., AI, e-journals)
• Selection criteria and principles
• Balance member needs
• Member discounts consortium revenues
• Cost-sharing formula

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• Strategic Plan
• Environmental scan
• SWOT analysis
• Market research
• Gap analysis
• Market segmentation
• Mission, vision, values of the program
• Goals and objectives

• Business Plan
• Projected net revenue
• Implementation strategies
• Criteria for new or renewing offers
• Pricing revenue strategies
• Actions required
• Staffing assignments
• Metrics for success

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Example E-Journal Licensing Principles

• Cancellation flexibility for libraries
• Price increases only graduated price adjustments
  allowed
• Contract compatibility Future contracts must
  incorporate provisions of previous contracts
• Price controls allow only 5 each year
• Early termination clauses for multiyear contracts
• Downtime uninterrupted access to licensed
  material
• Subscription agents may manage print or
  e-subscriptions
• Perpetual access/archiving rights for subscribed
  years of content, regardless of corporate changes
  
• ILL may use licensed content to fulfill requests
• Cross-access allowed for titles owned within
  consortium (for a nominal fee)
• Discounts must be better than to individual
  libraries

Source http//www.library.yale.edu/NERLpublic/EJr
nlPrinciples.html
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Negotiations Differences in Style
American Chinese

• Basic cultural values
• Individualistic
• Egalitarian
• Information oriented
• Reductionist
• Sequential
• Argument culture
• Information exchange
• Direct
• Means of Persuasion
• Aggressive
• Impatient
• Agreement terms
• Forge a good deal

• Basic cultural values
• Collectivist
• Hierarchical
• Relationship oriented
• Holistic
• Circular
• Culture of haggling
• Information exchange
• Indirect
• Means of persuasion
• Questioning
• Enduring
• Agreement terms
• Forge a relationship

John L. Graham and N. Mark Lam, The Chinese
Negotiation, Harvard Business Review (Sept.2003)
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Negotiate Effective Licensing Agreements
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• Determine true mandatory conditions
• Know your fallback position
• Negotiate the pricing variables
• Cancellation allowance
• Print subscription basis
• Electronic access fee
• Print plus, E-only, E-plus
• Consortial cross access fee
• Allowances for free access per-article
• Resource sharing downloading provisions
• Multi-year cost increase (inflation) factor

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Collection AssessmentGeneral Evaluation Areas

• Quality of content
• Value of collection to library users
• Quality of interface and IT support
• Overlap with other current resources
• Relevance to all consortium members
• Agreement on the purchase priority
• Reasonability of cost for all members
• Use of the resource

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Consortial Collection Assessment Tools

• User satisfaction surveys and focus groups
• Feature checklists
• User consortium surveys
• Subjects covered subject gaps
• Satisfaction
• Statistical use data
• Boring but essential
• The most reliable tool available
• Too few consortia actually review statistical use
  data

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Application of E-Resource Statistics

• Resource (collection) analysis management
• To understand use of resources
• To assess the cost effectiveness different
  products
• To plan infrastructure
• Marketing
• To demonstrate e-resource cost-effectiveness to
  gain funding and political support for the
  consortium and its member libraries

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Value of Statistics
Value for
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Marketing Statistics Example An eIFL Country

• Findings
• One country consortium spent only 10,000 for
  its annual AI service subscription
• Total cost if subscribed to all print journals
  from which electronic fulltext was viewed
  116,033
• Per article cost to view full-text if purchased a
  subscription 63.30
• Total cost for print subscriptions with fulltext
  or abstract viewed 224,411
• If all articles viewed were purchased through
  commercial document delivery (_at_ 22/article)
  40,326 (out-of-pocket expense only)

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Marketing E-Resources
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• Marketing is essential
• An e-resource is only valuable if users know it
  exists and can use it effectively
• Get the e-resource out of librarians hands and
  into the hands of the users
• Dont let librarians hold back user access
  because the librarians themselves dont
  understand how to use it

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Opportunities to Market E-Resources

• Use the portal as a marketing device
• Co-brand the portal by library and consortia
• Publicize availability to the user community
• Develop common publicity materials
• Conduct training for the user community on how to
  make best use of the resource

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Conclusions

• Develop support for a common vision for the
  consortium and its operations
• Develop a holistic view of consortial e-resource
  collections
• Develop effective pricing, funding, negotiation
  and cost sharing strategies
• Engage in collaborative collection selection
• Regularly measure and assess consortial
  e-resource collections
• Develop a transition strategies to move from
  print to electronic
• Market the consortium and its e-resources

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Questions?

• Arnold Hirshon
• ahirshon_at_nelinet.net
• http//www.nelinet.net/ahirshon
• 508-597-1934

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Combination of Factors