We are reviewing the cost of continuing our subscriptions to the large
e-journal collections. Looking at the number of article downloads it is
clear these services could not be replaced by document delivery services
even at the BL rate of charges if the same number of items were requested.
Opting for a hybrid solution of subscribing to the most popular titles and
backing this with document delivery services for the rest still looks more
expensive if we assume that all those articles currently downloaded would
be requested. However, if users had to pay for Document Delivery would
they request all these articles?
The problem is that to the users of e-journals each article is free so
articles of limited interest are downloaded. So when we look at download
statistics we are not necessarily seeing the real value the users place on
the service. Does anyone know if there has been any research asking what
percentage of downloaded articles from e-journals are considered of
sufficient value that the user would be prepared to pay the equivalent of
a BL document delivery charge for it?
Regards,
John Smith,
The Templeman Library,
University of Kent.
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