The Economic Impact of an Electronic Journal Collection on an

The Economic Impact of an Electronic Journal Collection on an Academic Library

Carol Hansen Montgomery, John A. Bielec

1. Drexel University, W. W. Hagerty Library, 3141 Chestnut Street, Philadelphia, PA 19104, USA

montgoch@drexel.edu

2. Drexel University, Office of Information Resources and Technology, 3141 Chestnut Street, Philadelphia, PA 19104, USA

jbielec@drexel.edu

Abstract. This paper provides information on the economic impact of the transition from print to electronic journals in an academic library. The technological orientation of the university and a robust network infrastructure have made it possible for Drexel to make this transition more quickly than most, if not all, U.S. academic libraries. Shifts in costs occur in all budget areas: capital (space and network infrastructure), staffing, purchased services, materials, supplies and equipment. Overall, costs are higher, but preliminary data indicates that in Drexel's case per journal and per article costs are lower.

Introduction

In 1998, the W.W. Hagerty Library of Drexel University made migration to an electronic journal collection as quickly as possible a key component of its strategic plan. If a journal is available electronically, only the electronic version is purchased whenever possible. The sole exceptions are (1) when the electronic journal lacks an important feature of the print version (e.g., advertisements in business or fashion journals) and (2) when the journal is part of the browsing collection (e.g., Scientific American and Harvard Business Review). By the Summer of 2000, Drexel's journal collection consisted of 950 print subscriptions and 6000 electronic journals. A dramatic change in staff workload is the most immediate impact on library operations, but space, equipment, and even supply needs are affected.

Development Stage

Drexel's largest college is Engineering. The library's "fast track" transition to electronic was made possible by the Drexel environment which included not only a supportive administration and technologically-savvy faculty and students, but an advanced computer network.

Wireless Technology Provides Access Anywhere

Drexel University made history when in 1983 it required all students to have access to a personal computer. Drexel quickly became known as one of the nation’s foremost technological universities. This lead continued with one of the first ResNet (fully wired student residential facilities) in the nation including Ethernet, and full participation in the Next Generation Internet initiatives and Internet2 consortium. In early 1998 cooperative effort between the Office of Information Resources and Technology and the Hagerty Library the creation of Drexel University’s first "CyberZone" was completed. Students, faculty and staff were able to sign-out laptop computers and access via the latest wireless technology any system on the Drexel network including email, the library catalog and digital resources as well as the World Wide Web. This created a whole new era of opportunity for Drexel students wanting to combine various electronic and database information sources with traditional library resources independent of location, and became the foundation for many Library improvements creating a major shift from the print to digital format. The CyberZone concept provided access to digital library resources from literally any place at any time. Today, CyberZones span the entire campus creating a CyberCampus making ubiquitous computing at Drexel a reality. As a result of these technological initiatives, Drexel University is ranked as Philadelphia’s top wired university and the 16^th most wired college in the United States by Yahoo! Internet Life magazine in its annual survey of "America’s 100 Most Wired Colleges."

Development of Drexel's Electronic Journal Collection

In concert with development of the robust, state of the art, electronic infrastructure, Library staff began developing and refining selection methods for electronic journals in 1998. The selection/ordering/ process is far more complex than that in place for print journals. The current and evolving pricing models and methods for purchase often include buying packages of titles or services, many with value-added features. Reviewing and negotiating proper terms for e-journal licenses is a major aspect of the complexity. Additionally, new variables must be considered in the title-by-title evaluation of available content (e.g., graphics, linking options, web interface functionality, and other value-added features).

Whenever possible, we purchase only the electronic version of a journal and cancel the corresponding print publication. This has met with limited success so far. One of our most interesting problems has to do with creative methods to NOT receive print journal issues when they are bundled with the electronic version Because of the added cost of receiving, processing, binding, shelving and storing the print format, staff developed several strategies for eliminating print issues when the library has purchased equivalent electronic access.

Impact on Library Staffing and Other Costs

Table 1 delineates many of the changes in staffing and other costs. See [1] for more detail.

Table 1. Changes in staffing and other costs

Department	Activity	Net Impact
Infrastructure/ Systems&Space	campus network computer hardware computer systems maintenance hardware maintenance setting up access software purchase & development printing space utilization	increased capital costs increased equipment costs increased staffing increased costs increased staffing increased staffing increased costs & revenue reduced space needs
Administration/ Management	negotiating contracts managing the change attention to decisions budgeting subscription fees	increased staffing increased staffing increased staffing increased staffing increased costs
Technical Services	print journal check-in acquisitions claiming bindery staffing effort and fees cataloging new items OCLC transactions catalog/e-journal list maintenance	reduced staffing increased staffing reduced staffing reduced staffing & costs increased staffing increased costs increased staffing
Circulation/ Access	re-shelving journals collecting use data stack maintenance user photocopying	reduced staffing net impact unclear reduced staffing reduced use & revenue
Reserve	article file maintenance article checkout maintaining e-reserves	reduced staffing reduced staffing increased staffing
Document Delivery	faculty copy service interlibrary loan - borrowing interlibrary loan - borrowing net ILL volume	net impact unclear (started 1999, expect reduction) reduced staff costs reduced vendor charges expected to decline
Information Services	reference at desk instruction/promotion preparing documentation journal selection	net impact unclear expect increase increased staffing increased staffing

In summary, the impact on overall costs and staffing patterns has been pervasive and substantial. Preliminary and partial analysis of the staff cost changes alone indicate that capital investment, i.e. system and other development, allocated to e-journals is over $100,000, and that the annual operational increase is at least $80,000. See [1] for detailed changes by category.

The primary reasons for the increase are that the activities associated with electronic journal acquisitions and maintenance are far more complex, and thereby more time-consuming, than those required for print journal collections. And, because of the complexity and use of technology, the staff required to manage e-journals demand higher salaries than staff devoted to the print journal collection. There are real and measurable savings in the print area, for example, in journal check-in, binding, claiming, repairing, shelving and statistics gathering. But these are routine tasks typically performed the lowest paid clerical staff and by student workers. Journal selection in the print environment is not simple but has many fewer dimensions than the electronic analog.

In the e-journal world many more factors come into play when making collection development decisions; licensing restrictions, quality of visuals, inclusiveness of all the features in the print counterpart, whether the journal is part of an aggregator's list, overlap among aggregator's listings, presence of a login requirement, interface, and linking capabilities are examples of added characteristics than must be considered. "Deals" are negotiated with publishers and aggregators by local consortia; they must be compared to obtain the best pricing. Most acquisitions involve contracts. Some sources have very complex pricing plans. All this evaluation and weighing of alternatives must be done by senior professional staff who are relatively well-compensated. This process, plus managing all the personnel shifts and other changes [2] places a large burden on the time of library administrators.

Considering only subscription costs, Drexel's current e-journal collection is far less costly than the print collection on a per title basis. Obviously, this is the result of the composition of the two specific collections that are not comparable and so is not generalizable. Yet the difference is so striking that it is worth mentioning. The per title cost of the Drexel e-journal collection is less than half that of the print collection, a figure even more notable if one considers that e-journal access almost always includes several back years. [1] And the use of our e-journals is double that of print and rising rapidly, so the savings for per article use is even greater. [1]

References

1. Montgomery, C., Sparks, J. Framework for Assessing the Impact of an Electronic Journal Collection on Library Costs and Staffing Patterns. Mar. 2000.

<http://www.si.umich.edu/PEAK-2000/montgomery.pdf> (25 June 2000).

2. Montgomery, C., and Sparks, J. The Transition to an Electronic Journal Collection: Managing the Organizational Change. Serials Review. (In press)