> We already have three departments who actively want to move to e-only
> access for at least a proportion of their material. I think there
> would be others if the final price for the e-version was less than the
> paper version.
We have recently cancelled 120-odd IEEE and IEE journals in
favour of IEL Online, the IEEE/IEE Electronic Library. Our Schools
of Electronic & Electrical Engineering and Computer Studies both
wanted us to do this. IEL actually costs considerably more than
the journals we have cancelled, but has the added benefits of
IEEE/IEE conference proceedings (which we don't have in print), an
archive back to 1988 and off-campus access.
> In the main I think it is libraries that are resisting until the
> problems of archiving, and guaranteeing access to 'back-runs' if
> subscriptions are cancelled, are fully solved.
Some academics were concerned about this, more so librarians.
IEEE have assured us that if we ever were to cancel, they would
supply us copies of everything we'd 'bought' on CD-ROM or fiche.
In the end, the opportunities outweighed the threats.
__________________________________________________
Terry Bucknell
Faculty Team Librarian (Engineering)
Edward Boyle Library
University of Leeds
Leeds LS2 9JT +44 113 233 5575
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