Collaborative Selection of New Science Journal Subscriptions

Anne Christie and Laurel Kristick, Oregon State University
NASIG 2003 Poster Session
Portland, OR

• How does a library decide which new science journals to buy and in what format to buy them?
• How can these decisions be made in a timely way so that new orders are placed to meet deadlines imposed by subscription agents?
• How does a library continue to build a dynamic collection even in times of cancellations?

Oregon State University

• land, sea and space-grant institution
• Carnegie Research/Doctoral Extensive university
• Teaching and research heavily orientated toward science and engineering

Background

• Journals are essential in a science collection
• Subscription costs increasing, budget shrinking
• Faculty and students need new journals because science changes and evolves
• Demand is high and the amount of money available is limited

• Faculty can request journals at any time but requests are evaluated once a year
• Requests for new journals referred to the appropriate librarian
• Faculty complete evaluation form for each journal requested
• Librarians may also initiate journals requests

Notification
(sample e-mail reminder sent to faculty in Spring Term)

Each year the Library endeavors to add some new journal subscriptions to align the collection with new directions in research and teaching. If you have requests for new journals now is the time to send them to me. Collection Development will review all requests and establish a priority list if money is available for new journals. The budget situation for the upcoming fiscal year is still uncertain. The deadline for your requests is May 1.
Below is a short questionnaire that you are asked to fill out for each title requested. Also, if there are journals in our collection to which you would like electronic access please let me know about these.
The Faculty Evaluation Form is attached

Selection Criteria for New Journal Subscriptions

• Relevance to OSU's teaching and research programs


• Type of information (e.g., primary research, review journal)


• Lasting value to the collection


• Other holdings in Orbis, Oregon and in GWLA partner libraries (see membership lists)


• Interlibrary loan activity


• Publisher reputation


• Cost


• Indexing


• ISI Ranking in field (if available)


• ISI Local Journal Utilization Report information for Oregon State University

• Order from prioritized list when the amount of money available for new subscriptions is known


• Titles not purchased stay in the pool for the next year


• Information needed by serials staff members to place orders quickly and without extra effort is already complete

Objectives met

• Mechanism for faculty participation in journal selection


• Process for collecting data on which to base purchase decisions


• Timeline to ensure the completion of the process


• Predictable workflow for faculty, librarians and acquisitions staff

• Science librarians consider the collection and the university's programs from a broader perspective
• Fosters awareness of interdisciplinary research and teaching on campus
• Science librarians work as a team and trust each other's judgment
• Vested in the ultimate choices for new subscriptions
• Selection decisions are not made in isolation so that available funds are spent effectively to achieve a balanced collection that serves the university’s research strengths
• Easily adapted for making journal selections in subject areas other than science
• Applied in libraries where selection decisions are made either by an individual librarian or by several librarians sharing collection development work

Conclusion

Faculty, subject librarians and acquisitions staff collaborate to select new science journals. The process makes use of faculty expertise and the skills and judgment of library staff, establishes a timeline and ensures a smooth workflow.

Handouts

Page created by Laurel Kristick, June 30, 2003