UCL LIBRARY SERVICES
Teaching collection weed and transfer to digital format: final report
The following represents the final report for phase 1 of the project to transfer those paper course readings
currently in the UCL Main and Science Library Teaching Collections to digital format, where licensing permits.
Interim reports were provided in June and August 2006.
1. Background
In order to transfer course readings currently available in paper format in the UCL Main and Science Library
Teaching Collections to digital format, the Teaching & Learning Support Section (TLSS) have modified their
annual weeding process to include a review of all material held in the collections by particular departments.
This approach is intended to achieve the following:



Removal of any redundant readings
Confirmation of currency of remaining readings
Transferral of readings covered by the CLA Scanning Licence to digital format
A number of factors require that agreement from academic staff is received before digitisation takes place.
The two most significant are:
 Ensuring currency – the CLA data collection requires us to record for which courses material has
been digitised and the number of students registered on the course for the current year of study.
 Acknowledgment on the part of the academic of the terms and conditions of the licence, in particular
those relating to permitted distribution methods.
2. Process of weeding/transferral
The brief ‘timeline’ below outlines the stages involved in the weeding process.
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Aleph report of all TC items is used to identify those held on behalf of departments and circulation
statistics related to these items.
Members of TLSS team confirm academic contacts.
Each reading is checked against terms of licence and those eligible for digitisation are highlighted
Each academic is sent a list of material held for courses taught by them, which includes all options to
deal with the material.
TLSS await for confirmation from academic
On receiving a response redundant material is removed and returned to academic; material to be
scanned is removed, transferred to digital format before the original(s) are returned to the academic.
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Finally, if no response is received by July 16th paper material will be removed from the collections
and returned to academics.
3. Weeding statistics
Phase 1 of the project has focussed on the bigger users of the existing paper collections. The following
departments have been contacted as part of the project:
 Anthropology
 English
 History
 History of Art
 Laws
 Political Science
Overall figures:
Number of academics contacted
Number of courses involved
Number of courses for which replies were
received
Number of items removed
Total number of items digitised
63
116
79
959 catalogue entries and 1181 additional copies
= 2140 items in total
466
Breakdown by department
Anthropology:
Lecturers contacted
No. of courses involved
No. of courses for which replies were received
No. of items (multiple copies) removed
No. of items scanned
9
10
10
155 (454)
104
English:
Lecturers contacted
No. of courses involved
No. of courses for which replies were received
No. of items (multiple copies) removed
No. of items scanned
2
2
2
19 (11)
6
History:
Lecturers contacted
No. of courses involved
No. of courses for which replies were received
No. of items (multiple copies) removed
No. of items scanned
20
47
33
387 (386)
233
History of Art:
Lecturers contacted
No. of courses involved
No. of courses for which replies were received
No. of items (multiple copies) removed
No. of items scanned
15
30
23
222 (178)
90
Laws:
Lecturers contacted
No. of courses involved
No. of courses for which replies were received
No. of items (multiple copies) removed
No. of items scanned
11
16
9
129 (137)
18
Political Science*:
Lecturers contacted
6
No. of courses involved
11
No. of courses for which replies were received
2
No. of items (multiple copies) removed
47 (15)
No. of items scanned
15
* Figures for Political Science are low as they have already worked with TLSS to create digital readings for
many of their taught courses.
4. The Future?
In line with UCL Library Services’ strategic plan, work to transfer as much of the remaining paper collection
as possible to digital format is set to continue. Below is a plan to extend the service, which takes into
consideration possible developments in licensing:
Action
Phase 2 of TC project: All existing eligible UK published paper
readings to be converted to digital format or removed as
redundant
Phase 3: Identify all current non-UK published paper readings
(lecturers to confirm that material needed). All non-current
material to be removed.
CLA Trial Scanning Licence to be renegotiated; possible
reciprocal agreements with non-UK publishers
Timeframe
September 2007
October 2007-July 2008
Summer 2008
While the eventual goal is to create an entirely digital course reading environment, which exploits the
Electronic Library collections available to UCL – bringing together e-journals, e-books and readings scanned
under licence – the evolution of this service is subject to developments in current licensing. The most
significant factor influencing the service will be the CLA Licence renegotiation in Summer 2008. It has been
suggested that the CLA will move to negotiate reciprocal agreements with other countries, most importantly
the USA, in order to extend the scope of the licence.
However, it is important not to assume this extension will happen, so plans for a sustainable service that
extends beyond provision possible under the current licence are also important. A number of factors will
inform how this service is developed:
A. Funding
 Recurrent costs: any material not covered by a blanket licence will need transactional permission
clearance. This will almost always incur a fee. The fee is typically paid on a per page/per student rate.
Licences are granted for one year only, so the fee will need to be re-paid each year for as long as the
material is used.
 How much funding is required? Phase 3 (above) is key to identifying what the likely cost of paying for
transactional clearances might be. However, this will give an indication only of what it would cost to
digitise the existing collection. Funding will have to incorporate the extension of the service to new
courses. Without any costings in place it is extremely difficult to estimate a figure. Based on other
institutions (LSE) that have received central funding, a sum of £40K would be a guess at an
appropriate figure to enable the licensing of existing readings, and extension of the service. (See
recommendations below)
 Allocation of funds: considerable thought will need to be given to how funding is allocated whether
limits (e.g. on the no. of readings per course, on the maximum permission fee UCL is willing to pay) will
need to be set.
 It is worth bearing in mind, that not all publishers in the UK or elsewhere participate in blanket licensing
schemes, and they are under no obligation to do so. Some material will always attract permission fees
and a small amount of ‘contingency’ funding would be advisable.
B. Electronic course materials and collection development
 An evaluation which considers how the electronic resources available – e-journals/e-books, digitised
readings, digital images, etc – can be best exploited to deliver taught course support needs to be
carried out. (See recommendations below)
5. Recommendations:
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

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Transfer remaining eligible paper readings to digital format
Identify all current non-UK paper readings
Gather sample permission costs to inform any potential funding bid
Undertake an evaluation:
 to compare the relative costs of licensing commercially produced resources, vs. creating and
maintaining digital copies
 to consider how the results might inform collection development policies regarding taught course
support
June Hedges Nov 2006