Taylor & Francis launch a new White Paper on facilitating discovery of
free-to-view online content

The increasing amount of free-to-view online content poses a significant
challenge for today's librarian in facilitating discovery.

Potentially such free resources could be of great value for education
purposes- teaching, learning and research -but how do librarians
determine the value of all these online resources when 'free' doesn't
necessarily mean easy to find?

Taylor & Francis recently conducted research via focus groups, telephone
interviews and a survey (eliciting over 500 responses) to explore
librarians' opinions on the availability and usefulness of free online
resources - the results of which are now being released in the form of a
White Paper.

Key themes

Our research identified what librarians think about the following issues
in relation to facilitating discovery:

* The growth and value of free content

* Resource challenges for librarians

* Identification and selection of content

* The role of the library

* Information literacy

* User needs

* The role of the Publisher

Research Headlines

 

* 92% of librarians agree that free online resources are 'very
important'

* Librarians feel they are well-placed to provide expertise in
free content selection and discovery

* 84% of respondents said that 10% or less of their time was
currently devoted to indexing free online content

* Key challenges for librarians relating to making free
resources more discoverable within their institutions are: volume
growth, unknown permanence, and difficulties relating to quality
assessment;

* The most important criteria for selection of free online
access was relevance of that content to the institution's activities
but brand and reputation factors were also key.

* Librarians are already investing in understanding their user
community needs and in developing their catalogue interfaces
accordingly.

The White Paper identifies that the role of librarians relating to
facilitating discovery of free online content falls into 2 key areas:

* Evaluating and selecting resources following a clear
methodology

* Providing guidelines and training

It seems there is a changing perception of librarians from 'purchaser of
content' to 'facilitators of discovery'.

Taylor & Francis commissioned this research as they wanted to understand
the challenges that librarians face in facilitating access to
free-to-view online resources, alongside the paid resources they are
more traditionally used to managing. As a publisher of both types of
content, we want to provide help and support for librarians in the new
challenges that they face in their evolving roles.

Dr David Green, Global Journals Publishing Director, comments, "While we
understand that the questions we posed encompassed a world of
free-to-view material beyond the traditional book and journal content
that is normally associated with the offerings of major scientific,
scholarly and professional publishers, we nevertheless are acutely aware
that there are key roles that we need to perform and a whole range of
new services and products that we should look to develop. All key
stakeholders in the information and research communication worlds are
aware that 'free' does not mean cost-free. However, free-to-access and
free-to-view, with free content availability in models such as 'freemium
offerings', are among the paths towards global access that we are all
now embracing and experimenting with."

Gillian Howcroft, e-Products Director, adds "Permanence, quality and
discoverability are valued services we already provide, but there is
always more to be done. Taylor & Francis is supporting all the current
Open Access mandates and working with authors, institutions, funders and
policy makers to ensure we develop robust, transparent and trusted
services for all involved. In terms of current initiatives, we are
exploring what more we can do in relation to discoverability and
metadata, particularly in open journals, but in subscribed journals
too."

 

For those who want to take a look at the White Paper, this is available
under a Creative Commons Attribution licence:
http://www.tandf.co.uk/libsite/pdf/TF-whitepaper-free-resources.pdf

 

Follow us on Twitter @LibraryLantern
<http://www.twitter.com/librarylantern> to receive the latest
commentary on the White Paper and to sign up to our webinars. Visit our
newsroom at: http://www.tandfonline.com/page/press-releases

 

For more information, please contact:

Aalia Oosman, Library & Communication Manager, Taylor & Francis Group
Journals email: [log in to unmask]

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About Taylor & Francis Group

Taylor & Francis Group partners with researchers, scholarly societies,
universities and libraries worldwide to bring knowledge to life. As one
of the world's leading publishers of scholarly journals, books, ebooks
and reference works our content spans all areas of Humanities, Social
Sciences, Behavioural Sciences, Science, and Technology and Medicine.

From our network of offices in Oxford, New York, Philadelphia, Boca
Raton, Boston, Melbourne, Singapore, Beijing, Tokyo, Stockholm, New
Delhi and Johannesburg, Taylor & Francis staff provide local expertise
and support to our editors, societies and authors and tailored,
efficient customer service to our library colleagues.

 

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