A talk delivered by Paul Cavanagh and James Baker at the Anybook Oxford Libraries Conference 2015 - Adapting for the Future: Developing Our Professions and Services, 21st July 2015.

1. www.derby.ac.ukwww.derby.ac.uk
Manage, develop, collaborate:
Evidence-based decision making for
collection management.
James Kay and Paul Cavanagh

2. www.derby.ac.uk
Meet your presenters
• Library Subscriptions &
Document Delivery Librarian,
December 2013
• Previously Company Librarian
at Simcyp Ltd (private pharma-
tech enterprise company) for 6
½ years
• Met former Doctor Who Tom
Baker and got his
autograph...at Songs of Praise
James
• Library Resources
Development & Delivery
Manager, September 2013
• Previously Senior Assistant
Librarian De Montfort
University, Leicester and
Library Assistant at University
of Nottingham
• Appeared as a librarian in an
episode of popular BBC
daytime soap Doctors
Paul
• Subscriptions and E-
Resources needed long term
strategy to ensure sustainable
service development
• Process review and analysis
of service provision resulted in
changes to roles and
responsibilities
• Coincided with reorganisation
of University of Derby’s
academic structure
Library

3. www.derby.ac.uk
Explicit challenges at the University of Derby –
Practicalities of provision
“(When working with e-resources) a vast bank of goodwill is required”
• Spend and commitment targets
• Reviewing print and electronic
holdings in line with:
o Budget and spend
o Teaching, learning and
research needs
• Agreeing Library provision in a
way that is:
o Transparent
o Measurable
o Comparable
Budgets
• Compatibility of resources with
existing systems and technology:
o Reading lists – Talis Aspire,
Talis Aspire Digitised Content
(TADC)
o Discovery Service – EBSCO
o Catalogue – Prism
• Pricing models, collections and
packages
• Checking and storing licenses
Systems
• Meeting license requirements
• Authentication standards
• Ensuring access for eligible
users
• Restricting access for ineligible
• users
• Managing on campus and off
campus access
• Ensuring accuracy and visibility
of holdings
Access
What challenges do you face?

4. www.derby.ac.uk
E-Resources’ response:
• Collection Development
Group
o Focusing on collections as a
whole, reviewing and making
effective decisions through
evidence
• Library Systems Improvement
Group
o Focusing on systems,
accessibility, findability,
usability
• Reading Lists (Aspire/TADC)
Group
o Focusing on collaboration and
reading lists provision
•Groups meet quarterly
Working
Groups
• Reviewing roles and
responsibilities (Subscriptions
and Document Delivery
Librarian, E-Resources Library
Assistant, E-Resources
Administrator)
• Changing work flows and
building in support processes
• Identifying gaps in service
provision
• Clarifying responsibilities with
colleagues in IT services, Library
and publishers
• Unifying systems – to a point
Service
• e-resources@derby.ac.uk mail
box used for logging systems
queries and faults and is now
default email for subscriptions
• Renewals and Purchase Order
notices
• Regular meetings with Finance
team
• Establish cancellation periods
for all resources
• Review current provision of
usage statistics including peer
and institutional benchmarking
across time
Monitoring

5. www.derby.ac.uk
“All usage is valid” - contextualising usage and finance
• Usage data statistics –
standardisation through
counter compliancy
• Who is using it and how?
e.g. database, discovery
service or individual
journal?
• Practicalities of usage
consolidation across
different resources - a
huge task, gathering and
harvesting usage
• Establishing benchmarks
• Cost per use metric is
often the primary indicator
What is
usage?
Assessing systems and
provision
• What has University
agreed to provide? What
can it not provide (e.g. to
different student groups)?
How can it check and
store licenses?
Pricing models, collections
and packages
• What has the University
purchased? What content
does it own? When is
payment due?
Linking
usage to cost
• Workbook is
comprehensive but not
immediately accessible -
requires editing / abridging
• Leads to over simplification
e.g. COUNTER / non-
COUNTER is grouped as
‘usage’
• User education – different
types of usage, cost per
use / download, analysis
• Usage is not in isolation –
one of many factors (e.g.
Teaching, Learning and
Research needs)
Monitoring

6. www.derby.ac.uk
E-Resources’ response: Journals

7. www.derby.ac.uk
E-Resources’ response: Databases
• Focuses on Cost per Use and Usage Criteria

8. www.derby.ac.uk
Implicit challenges at the University of Derby –
how we think and understand and what we communicate
Awareness
• Identifying resourcing needs
and future proofing
• Focus on resource planning
in early stages of course
development
• Liaison with Subject
Librarians
• Subject Librarian liaison with
academics
• Understanding issues at
senior management level
• Managing expectations –
students, academics,
publishers and content
providers, librarians,
institution
• Need to improve knowledge
and understanding of issues
surrounding resource
renewals
• Communicating this
information to colleagues
Communication
• Culture
• Structure
• Institutional priorities, e.g.
student experience, research
• External factors e.g. funding,
recruitment, student numbers
• Legislation e.g. copyright
restrictions
• Increasing cost of resources
Organisation
and sector

9. www.derby.ac.uk
Going forward
• Usability testing
• Flexible spending timeline
• Shared practice / community –
across library, institutions,
profession, FE / HE sector
• Engaging with publishers
• Positive impact in other areas of
service – e.g. Enquiries, Subject
Librarians
• Advocacy / promotion – of team,
roles / responsibilities, new tools
• Future proofing – academic
validations, course planning,
systems development
Best practice
• Develop agreed assessment
criteria for renewals based on:
o Teaching, learning and
research needs
o Usage and comparison data
o Cost analysis
o Accessibility and authentication
• For a journal, criteria might
be…good impact factor,
academics publish regularly in
it, student recommendation,
selected for reading lists, only
journal in the field etc
Analysis
• The ultimate aim, the dream of
E-Resources!
• Holds all suppliers, renewals
dates, costs and licensing
information
• Provides detailed analytics,
usage breakdown and allows
benchmarking
• Links with student information,
e.g. student numbers
• Links with all library systems,
allowing easy authentication,
updating of records
Matrix

10. www.derby.ac.uk
Thanks, questions and contacts
• James Kay
Library Subscriptions & Document Delivery Librarian
Learning Enhancement
T: 01332 592626
E: J.Kay@derby.ac.uk
• Paul Cavanagh
Library Resources Development & Delivery Manager
Learning Enhancement
T: 01332 592459
E: P.Cavanagh@derby.ac.uk
• Tim Peacock
E-Resources Administrator
Learning Enhancement
T: 01332 591204
E: T.Peacock@derby.ac.uk
Twitter: @DerbyUniLibrary Web: http://www.derby.ac.uk/campus/library/