1. IRIS Electronic Information Services Limited Fintan Bracken Assistant Librarian, IRIS Electronic Information Services Ltd. Measuring the Value of E-Resources

2. Outline IReL What are e-resources? How to measure the value of e-resources: Usage Cost Per Use (CPU) Matching e-resources to the institutional priorities Speaking to Users Questions 3. IReL - Irish Research eLibrary IReL is a consortium of the 7 Irish universities. IReL includes both Science, Technology & Medicine (STM) and Humanities & Social Sciences (HSS) e-resources. IReL was established initially in 2004 and has received funding from SFI, HEA, DJEI and IUA. For selected e-resources, RCSI, DIT, the IoTs and Teagasc also subscribe via IReL. The IReL Monitoring Group gather usage statistics on all of the IReL resources and produce an annual monitoring report. 4. E-Resources include: E-Journals E.g. ScienceDirect & Oxford University Press Journals E-Books E.g. ACLS Humanities Ebooks & Cambridge Books Online Online Databases E.g. Web of Science & LexisNexis Online Music and Audio Books E.g. OverDrive Data and GIS Resources E.g. Ordnance Survey Ireland 5. Usage Statistics COUNTER (Counting Online Usage of Networked Electronic Resources) international initiative to improve the reliability of online usage statistics via agreed standards (http://www.projectcounter.org/). E-Resource Most Useful Metric COUNTER Report Required E-Journals Number of downloads Journal Report 1 E-Books Number of downloads Book Report 2 Online Databases Number of searches Database Report 1 6. COUNTER JR1 Report 7. Usage of IReL Resources 2007-2012 0 2,000,000 4,000,000 6,000,000 8,000,000 10,000,000 12,000,000 14,000,000 16,000,000 Usage 2007 Usage 2008 Usage 2009 Usage 2010 Usage 2011 Usage 2012 E-journals E-Book Database 8. Cost Per Use (CPU) Full costs of the e-resource for the year divided by the total number of downloads or searches in the year. Calculation of costs for each resource should always be the same e.g. always include VAT. Set a threshold for CPU above which all e-resources will be reviewed e.g. CPU > 2. 9. Cost Per Use Comparison 0.00 2.00 4.00 6.00 8.00 10.00 12.00 14.00 CostPerUse(CPU) 10. % of Overall Costs vs % of Overall Usage 0% 5% 10% 15% 20% 25% 30% % of overall costs % of overall usage 11. E-Journal Collection Performance 0% 10% 20% 30% 40% 50% 60% 70% 80% 90% 100% ResourceA ResourceB ResourceC ResourceD ResourceE ResourceF ResourceG ResourceH ResourceI ResourceJ ResourceK ResourceL ResourceM ResourceN ResourceO ResourceP ResourceQ ResourceR % of titles with less than 50 downloads % of titles between 50-299 downloads % of titles with 300 or more downloads 12. Journal Impact Factor Impact Factors are a benchmark of a journals reputation and helps to evaluate a journals relative importance, especially when compared with others in the same field. Impact Factor = average number of citations counted in the year Y for articles published in the previous 2 years. Journal Impact Factors are published each year in Thomson Reuters Journal Citation Reports. 13. Rank Journal Title IF 1 Journal of Economic Literature 9.243 2 Quarterly Journal of Economics 5.92 3 Review of Financial Studies 4.748 4 Journal of Finance 4.218 5 Journal of Economic Perspectives 4.211 6 Economic Geography 3.975 7 American Economic Journal: Macroeconomics 3.8 8 Journal of Financial Economics 3.725 9 Brookings Papers on Economic Activity 3.409 10 Journal of Accounting and Economics 3.281 Top 10 Economics Journals based on 2011 Impact Factors (IF) 14. Institutional Priorities Important to match e-resources to the priorities of your institution. Public Libraries: Library development plans Academic Libraries: University research priorities National Research Prioritisation Exercise (NRPE) 15. Breakdown of IReL journals with 3,000+ downloads in 2012 by NRPE field 0. Multidisciplinary, 29 jnls 1. Medical, Health and Life Sciences & Technologies, 148 jnls 2. Environment (incl.) Climate Change, 19 jnls 3. Energy, 6 jnls 4. Biological Sciences, Ag., Food, Fish., Marine & Nat. Res., 91 jnls5. Physical & Chemical Sciences & Engineering, 68 jnls 6. Information & Communication Technology, 4 jnls 7. Transport, Infrastructure, Manufacturing & Production, 7 jnls 8. Social Sciences, Economics, Law & Business , 118 9. Humanities, 93 jnls 16. Talking to Users Speak to the people who use your library to find out what e-resources they value. Informal opportunistic conversations with users. Qualitative Methods: Surveys / Questionnaires Interviews Focus groups Assess the different sub-sections of your users e.g. academic researchers, students, teenagers, elderly, users with disabilities, non- Irish nationals, etc. 17. Kildare County Libraries Online eServices Online Survey http://www.surveymonkey.com/s/2R2TFZ2 18. Summary There are many methods of measuring the value of e-resources. There is no perfect method so it is important not to rely on a single method but to use a variety. Cost Per Use is probably the most useful method of measuring value. Ensure that the e-resources you provide complement your institutions research and other priorities. User surveys, interviews and focus groups are alternative methods of measuring value. 19. Thank you for listening. Questions? Email: fintan.bracken@ucd.ie