Re: Serials Cancellation Formulas (Steve Black) Marcia Tuttle 05 Oct 2000 17:59 UTC
---------- Forwarded message ---------- Date: Thu, 5 Oct 2000 10:03:56 -0400 From: Steve Black <blacks@MAIL.STROSE.EDU> Subject: Re: Serials Cancellation Formulas A few years ago, I did a presentation at our Eastern New York chapter of ACRL on the topic of a formula. I presented it as core collection definition, but it applies to cancellation projects. I must have sent this on request to a dozen individuals by now, so since it seems to be of general interest, here's the outline of the pertinent parts of my comments. If you want to see the whole thing, with charts, and you can receive Word attachments, e-mail me and I'll send it to you. Steve Black Reference, Instruction, and Serials Librarian Neil Hellman Library The College of Saint Rose 392 Western Ave. Albany, NY 12203 (518) 548-5494 blacks@mail.strose.edu GOALS FOR THIS CORE COLLECTION DEFINITION PROJECT Involve faculty in transition to online Define each academic discipline's core collection Identify journals for which online access is an acceptable substitute for print, and make cancellations accordingly Create decision support data for budget reallocation Use defined core to guide future serials collection development MEASURES USED FOR THIS DEFINITION OF A CORE COLLECTION Price per use of each journal derived from one-year use study (1996) Faculty survey (each department asked to list the journals most essential for their students to use in their course work) Citation impact factor and cited half-life from ISI's Journal Citation Reports on CD- ROM--Social Sciences Edition Magazines for Libraries --journal scored as 3 if listed as a basic title, 2 if listed, 1 if not listed FORMULA USED TO RANK JOURNALS 1. Inverse of price per use times Katz score PLUS 2. Impact factor times cited half-life, 3. Then double the departmental mean of 1 plus 2, for titles picked by faculty as "most essential" RATIONALE BEHIND FORMULA Inverse of price per use gives a high score to cost-effective titles Katz score of 1,2, or 3 reflects librarians' input on quality, and acts as a multiplier on the cost-effectiveness of the journal Impact factor times cited half-life produces a score that reflects inclusion in Social Sciences Citation Index, stature of journal in its field, and the long-term usefulness of the journal's articles Mean times 1 gives equal weight to faculty pick vis- -vis other factors Additive formula allows rankings even if data are missing HOW THE RANKINGS ARE TO BE USED Draw a line at average formula score for each department-starting point for defined core Collaborate with faculty to move some titles above or below line, if necessary Identify titles below line (not part of core) that will be available online to College of Saint Rose students Check for each to determine whether online version is an acceptable substitute for print Do not renew non-core journals covered adequately by selected online package(s) Use core list in future decision-making, and make available departments' core lists COSTS AND BENEFITS OF THIS PROJECT Costs $690 for JCR-Social Sciences substantial time invested, including by faculty use study costs Benefits Good reference for current and future collection development Raises comfort level for replacing print with online Consistently applied criteria help maintain fairness Narrows number of journals to check whether online is an acceptable substitute for print Aids online package selection and journal collection budgeting [Graphic 2] Collaboration with faculty yields important benefits SUMMARY OBSERVATIONS All serials data sources have validity and/or reliability problems Details of formula much less important than principle of ranking journals based on as many measures as possible Results work within, but not between, departments Administrators appreciate this level of analysis-very helpful at budget request time Any close look at a serials collection reveals errors & anomalies-good thing, but creates additional work Online journals make information literacy instruction more difficult and more important than ever, but having a defined core print collection should help