Dear Gurdish
I am very interested in your question - I suspect you will find there are a number of different approaches to budget allocation for print and electronic materials.
The e-measures project at evidence base (www.ebase.uce.ac.uk/emeasures <http://www.ebase.uce.ac.uk/emeasures> ) has worked with SCONUL to introduce new questions in the SCONUL return from 2003-4 which are designed to give a better overview of the holdings, costs and usage of electronic resources. We collected data from 25 HE libraries over a four month period last year and found that libraries often had difficulties separating out their print and electronic spend. This is of course partly due to the need to maintain print subscriptions as part of the big deals - which heading do you put them under if the library budget separates 'print' and 'electronic'? You will see in the latest published SCONUL statistics (2002-3) that many libraries put 'n/k' against the breakdown of serial subscriptions into print only, electronic only and print and electronic (questions 7b-7e). In the notes to the SCONUL statistics it states, "54% of information provision expenditure is on serials (including electronic serials), with 29% on books and 13% on other electronic resources". A high proportion of this 54% must be electronic, but we can't tell how much.
Hopefully, the new SCONUL questions and the guidance notes available will encourage more libraries to provide a detailed breakdown of their e-journal costs. I'll be very interested to see the replies you receive on actual funding models which will most easily achieve this.
Best wishes
Angela
Dr Angela Conyers
evidence base
research & evaluation
UCE Library Services
University of Central England
Perry Barr
Birmingham
B42 2SU
email: [log in to unmask] <mailto:[log in to unmask]>
tel: 01303 240236 (home)
www.ebase.uce.ac.uk <http://www.ebase.uce.ac.uk>
-----Original Message-----
From: An informal open list set up by the UK Serials Group on behalf of Gurdish Sandhu
Sent: Wed 26/01/2005 10:09
To: [log in to unmask]
Cc:
Subject: Funding models for electronic resources purchases
Colleagues,
I would like to solicit your views on the funding models of electronic
resources purchases.
As you are aware that there is no standard funding model for electronic
resources yet. I understand that money is transferred either from
recurrent or non-recurrent funds or sometimes from special pots on adhoc
basis. I feel current mechanisms are inadequate and inappropriate to
cope with electronic resources purchases. They cause quite few problems
such as convincing academic colleagues to cancel print subscriptions.
Secondly, data collection for SCONUL returns particularly for electronic
resources becomes time consuming, difficult and haphazard.
I would like to know if any one has come up with any solution to address
the above issues.
I would like to think that it would be much easier to maintain and
collect financial data if we were to split the library material budget
right at the start into 3 heads i.e. print books, print journals and
electronic resources. But that raises another issue that what % goes to
e-resources. PURCEL report 2000 mentioned that libraries spend 16% on
average on electronic resources. However, there has been a rapid growth
in electronic resources over the last four years. I am sure the current
figure should be higher than 16%.
Your views would be most welcomed on the above issue.
I would be happy to produce a summary of all the responses received.
Gurdish
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Mrs Gurdish Sandhu
Collections Development Manager
Information Services Division
University of Salford
Adelphi Campus
Peru Street
Salford M3 6EQ
Tel: 0161 295 6222
FAX: 0161 295 6189
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