Using Reading List data to support and drive resource strategies

Craig Milne, Manager Scholarly Resource Services and Library Campus Services

c.milne@griffith.edu.au

Library and Learning Services

Some context Scholarly Resource Strategy

Collections Selection and procurement Discoverability and accessibility Financial sustainability

Ambitious targets By 2017- All new required and recommended readings will be in electronic format only (refers to new

courses / programs) By 2018 – Greater than 95% of all required and recommended readings will be available online By 2020 – Reliance on print and physical collections will have been minimised with the collection

footprint reduced by 50% from the 2016 baseline size.

Library and Learning Services

Policy Reading Lists are the source of truth for readings Reading Lists are part of a compulsory course profile process Policy sits under the authority of the Teaching and Learning Committee

Learning Resources and Reading Lists policy Sets out responsibility Establishes definitions for required / recommended readings Includes TEQSA guidance that full-text, digital access should be available for required resources as listed in Course Profiles Includes that recommended resources are to be selected from the extensive range of resources already available through the

existing collections Includes that The University has an e-preferred policy to maximise the accessibility of resources to students regardless of the

mode of course delivery

Library and Learning Services

Supporting and driving resource strategies Targeted print to electronic conversion and funding Supporting vendor discussions for eText acquisition Targeting Open Universities Australia course resources for online availability Progressing towards 95% by 2018 Reducing the physical footprint by 50% Some other uses Things to consider and lessons learned Using data to inform further change in 2017

Library and Learning Services

Targeting conversion and funding All items report – detailed list for use in ISBN title matching services Ability to filter and target by subject area Can prioritise by resource importance In late 2015 title a list of 7087 resulted in a match of 533 titles

Benefits Possible to target funding with data to build a business case Secured funding for 241 titles Bulk order and supply of MARC records Ability to negotiate on bulk purchases and take advantage of special offers

Library and Learning Services

Supporting vendor discussions Publisher by publisher approach using all items report Quickly create lists to help in discussions / negotiations Can priority discussions based on resources per publisher Provides publisher with a clear picture

Outcomes OUP eTexts outside of standard offering Cengage trial – over 170 eTexts Start of higher level discussions with publishers such as Springer on alternative models

Library and Learning Services

Online availability of OUA resources Approx. 220 Open University Courses offered (171 lists identified) Requirement for resources to be online Large print stock loss connected with OUA

Targeted communication and approach with support of Academic

Director, Griffith Online

Able to do a lot of work without involving the academic Prioritised OUA eTexts in publisher discussions Biggest issue remains literature titles

2591 Required Resources - 96%

were already online

990 Recommended

Resources – 87% were already

online

Library and Learning Services

Progressing towards 95% by 2018 Expected that Reading List data would be a good way to report on the

targets Due to the number of time periods and roll-over practices it is actually difficult

to track and report We can keep targeting resources without URL’s

We do know from our budget figures that eText acquisition now surpasses

print Jan 2016 Ratio of print to e was approx. 2:1 Dec 2016 Ratio of print to e was 0.6 to 1 First time eText acquisition has surpassed print

Some very approximate figures of

required texts with URL’s

Jan 2015 approx. 40%Jan 2016 approx. 51%Jan 2017 approx. 57% (but still working on

2017 lists)

Library and Learning Services

Reducing the physical footprint by 50% Looking at multiple strategies for deselection Reading list information in Millennium (950 tags)

Able to use the Reading List information in deselection Will be able to progress work on recommended readings using print data to

influence thinking / shift in reading selection

Library and Learning Services

Some other uses URL’s useful for identifying potential issues with cancellation of a

platform / journal Useful for identifying courses impacted by items being withdrawn from

aggregated collections Quickly assess purchase requirements against eText offers that

publishers are putting out Pivot tables – look at trends / behavior across courses and disciplines

No items in a list, types of items in lists, required v recommended

Library and Learning Services

Things to consider and lessons learned Know your data – map it out Is the time taken to derive a metric / baseline worthwhile? Need skills in Excel (pivot tables in particular) and Access for quick table joins

What would help – improvements in all items report

Item analytics that are in the dashboard being available in the all items report A flag to indicate clearly if a resource is online or not (or was) A link in the all items report to the TADC data for the item (for data and to know that I was a digitised item)

Library and Learning Services

Using data to inform further change in 2017 Look at continuing the work on eTexts Look at not just converting from p to e but also influencing behavior based on

reading list / circ data Continue with a bottom up / top down and in the background approach Provide more data to key stakeholder groups