The Natural History Museum
Natural History Serials Project
Final Report
Jane Secker/Ray Lester
June 2000
Executive Summary
This report is a summary of the findings of the Natural History Serials Project. The Project was funded by
the British Library's Co-operation and Partnership Programme and examined the overlap of current serials
at The Natural History Museum Library and The British Library. It also examined 'natural world' serial
provision on a UK wide basis and 50 other libraries with significant holdings in the field were involved in
the study. The study found considerable enthusiasm for collaboration among participants and a
commitment for further involvement. Analysis of the overlapping titles suggested that considerable
financial savings could be made through cooperation, and a more effective service provided for users. The
Project recommended that collaborative work in this field is continued and that a full user study be
undertaken before any changes to collections were introduced. The report is supplemented by three
further documents that are available on the Project web site at: http://www.nhm.ac.uk/library/serials/
index.html.
Contents
1 Introduction__________________________________________________________ 3
2 Aims and Objectives ___________________________________________________ 3
3 Methodology _________________________________________________________ 4
4 Results ______________________________________________________________ 5
5 Rationalisation / Collaboration Scenarios __________________________________ 6
6 Recommendations and Conclusions ______________________________________ 8
7 Other relevant documents ______________________________________________ 10
Appendix 1: List of participating libraries __________________________________ 11
2
1 Introduction
The Natural History Serials Project was a six-month study funded by the British Library (BL) and The
Natural History Museum (NHM), as part of the BL's Co-operation and Partnership Programme. The study
examined serial publications provision in the UK within the broad subject area of 'the natural world'. It
investigated the possibilities for collaboration among libraries, in particularly between the NHM and BL.
The British Library increasingly regards collaboration as essential in a climate of reduced funding and
with the proliferation of published material.
The Project ran from December 1999 to June 2000, with Jane Secker being the Project Officer and the
Project being managed by Ray Lester, the Head of the Department of Library and Information Services at
the NHM. Geoff Smith coordinated the British Library's input. This document summarises the aims and
objectives, methodology, results including rationalisation / collaboration scenarios and recommendations
and conclusions from the Project. The Report is supplemented by three other documents, listed in Section
7, one of which, elaborates the background to the Project and the benefits that it might bring to The
British Library and the wider library and information community.1
2 Aims and Objectives
The Project began as an examination of the overlap between natural history serials collected at the BL and
the NHM Library, with a view to possible rationalisation of the collections through collaborative
collecting. The aims were:
 to examine the overlap between the BL and NHM collections;
 to develop scenarios for collaboration and possible rationalisation;
 to make recommendations for collaboration and possible rationalisation.
As the work progressed, the Project's aims were widened and a large number of libraries with significant
collections in the field were included the study. A full list of the Project participants is included in
Appendix 1, but one feature of the Project was that it included libraries from a variety of different sectors
and a large number of specialist society libraries. Early on the term 'natural history serials' was found to
be misleading and the scope of the Project was redefined as 'the natural world' although the project title
remained unchanged. The aim was therefore expanded to examine UK provision of natural world serials.
This would be undertaken with a view to developing collaborative collection policies and a more
coordinated approach to serial collections. Given that the Project was only for six months, much of this
work could only be exploratory. However, it was hoped that with enthusiasm and interest from the
participating libraries, the work of the Project might be continued beyond the initial time scale.
The Project collected a large amount of data and explored many possibilities for collaboration in the field.
In this sense the Project escalated far in excess of the original remit and given the six-month time scale it
was not possible fully to explore many areas that were highlighted. The overlap study with the BL was
completed successfully. Scenarios for collaboration were also prepared, although they do not consider the
impact on users. A user study had been part of the original Project proposal; but it was subsequently
decided that although a study of this type was needed, it could not be completed within the six-month
time scale. Similarly, detailed mapping of natural world serials in the UK could not be undertaken in the
available time. However the large amount of data gathered during the Project, particularly regarding the
1
See Jane Secker, Ray Lester, Natural History Serials Project Discussion Paper, May 2000 available at:
http://www.nhm.ac.uk/library/serials/index.html
3
holdings of the participating libraries, will remain at the NHM; and it is envisaged that this will be useful
for any future work that might be undertaken.
3 Methodology
The Project utilised a variety of methodologies, which are summarised as following:
 BL/NHM overlap study to compare the current serials collections and map the overlap between the
two collections;
 Sample overlap study between the NHM and other libraries participating in the Project;
 A day workshop where over 30 representatives from different libraries discussed collaboration for
natural world serials and how best to proceed with the Project;
 Costing using current subscription rates for serials taken from Ulrich's.
3.1 BL/NHM overlap study
The overlap study was the most significant part of the Project. It required the creation of an Excel file,
containing information about the current serials received at The Museum. The Project Officer spent a
considerable amount of time editing the data extracted from the NHM catalogue, to enable comparison
with the BL data. A member of staff at the Document Supply Centre undertook an automated match
process using title and ISSN data. The automated nature of this comparison meant that the serial record
information supplied from the Museum had to be as accurate as possible. Therefore it took some time to
edit the NHM file. This stage of the Project was also delayed as the BL intended to merge their serial files
by March 2000, although in the event this work was not completed in time. Eventually a trial comparison
was undertaken in March 2000, in time to present the results at the Workshop. A final comparison then
took place in May 2000. This stage of the Project produced a considerable amount of data about the serial
collection at the NHM that was useful to the Project, but also to staff in the NHM Library. The results
from the trial comparison are available in the Workshop Report 2 , and more details about the full
comparison are contained in the Overlap Study Report.3
3.2 Overlap study with NHM and participating libraries
Large amounts of data were collected from the participating libraries to investigate their current serial
acquisitions. There was an overwhelming response to this part of the Project and the data was provided in
a variety of different formats. These two factors meant that it was not possible to analyse the data in detail
and sampling techniques had to be adopted. A selection of titles was chosen and their availability at all
the participating libraries was examined. In-depth studies of the collections at three libraries were also
undertaken to establish the overlap with the NHM collection. More details about this study are found in
the Workshop Report.
3.3 The Workshop
In March 2000 a Workshop was held at the NHM to bring together representatives from all the
participating libraries. This was an opportunity for discussion and to hear the opinions and attitudes of
library staff towards the Project and collaboration more generally. Two break-out groups were held at the
workshop and a discussion paper was prepared following the day to highlight the main points that had
2
Ray Lester, Jane Secker, Geoff Smith, Natural History Serials Project Workshop Report, March 2000. Available
at: http://www.nhm.ac.uk/library/serials/index.html
3
Jane Secker, Sharon Johnson British Library / Natural History Museum Overlap Study Report, May 2000.
Available at: http://www.nhm.ac.uk/library/serials/index.html
4
arisen. 4 In follow-up work, the representatives from the participating libraries were asked if their
organisation was prepared to commit to further involvement in the Project.
3.4 Serial Subscription Costing
The final part of the Project was a cost analysis to provide an indication of the possible financial savings
that a collaborative project could bring. However, there were difficulties in obtaining accurate
information concerning subscription prices currently paid by the NHM. For this reason subscription data
from Ulrich's was used and the figures are approximate. The costings are discussed in greater detail in the
Overlap Study Report.5
4 Results
The methodologies outlined above led to the collection of a large amount of data, much of which was
statistical in nature, including the overlap studies and the financial calculations. The Workshop collected
mainly qualitative data through break-out groups. The report and discussion paper were also used as a
follow-up to the Workshop, to generate comments from participants. This information is discussed in
detail in the three Project reports already mentioned. The overall findings can be summarised as follows.
4.1 The overlap studies and the financial data
The research demonstrated that there was a significant overlap between the serial collections at the BL
and the NHM, with approximately 2,500 identical titles currently being received at both institutions. The
majority of these titles were purchased at the BL rather than being obtained through the legal deposit
legislation. Therefore, it suggests that in this subject field considerable savings could be made if a
collaborative agreement is reached. This information will be of interest to the mutual funding body of the
two organisations, the Department of Culture, Media and Sport (DCMS), who may regard this work as a
model for collaboration in other subject areas.
The total number of current natural world serials received by one or more library in the UK could not be
accurately established from this project, however the figure could be as great as 10,000 titles.
Approximately 5,000 current titles are taken at the NHM library. Sample overlap studies with other
libraries suggested that many institutions received additional titles not available at the NHM and, for a
proportion, probably not available at the BL either. Clearly collaboration other than that between the BL
and NHM, might be beneficial between libraries in certain subject fields. For example, a significant
overlap of almost 600 titles was measured between the collection at the Royal Botanical Gardens at Kew
and the NHM.
Collaboration could lead to substantial financial savings for the BL and NHM in cooperation. Figures
were calculated using the overlap data with the NHM and the savings were estimated to be at least
£100,000 in terms of subscription costs. Storage and management costs would also be reduced and
savings brought about by BL/NHM collaboration were estimated at perhaps a similar figure. However,
there are many other factors - discussed below - that would need to be taken into account, before one
decided to proceed with such rationalisation.
4
Jane Secker, Ray Lester Natural History Serials Project Discussion Paper, May 2000
Available at: http://www.nhm.ac.uk/library/serials/index.html
5
Jane Secker, Sharon Johnson British Library / Natural History Museum Overlap Study Report, May 2000.
Available at: http://www.nhm.ac.uk/library/serials/index.html
5
4.2 The workshop and discussion paper
The Workshop provided an opportunity to gather qualitative data. Many of the Project participants
attended the day and the workshop papers were widely circulated and comments were requested. There
was enthusiasm and a recognised need for collaboration amongst the participants who represented a wide
range of organisations. The workshop brought together a diverse group, most of who were meeting for the
first time and it was intended as a forum for discussion rather than to reach overall conclusions on the
day. Subsequent to the workshop, using the discussion paper and comments that it generated, a clearer
and more consensual approach for the development of the Project was established. A firm commitment
for further involvement in collaborative work was secured from a number of different institutions, some
of which were prepared to coordinate work within a narrower subject area. The scenarios and
recommendations in Section 5 and 6 were developed using this information, in conjunction with the
overlap study data.
5 Rationalisation / Collaboration Scenarios
The primary purpose of this project was to propose several scenarios for rationalisation of the serials
collections at the BL and NHM. These scenarios would then be analysed to establish the financial savings
that might be achieved and the impact on users and the libraries more generally. By extending the scope
of the Project to include a wide range of other libraries, it was possible to develop more sophisticated
scenarios for a UK wide approach to serials collection. Six scenarios are briefly described below, and
based on the scenarios, conclusions and recommendations are presented in Section 6. The difficulties of
implementing a collaborative project are also discussed.
Collaboration between the BL and NHM could take several forms but the overlap between the collections
is considerable therefore, substantial savings could be made by one, or both, of the organisations.
Scenarios for collaboration with other libraries are also proposed.
Scenario 1: The status quo
The Project has demonstrated that there is significant overlap between the collections: however,
collaboration would require a commitment to funding to alter the present situation. This first scenario
proposes that collaboration is not undertaken and the situation remains unchanged:
 Natural world collections continue to be received at the BL, the NHM and a wide range of other
libraries. Budgets restrictions may lead to a reduction in the overall UK comprehensiveness of natural
world serial collections;
 Increasing numbers of serials are available in electronic format: there would be similar uncoordinated
provision
 Researchers are required to consult collections at a variety of different sites and there is no clear
picture of natural world serial availability on a UK wide basis;
Scenario 2: NHM becomes national library for natural history
The second scenario proposes that only collaboration between the BL and NHM is pursued and that the
NHM becomes the national collection for natural history serials. Titles currently taken by both
organisations are retained only by the NHM and natural history legal deposit material, which is currently
available at the BL, is transferred to the NHM Library. This would require a legislative change.
6
Scenario 3: BL is the national library for natural history
This scenario is the obverse of Scenario 2: the BL holds the national collection for natural history serials.
Titles held at the NHM and the BL would only be retained by the BL.
Scenario 4: Sharing information about collections
The fourth scenario proposes that a group of libraries including the BL and NHM collaborate informally
and that information about their serial collections is made more widely available. Collection policies are
still determined by individual organisations, although libraries in similar subject fields keep each other
informed about any planned cancellations or new subscriptions. The development of a union catalogue for
natural world serials is not an essential part of this scenario; however, it would be one option that would
provide accurate information about what each library takes.
Scenario 5: A network of natural world serials
The following scenario proposes that a group of libraries collaborate to develop a more formal network,
allowing users access to a wider range of serials than at their own institution. Networks could be built
upon existing groups within particular subject areas. Scenario 5 also proposes that a union catalogue of
natural world serials is established, using a distributed system, such as Z39.50 compliant software. This
would establish the range of titles held at each location and would accurately map the extent of the
overlap between collections. Collaborative arrangements for access would be established, although this
scenario would still allow collection policies to be determined by each organisation.
Scenario 6: Establishing formal networks for serials collaboration
This final scenario proposes that a formal system for natural world collections in the UK is established. A
union catalogue would allow mapping of UK natural world serials. Following on from this, collection
policies at participating libraries would be altered to provide a complimentary range of serials at each site.
Institutions would commit to continuing journal subscriptions, and collection policies would be devised
as part of a national strategy. This cooperative approach would allow the BL to reduce the number of
serial titles they collected, if access to collections was provided by back-up libraries. The system could
involve a document supply service coordinated by the BL.
6 Recommendations and Conclusions
The primary purpose of this Project was to make recommendations for collaboration and rationalisation,
based on an analysis of the overlap between the collections at the BL and NHM. By extending the scope
of the Project to include a wide range of other libraries, it was also the intention to make some
recommendations for collaboration on a UK wide basis. However, the recommendations for wider
collaboration are more speculative, given that less detailed analysis of these collections was undertaken.
6.1 Conclusions
The Cooperation and Partnership Programme is part of the British Library's attempts to cope with user
demands, given the proliferation of titles and limited budgets. The Natural History Serials Project
investigated the scope for collaboration between the BL, the NHM and other important 'natural world'
collections. It reached the following conclusions:
a) The Project confirmed that a substantial overlap exists between collections at the BL and NHM, and
that within the field of 'natural world' serials there is scope for collaboration.
7
b) It discovered there was considerable interest from the natural world library community for
co-operative arrangements and that these should be pursued.
c) It suggested that considerable effort would be required to develop a collaborative approach to serials
collection, given the problems encountered in this project, such as data quality and quantity, different
funding agencies and differing levels of resources at institutions.
d) The Project also revealed that a wide range of views exist amongst library professionals about the
ideal future arrangements for collaboration. Users have not been consulted yet and undoubtedly they
will also have attitudes and needs that will need to be addressed.
Other factors to consider
This Project also highlighted a range of other factors that also need to be considered before embarking
upon collaborative work. These include:
a) The needs of 'local' users: it would be inconceivable to cancel many core serials as there will always
be a demand for access to certain titles locally- and pending wholly electronic delivery and storage, it
is probably not cost effective to collaborate on core titles.
b) The British Library's unique position: by definition the BL does not have 'local' users, but two
separate roles, including:
 document supply; predominantly operating from Boston Spa
 reference collection; predominantly housed at St Pancras.
c) Providing most effective document supply: currently the BL Document Supply Centre provides an
effective service dedicated to document supply. Other libraries cannot provide a substitute to this
without changing their internal policies (e.g. preventing lending of journals) and procedures (e.g.
giving priority to service for outside researchers over the service offered to their own staff). The costs
of document supply compared to Boston Spa must be greater (especially in London) which - other
things being equal, which they are not - would offset any savings on subscriptions.
d) Transfer of Legal Deposit material: any changes in the legal deposit arrangements, for example
retaining natural history titles at the NHM rather than the BL, would require legislative changes.
e) Intellectual Property Rights: all the discussions have been predicated on libraries being able to
continue to supply copies free of royalty charges to non-members of the library.
f) The electronic arena: this makes the situation more complicated. The study did not consider
collaboration over electronic serials, but any future work would have to examine this area.
g) Difficulties collaborating across sectors: the BL and NHM are both funded by DCMS, but
collaboration with universities involves another government funding agency (although there has been
work in this area, in particular RSLP). However, BL and NHM collaboration with private bodies such
as professional societies, might cause considerable problems.
h) User survey: the users were not considered in this project and any future work would require a large
scale survey of the information needs and attitudes of library users in the natural world research
community.
i) Other BL funded studies: three studies currently underway may be relevant to the development of
the Serials Project. The first is a feasibility study to assess the options for a national union catalogue
or catalogues both for book material and for serials. A second study is examining the mechanisms for
co-ordinating the development of a distributed national collection of library research resources,
including the need for and feasibility of a national body for this purpose. The third study is on the
future of legacy collections (ie older, lower used print based collections) and stakeholder relationships
to them.
8
6.2 Recommendations
Despite the difficulties it might involve, this Project agreed that collaboration was a worthwhile venture
and recommended that work in this area was continued. The Project recommendations are thus:
(i)
Although the financial savings from establishing a collaborative approach to 'natural world' serial
collections might not be great, a coordinated approach to serial collections could provide a more
coordinated service. Therefore collaboration is worthwhile pursuing.
(ii)
The definition of 'natural world serials' was too broad. Thus it is recommended that smaller
subject groups are identified and collaboration is encouraged at this level. The Project has already
begun to identify possible partners and institutions providing leadership in the field (see below)
(iii)
Increasingly libraries, particularly in the science fields, are moving towards providing electronic
journals, however site licenses often restrict access to external users. A study of the benefits and
problems collaboration in this field might bring is therefore recommended.
(iv)
It is recommended that a detailed study of the needs and patterns of use of researchers in this field
should be a priority. This would be both a qualitative and quantitative study that would survey
different groups of researchers within the natural world community to investigate their use of
serial publications and the impact collaborative collections might have.
(v)
A detailed user study of the BL's document supply service and reference collections should be
undertaken. The effect of changes such as maintaining back-up collections outside the BL should
be considered. Full costing for document supply services based outside the BL should also be
undertaken.
(vi)
The findings of this Project should be used to generate interest in collaboration and to encourage
libraries not already involved, to participate in future work in this field. This report and related
documents will be made widely available.
6.3 The way forward
The six-month time scale of this Project limited the impact that it could have. The possibilities for
collaboration have been identified, however before work can proceed there is a need for leadership and
resources. The Natural History Museum is prepared to coordinate any future work and in April 2000
libraries attending the Workshop were asked to consider whether they would be prepared to continue their
involvement in collaborative work and whether they would be prepared to lead a subject group.
Twelve libraries responded to this request and the Project obtained a commitment to participate further in
the Project from 11 libraries. The University of East Anglia felt they could not participate further because
they did not have any unique natural world titles. However, the other 11 libraries were:
 University of Liverpool
 University of Newcastle
 University of Oxford, Plant Sciences Library
 Royal Botanic Gardens, Kew
 Royal Horticultural Society
 Southampton Oceanographic Library
 Institution of Mining and Metallurgy
9



Institute of Terrestrial Ecology on behalf of the Centre for Ecology and Hydrology
Oxford Museum of Natural History
University of Reading
The discussion paper raised the issue of whether academic libraries should be involved in further
collaboration, given the number of collaborative projects already in existence in the Higher Education
Sector. However, given the obvious enthusiasm from academic libraries, it would seem unwise to proceed
without their involvement.
6.4 Subject areas and lead institutions
Several libraries agreed to participate or lead a collaborative arrangement for libraries within particular
subject areas. The Centre for Ecology and Hydrology were prepared to participate in one or more groups
as they felt their subject interests were diverse and could not be restricted to one group. This was also
likely to be the case for the academic libraries, where their collection strengths are in several subject
areas. The subject groups to date consist of:
Plant Sciences / Botany / Forestry




Oxford University Plant Sciences (agreed to lead)
Kew Gardens (agreed to participate)
Royal Horticultural Society (agreed to participate or lead more specialised horticultural group)
University of Reading (agreed to participate - expertise in crop science / botany)
Geology

Institution of Mining and Metallurgy ( prepared to lead)
Oceanography / Aquaculture

Southampton Oceanographic Library (prepared to negotiate with British and Ireland Aquatic Sciences
Libraries and Information Centres to contribute)
Zoology / Entomology / Palaeontology

Oxford Museum of Natural History (prepared to participate)
7 Other relevant documents
The three documents supplementing this final report are:
 Ray Lester, Jane Secker, Geoff Smith, Natural History Serials Project Workshop Report, March 2000
 Jane Secker, Ray Lester Natural History Serials Project Discussion Paper, May 2000
 Jane Secker, Sharon Johnson British Library / Natural History Museum Overlap Study Report, May
2000
All reports from the Project are available in electronic format on the Project web site at:
Http://www.nhm.ac.uk/library/serials/index.html
10
Appendix 1: List of participating libraries
British Antarctic Survey
British Geological Survey
Centre for Environment, Fisheries and Aquaculture Science
Dunstaffnage Marine Laboratory / Scottish Association for Marine Sciences
Edinburgh University
English Nature
Geological Society
IACR-Rothamsted Institute of Arable Crops Research
Imperial College of Science, Technology and Medicine
Institute of Development Studies
Institute of Freshwater Ecology
Institute of Terrestrial Ecology
Institution of Mining and Metallurgy
John Innes Centre
John Rylands University Library
Lancaster University
Linnean Society
Ministry of Agriculture, Fisheries and Food
National Library of Scotland
National Library of Wales
National Museum and Gallery Cardiff
National Museums of Scotland
NRI Library, University of Greenwich
Oxford University Museum of Natural History
Plymouth Marine Laboratory
Reading University
Royal Botanic Garden Edinburgh
Royal Botanic Garden Kew
Royal Entomological Society
Royal Geographical Society
Royal Horticultural Society
Southampton Oceanography Centre
The Environment Agency
The Royal Astronomical Society
The University of Nottingham
UMIST
University of Bristol
University of Cambridge
University of East Anglia
University of Leeds
University of Leicester
University of Liverpool
University of Newcastle upon Tyne
University of Oxford
University of Southampton, Biomedical Sciences Library
University of Warwick
Wellcome Institute for the History of Medicine
Zoological Society of London
11