Louise Cole

1
A university library view

• Louise Cole
• Senior Information Advisor

2
An aside

• Only started at Kingston (a Band D institution)
  in October so mainly taking examples from my 9
  years working with e-resources at University of
  Leeds (a Band A institution)

3
Summary

• Trials
• The subscription proper
• What do academics want?
• Some stories
• Publisher mistakes
• Good practice
• The unforeseen

4
Trials

• Sometimes not a trial to the whole product or
  very limited use
• Prevents all stakeholders from evaluating
• Reliability and suitability cannot be assessed
• Technical issues not always checked
• Software may not be downloadable
• Trials sometimes place limited (IP only) or
  number restricted (one at a time) or time limited
  (7 or 14 days)

5
Trials the ideal

• Time at least 30 days and not targeted in the
  summer or in early autumn
• Access preferably on and off campus and
  unlimited access to all available content
• Should consider a trial to be just that, a trial
  run of the product as if purchased
• No licences unless absolutely necessary take a
  lot of time to process

6
The subscription proper

• Order takes a long time
• Often no access before payment has cleared,
  however small that payment is
• Licences often sent out late, holding up the
  process as they need to be checked and approved
• The real thing doesnt work when the trial did!
• Incorrect URL / authentication

7
The subscription proper the ideal

• Set up access ASAP once a firm order has been
  placed
• Licences provided in advance (and not just
  generic draft ones)
• Customer/technical support in setting up the
  resource in early stages
• Correct information provided re URLs and
  passwords

8
What do academics want?

• Quick and easy access at a date when the product
  is needed
• Seamless process they dont care about delays
  and excuses
• The full product, working from day one
• No unexplained cut-offs, changes in
  authentication or product
• A stable product throughout teaching time

9
Some stories

• Product A
• Business database with financial statistics
• No trial was allowed
• Order took 3 months to process
• and quote was changed during that time
• Confusion over the licence
• Next to no technical support
• Billing severely delayed
• Targeted students for more products!

10
Some stories

• Product B
• Advertising resource
• Trial allowed and customer rep helpful
• Excellent feedback from faculty
• Good usage statistics
• When firm order placed, no contact
• order abandoned after 6 months

11
Some stories

• Product C
• Media resource
• Trial proved unworkable as website out of action
• Restricted numbers allowed
• No confidence in product order not pursued

12
Some stories

• Product D
• Journal back file
• Limited amount of downloads allowed
• Exceeded in first few days so trial ended
  prematurely
• Assumed ok because of current content
• Licence proved difficult to obtain so relied on
  emails

13
Some stories

• Product E
• Science database with full-text
• Downloads enabled but not allowed during trial
• Trial terminated due to misuse after three days
• Order for product not pursued

14
Some stories

• Product F
• Science abstracting service with full-text
• Software needed to view material
• Software not available during trial
• Order not pursued

15
Publisher mistakes

• Targeting the wrong people
• No involvement or support after the sale has been
  made / no name policy
• Trials not allowed or when they are, they have
  not been thought through
• Open access to all trials which raise
  expectations where assumptions are made
• i.e. a trial title being linked from reading list

16
Good practice

• A trial should be the showpiece for a particular
  resource, not a trial in itself
• Good documentation, good communication,
  flexibility (allowing more than one trial),
  understanding
• Send usage statistics for the trial period
• most of the time we do want to buy
• Offer but dont hassle if we want a trial,
  well get back to you

17
The unforeseen

• People not available to assess the product
• Open trials available at the wrong time
• The funds might not be there although we like the
  product
• Usage may be poor or non-existent
• We might have had a trial without knowing it!
• Faculty access for a year but no one said!

18
In conclusion

• The trial should be a products shop window so
  use it (or lose potential subs)
• Be aware of semester dates, financial years, and
  other influences
• Make it easy for us to subscribe to resources,
  not difficult
• Establish good relationships built on mutual
  trust think of your customer as the good guy!