Assessing Return on Investment for
E-Resources: A Cross-Institutional
Analysis of Cost-Per-Use Data
Patrick L. Carr
ALCTS CRS C&RL IG Midwinter Meeting
San Diego. January 9, 2011
“Print was simpler.”
Indeed:
This
has been replaced by…
From Appendix B of the 2004 report
of the Digital Library Federation’s
Electronic Resources Management
Initiative.
Indeed:
This
Has been replaced by…
From Appendix B of the 2004 report
of the Digital Library Federation’s
Electronic Resources Management
Initiative.
Indeed:
This
“Print was simpler.”
Has been replaced by…
From Appendix B of the 2004 report
of the Digital Library Federation’s
Electronic Resources Management
Initiative.
Indeed:
This
“Print was simpler.”
Not when it comes to use-based
evaluations.
Has been replaced by…
From Appendix B of the 2004 report
of the Digital Library Federation’s
Electronic Resources Management
Initiative.
Circulation
data
Subjective
impression
of use
Table count
Check-off
method
Methods
for
assessing
print use
Surveys
Thomas E.
Nisonger,
Management of
Serials in Libraries
(Englewood,
Colorado: Libraries
Unlimited, 1998):
160-65.
Slip method
Adhesive
labels
Direct
observation
Call slip
analysis
ILL request
analysis
Photocopy
request
analysis
Circulation
data
Subjective
impression
of use
Table count
Check-off
method
Slip method
We have far
assess use
Surveys
Thomas E.
Nisonger,
Management of
Serials in Libraries
(Englewood,
Colorado: Libraries
Unlimited, 1998):
160-65.
Methods
for
superior
assessing tools to
print
use
of
e-resources.
Direct
observation
Adhesive
labels
Call slip
analysis
ILL request
analysis
Photocopy
request
analysis
Cost-Per-Use:
Annual Subscription Cost
÷
Annual Use
Cost-Per-Use:
A powerful tool for assessing
return on investment.
Cost-Per-Use:
A powerful tool for assessing
return on investment.
But are we using CPU data to its
fullest potential?
Chuck Hamaker’s idea: A crossinstitutional analysis of CPU data
&
Caveat: The
coverage ranges
for cost and use
data didn’t
always overlap
completely.
Caveat:
Institution-byinstitution
access
sometimes
differed for
resources.
Caveat: The
coverage ranges
for cost and use
data didn’t
always overlap
completely.
Caveat:
Institution-byinstitution
access
sometimes
differed for
resources.
Caveat: Not all
sources of use
data were
COUNTER
compliant.
Caveat: The
coverage ranges
for cost and use
data didn’t
always overlap
completely.
Caveat: Not all
sources of use
data were
COUNTER
compliant.
We can’t really use this study’s
Caveat:
results Institution-byto
make
sweeping
institution
access
Caveat: The
conclusions.
sometimes
coverage range
differed for
resources.
for cost and use
data didn’t
always overlap
completely.
Publisher Journal Packages
Resource
American Chemical
Society Web Editions
Average
UNC Charlotte
ECU
UNC Wilmington UNC Greensboro
Cost Per FT
Article
Download
Cost Per FT
Article
Download
Cost Per FT
Article
Download
Cost Per FT
Article
Download
$5.32
$4.72
$4.84
$4.21
$4.22
$3.14
Blackwell Synergy
Cambridge University
Press
E-Duke Scholarly
Collection
$11.51
$11.46
$7.59
$20.12
$6.88
$7.28
$8.59
$8.27
$5.86
$6.40
$5.35
$4.73
$6.94
Elsevier ScienceDirect
$5.69
$3.89
$4.22
$8.56
$6.08
Oxford University Press
$5.24
$4.13
$3.77
$6.56
$6.49
Sage
$6.15
$4.42
$4.79
$10.25
$5.15
Springer
$10.49
$9.06
$6.64
$15.17
$11.08
Wiley
$14.43
$14.17
$12.72
$23.64
$7.20
Annual Reviews
$6.41
$5.27
$4.39
Full-Text Aggregators
Resource
Average
UNC Charlotte
ECU
Cost Per FT
Cost Per FT
Article
Article
Download
Download
UNC
Wilmington
Cost Per FT
Article
Download
UNC
Greensboro
Cost Per FT
Article
Download
ATLA Religion
$4.34
$1.25
$1.62
$8.90
$5.61
Communication & Mass Media
Complete
$0.52
$0.03
$0.63
$0.89
$0.53
EconLit
$3.84
$3.49
Literature Resource Center
$3.68
$2.91
PsycArticles
$0.61
$0.27
SPORTdiscus
$0.55
$0.35
$4.18
$7.15
$0.99
$1.06
$0.54
$0.58
$0.35
$0.96
Journal Site Licenses
Resource
Nature
Average
UNC Charlotte
ECU
UNC
Wilmington
Cost Per FT
Article
Download
Cost Per FT
Article
Download
Cost Per FT
Article
Download
$5.35
UNC
Greensboro
Cost Per FT
Article
Download
$3.71
$3.08
$3.01
Nature Biotechnology
$24.70
$18.00
$16.75
$39.36
Nature Cell Biology
$42.92
$55.59
$13.10
$60.07
Nature Genetics
$20.62
$14.82
$12.04
$35.01
Nature Medicine
$20.61
$26.71
$7.13
$27.98
Nature Structural &
Molecular Biology
$68.76
$28.07
$109.45
$3.41
Indexing & Abstracting Databases
Resource
Average
UNC Charlotte
Cost Per
Search
ECU
Cost Per
Search
UNC
Wilmington
Cost Per
Search
$0.20
UNC
Greensboro
Cost Per
Search
America, History and Life
Film and Television Literature
Index
$0.41
$0.12
$0.66
$0.64
$0.05
$0.04
$0.07
Historical Abstracts
$0.49
$0.13
$0.77
Journal Citation Reports Web
$7.99
$5.25
Mathscinet
$0.73
$0.11
$0.25
$1.72
$0.85
MLA International Bibliography
$0.15
$0.17
$0.21
$0.12
$0.09
Philosopher's Index
RILM Abstracts of Music
Literature
$1.04
$0.69
$0.16
$2.26
$0.11
$0.08
$0.10
$0.16
Ulrichs Periodicals Directory
$2.02
$4.32
$0.86
$0.89
Web of Science
$1.80
$0.92
$1.18
$2.87
$0.05
$0.23
$0.82
$10.73
$2.24
Three Questions
Three Questions
 What does a cross-institutional CPU
analysis actually tell us?
Three Questions
 What does a cross-institutional CPU
analysis actually tell us?
 How can we use what it tells us?
Three Questions
 What does a cross-institutional CPU
analysis actually tell us?
 How can we use what it tells us?
 Where do we go from here?
Questions/Comments
Patrick L. Carr
Head of Electronic & Continuing Resource Acquisitions
Joyner Library
East Carolina University
Greenville, North Carolina 27858
email: carrp@ecu.edu
phone: 252-328-2266