E-Resources
(Electronic Resources)
Objectives
• Describe the different types of e-resource
• Contrast their features and functionality
• Describe the different access routes for
electronic resources
• Identify some of the access options available
within developing countries
• Access scholarly electronic resources
What is an ‘electronic resource’?
Any information resource that can be
accessed via computer, e.g.
1. Electronic journals
2. Scholarly databases
3. Information gateways
4. The Internet
Also e-books, reports, magazines, grey literature
Electronic journals
• Full-text - whole journal available
– Electronic version of print
– Electronic only
– Examples at www.oup.co.uk/jnls/
• Partial full-text - selected articles only
• Table of contents or abstracts only
– Examples at www.ajol.info
Why use e-journals?
• Up-to-date
• Convenient: information at your desktop
• Value-added features: search facilities,
links to other databases, supplementary
information, graphics, etc
• Access to a wider range of material than
might be available through your local
library
Scholarly databases
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Bibliographic: references to published material
Numeric: e.g. statistical tables
Full text: complete publications
Audio: collections of music
Image: e.g. collections of slides
Multimedia: audio-visual, animation etc
• Examples:EBSCO Host
– licensed, range of electronic information
resources, huge volume of information
Why use scholarly databases?
• Provide information for a specific project
or topic
• Provide an overview of research activity
in a given area
• Up-to-date information on a specific
subject area through regular scanning
• Allow searching over large bodies of
data and academic type information
Information Gateways
• Subject Based Information Gateways (SBIGs):
– web sites that act as a gateway to other sites and
information resources.
• Rely on human creation of meta data
• Subject experts select, evaluate, describe,
classify
• Smaller, subject-focused databases
• Lower recall, higher precision
• E.g. PINAKES (information gateway gateway!)
Why use information gateways?
• High quality information – selected by
human subject experts
• Classification and description of
resources
• Subject-specific focus
• Good starting places that lead to other
quality resources
The Internet
• Huge information resource
– 3-10 billion pages of information
• Continually growing and changing
• No national, political, scientific barriers
• Efficient search tools allow relatively
easy navigation, e.g.
– www.google.com
– www.alltheweb.com
INTRODUCTION
 The evolution of the “information age” in
medicine is mirrored in the exponential
growth of medical and other web pages
available on the internet.
 The handful of computers linked by the
predecessor of the internet in 1969 has
grown to more than 5 million websites today.
In spring 1998, the world wide web (www)
had at least 320 million web pages of
general content.
Introduction……….
• Electronic resources have exploded in
popularity and use
• The Internet provides free access to a great
deal of the medical and other literature
• Intranet also provide in-house information
of a particular University/Institution, etc.
Internet & Intranet
Internet
Intranet
•Internet is a very popular term •Intranet is an in-house Web
used in every walk of life in
site that serves the employees
these days.
of the enterprise.
•The Internet is computer
network that connect millions
of computer around the world
and provide worldwide
communication to business,
homes, schools and
government.
•Although intranet pages may
link to the Internet, an intranet
is not a site accessed by the
general public.
Internet
•It is a tool that libraries can
use for communication and
accessing of information
globally
Intranet
•An intranet has many other
different applications that can
be utilized by the Institution.
These include the Web
publishing of corporate
•It is a global collection of
documents, Web forms, and
people and computers all
Web-to-database links that
linked together by many miles allow users to access
of cables and telephone lines, information
all able to communicate
•Intranets use the same HTTP
server (Web server)
technology, communications
protocols and HTML hypertext
links as the public Web.
Electronic resources: strengths
• Huge range of information available
– >8 billion web pages
– >20,000 journals
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Timely, up-to-date information sources
‘Value added’ functionality (e.g. searching)
Additional skills development – ICT skills
Large volume of quality, free information
Electronic resources: weaknesses
• Technical barriers to use
– need computers, network connection, software, etc
• Infrastructural problems
– bandwidth and telecommunications issues
– unreliable electricity supplies, etc
• Skills and training requirements
• Costs can be high: technology and content
• Variable quality of information
How can we access resources?
• Most academic e-resources are feebased
– often very high costs (although variable)
– subscriptions to
individual/group/organisation/ nation/region
– pay-per-view models
• Growing movement of “open access”
• Authentication via username/password
or IP address
Preferential licensing agreements
• Publishers and development organisations
working together to enable access to
information to aid development
– restricted to specific organisations in low income
countries
• Range of initiatives, focusing on different
users, subjects, geographical areas, etc.
– HINARI, PERI, TEEAL, eIFL, AGORA, etc.
• Free at point of use
Open access initiatives
• Significant movement in academic community
that information should be “free” to all
• Access problems and costs are universal
• Author pays versus user pays
• Open archiving, pre-prints, open access, self
archiving, institutional archives or subject
specific archives
• Tends to be techno-centric at present
Open access examples
• PubMed Central – hard sciences
– www.pubmedcentral.nih.gov/
• BioMed Central – medicine
– www.biomedcentral.com/
• DOAJ – all subjects
– www.doaj.org/
• Bioline – research from developing countries
– http://www.bioline.org.br/
Unit Costs of Electronic vs. Print Journals
Drexel University
Nonsubscription Costs
Electronic Journals
Current Journals
Bound Journals
$ 5,000
$ 40,000
$ 205,000
Systems
$ 10,000
$ 2,500
$ 2,400
Supplies &
Services
($2,000)
$ 600
$ 8,000
Staff
$ 125,000
$ 46,000
$ 42,000
$138,000
$90,000
$258,000
Space
Total Operational
Costs
Adapted from: C.H. Montgomery and D.W. King, “Comparing Library and
User Related Costs of Print and Electronic Journal Collections: A First Step
Towards a Comprehensive Analysis,” D-Lib Magazine, October
2002.
23
Drexel University
Subscription Costs
Titles
Total Cost
Cost per Title
370
$38,000
$100
Individual Subscriptions
266
$115,000
$432
Publisher’s Packages
2,500
$334,000
$134
Aggregator Journals
480
$29,000
$60
Full-Text Databases (non-unique)
10,200
$59,000
$6
8,600
$537,000
$62
Print Journals
Electronic Journals
Unique Electronic Journals
Adapted from: C.H. Montgomery and D.W. King, “Comparing Library and User Related Costs of Print and
Electronic Journal Collections: A First Step Towards a Comprehensive Analysis,” D-Lib
24 Magazine, October 2002.
Drexel University
Conclusions
 Operational cost per use for print journals ($15) was
much greater than for electronic journals ($0.45);
 The highest cost per use ($30) was associated with
bound journals, given the cost to house them and their
relatively low use;
 Full-text database journals were used heavily and
were cost effective (at less than $1 per use);
Unit costs for publisher’s packages and aggregator
journals were more cost-effective than individual
subscriptions.
Criteria for Journal Selection for Reviewing
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International VS National VS Local
Refereed VS Nonrefereed
Currency
Availability of E-version
Visibility and Market share of the Publisher
Circulation Statistics
Language
Subject
Periodicity
Professional Society Publication?
SCI Covered?
Coverage by I & A Services
Impact Factor
Existing Knowledge Base
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Organisations
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Individuals
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Associations
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Corporations
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Internet and Websites
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Document Resources (Print / Electronic)
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Books
Technical Reports
Conference Papers
Patents
Standards
Journals
Policy & Plan Documents
Staff Profiles
Video
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Course materials
Multimedia
Graphics
Manuals
News Clips
Lectures
E-mail Archive
Photographs
Print vs. Electronic Journal Collections
 Print Journal Collections:
– Holdings under one title and usually in one location.
– Access is usually the same for affiliated and non-affiliated users.
– Holdings tend to be very stable.
 Electronic Journal Collections:
– ‘Holdings’ may be distributed over several different publisher sites
– even though the title remained the same.
– Duplicate holdings often with differences in content/options.
– Holdings tend to be more fluid.
Reasons: License price changes, aggregator content changes,
etc.
E-only
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No handling of print
No binding of journals
Less storage space required
User satisfaction
Seamless, one-stop access
Individualised for the student
Flexible for the teacher
Universally accessible
Easy to use
Variety of E-Resources
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E-journals / e-serials
Citation databases
Full-text article databases
Non-serial content such as e-books, government
documents, numeric datasets, spatial data, eprints,
images,
audio, video, websites, etc.
 Content manipulation tools.
Present Availability of Periodicals
 Until some years ago, University libraries
subscribed to a fair number of journals in
different disciplines.
 Now most journals have become
unaffordable because increase in grants have
not kept pace with increasing costs.
 Presently very few periodicals are available
even in major University libraries and
departments.
E-Availability
 A huge number of periodicals are now available in
databases and can be accessed over the internet.
 There is now an increasing presence of computers
in Universities and Colleges.
 Access to the internet, with reasonable bandwidth,
is now available on some campuses.
 Initiative by the UGC/INFLIBNET, resulted in a
sharp increase in access to e-resources.
E-Journals Programme Partners
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UGC
ERNET
The Inter-University Centres IUCAA
INFLIBNET
CEC
National and international publishers
UGC
•Over all monitoring
•Constitution of Joint Technical and Tariff committee for
smooth execution of project
•Providing finance support to the project
ERNET
•Design & Installation
•Maintenance
•Providing Backbone
•Hosting of Mirror sites
•Training
INFLIBNET
•Decide type of connectivity
•Monitoring of Network
•Provide the content in terms of
Bibliographic database and esubscription
•Help Universities to setting up IT
Infrastructure
University
•Place firm order to ERNET
•Provide necessary accommodation
•Identify two persons for training
•Campus network/ access center
E-Resources Subscribed under UGC-Infonet
23 + 6 DB
36
31
34 Life Sci.
222
8
72
19
100 +100 subscribed, Access all 1200 titles
29
319
28 Lib. Sci.
In addition - Access to 2 Gateway
portal services to 28 univ. each
UGC-INFONET
E-Journals Programme: Fields
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Arts, Humanities and Social Sciences
Physical and Chemical Sciences
Life Sciences
Computer Science, Mathematics, Statistics
Goal for e-journal
E-journals - Pros
 Available 7 x 24
 Remote access
 Desktop delivery of information
 Search / browse functions
 Articles available upon publication
 Hypertext link to related resources
 Space saving
 Cost saving
E-Journals - Cons
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No perpetual access after cancellation
In / out of journals in aggregator databases
Embargo period
Poor image / graphic quality
Content not cover to cover
Loss of access to back issues in case of change of
publisher
 Not welcome by some readers
Pros and cons of e-journals
Pros
Cons
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Desktop access
Faster access
E-pub ahead of print
Downloadable graphics
Linking
Seamless access via
databases
• Saves time
No shelf browsing
Quality of graphics
Missing articles
Missing supplements
‘Dead’ links to
articles/issues
• Publisher’s site
unavailable
Criteria for E-Only Journals
Completeness
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Does the electronic version include the full cover-to-cover
content of the print version – excluding advertising?
Quality, ease of use, timeliness, and reliability of
online access.
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Does the full-text version offer fast and convenient access to full-text in pdf
and
html, or –at minimum- pdf only?
Is the electronic version reliably available before the print edition?
Does the publisher have a good reputation for ensuring around-the-clock
access?
Cost
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Is the price of a license commensurate with the need for the journal?
Use data for print and electronic version are available for most journals
provided.
How do we promote the use of Ejournals?
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All e-journals are being catalogued
E-journal title list and subject list
E-portal link to Library resources
User education / Online user guide
Alert service
SFX – provides links between citation and ejournals
Awareness of e-journals
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Visit departments/ institutes
Information on shelves
News service
Support on web pages
- FAQ,
- troubleshooting
 Feed-back forms on web
Open Discussion on Promoting E-Resources
Some Feedback From Librarians:
 Use Library website – Hot news, New additions of e-resources
 Special talks – training, internal seminar, user education,
orientation programme etc
 Bulletin board service – notice circulation to replace paper
 Readers’ Services Counter – in-person consultation
 Posters
 Intranet
 Display List of New journals – with short description, coverage
 Get Feedback
 Staff Publications
 Email Alert on new content updates
Promoting your resources
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Take advantage of free trial access
Buy-in from senior management
Attend curriculum meetings
Develop close relationships with curriculum staff
Post articles/notices on the Intranet and internal
newsletters
 Run training sessions for staff and students
 Ensure that access to those resources is widely
available to reach the maximum audience possible
Promoting your resources
 Use available marketing materials and / or create your
own
 Send emails to groups of students (and staff if
possible)
 Have drop in sessions during lunch-times
 Understand and exploit the potential uses of eresources
Who uses e-resources the most?
 men use more than women, are more
willing to cancel print versions
 young (under 35 years of age) use more
than older and are more willing to cancel
print versions
 post-graduate students and researchers
use more than lecturers and professors
Which disciplines use most e-resources?
 use is high: science, economics
 use varies: technology, health science
 use is low: humanities, culture, social
sciences
A Lot More for a Little Extra
• Access to all titles of publishers for little surcharge
• Multi year agreements with fixed annual price cap
• Users happy – Wider access
• Publishers happy – Guaranteed revenue, greater visibility of titles
• But what about non-major publishers?
• Discount on multiple print copies
Consortia Constraints Specific to Indian
Libraries
 Lack of awareness about consortia benefits
 Slow acceptance of e-information by the users.
 Difficulties in changing the mind setup of librarians
 Maintenance and balancing both physical and digital library
 Inadequate funds
 Single point payment
 Rigid administrative, financial and auditing rules
 Problems of defining asset against payment
 Pay-Per-View not yet acceptable
 Uncertainty about the persistence of digital resources.
 Lack of infrastructure for accessing electronic sources
 Unreliable telecommunication links and insufficient bandwidth
 Lack of appropriate bibliographic tools
 Lack of trained personnel for handling new technologies
 Absence of strong professional association
 Big brother attitude
Library and Consortial Relationships and Services
Union Catalog
Library
Library
Consortium 1
Library
Country
Consortium
Library
Library
Library
Delivery
E-Resources
Consortium 2
Standards
Other Services
R&D/ACADEMIC/CORP-ORATE
COMMUNITY
Country Consortium
Services
Access System
“Service Providers”
“ Man can live individually, but can survive
only collectively. Hence, our challenge
is to form a progressive community by
balancing the interests of the individual
and that of the society. To meet this we
need to develop a value system where
people accept modest sacrifices for the
common good”
From Vedas – As quoted by Mr. Narayanamurthy
(IFOSYS)
UGC-Infonet-EJC
30 Nov 2004
IRN Goudar