bl10.1108/blThe Bottom Line0888-045XEmerald Group Publishing Limited10.1108/bl.2000.17013aab.009e-non-articleSecondary articleOn library-vendor relationscat-LISCLibrary & information sciencecat-LLMLibrarianship/library managementcat-LFINLibrary financesWhich format is right for you? Some points to consider when comparing products delivered across platformsElizabeth R. Mansfield01032000131© MCB UP Limited2000Electronic publishing, Publishing industry, Comparative costs, Purchasing.peer-reviewednoacademic-contentyesrightslinkexcludedWhich format is right for you? Some points to consider when comparing products delivered across platforms

Keywords Electronic publishing, Publishing industry, Comparative costs,Purchasing

With the plethora of options for subscribing to publications, libraries needto evaluate which format of delivery is best suited to their needs. Fifteenyears ago, no one would have guessed that we would have so many choices. (Afterall the World Wide Web was only invented in the early 1990s!) For the samereference title, it is not uncommon to have the choice of print, CD-ROM or Webdelivery. But which one is right for your library?

One of the most important steps is to evaluate the content differences amongthe deliveries. Does the publisher make available certain documents depending onthe delivery medium? If a publisher varies the content based on media, it isusually print that contains the least material and the Web that has the most.Printed books and binders have a set number of maximum pages. When the pagecount is exceeded, the choices are to restrict content or publish inmulti-volume sets.

With the advent of CD-ROMs, publishers were relieved that their space limitswere resolved. However, the demand for more information by users, the desire ofpublishers to provide as much diverse information as possible, and thetechnological ability to store this extra data are now converging into a newspace crunch. Similar to books and binders, CD-ROMs have a maximum capacity andcan fill up amazingly fast. Consequently, the same dilemma with regard to spaceis being faced and limiting content is the only solution for CDs.

With the Web, limits on space are determined by the size of the servers thathouse the data. If the demand for data continues to grow at its current rate,multiple or super-sized servers will eventually be needed. However, the burdenof maintaining these servers lies with the Web publisher, not the library staff.If your library does not need the documents that are available only via the Webor on CD, evaluate if there are other benefits that merit your subscribing tothem.

If you determine you do indeed need these format-specific documents, but donot want to buy the subscription, consider other alternatives for obtaining thedata. For example, if these documents are only referenced occasionally, is therea free source on the Internet for them? Factor in the cost of having to go tomultiple, and potentially unreliable or unavailable, sources to complete theinformation-gathering process. Do human costs in terms of time offset themonetary cost of the subscription? The goal of publishers today is to sellconvenience in addition to data.

Currency is another evaluation point. Books, as we all know, are usually outof date the moment they are published - someone profiled within has since died,the address listed for an organization changes, or the company being researchedhas merged with another and is operating under a new name. However, it may notbe just the books that are out of date; it could really be the data used to makethose books.

If a publisher is not keeping their data current, then it does not matterwhich delivery you buy. The information will all be old. We rely on publishersto provide us with timely and accurate information. Our clients rely on us togive them current information. CD-ROM and Web delivery have helped bridge thiscurrency chasm but have not resolved it. Books are usually published annually;loose-leaf services and CD-ROMs mostly range from bi-weekly to quarterly.

But what about the Web? Are the data updated daily, weekly, hourly? Moreover,what proportion of the data is updated on this schedule? If currency isparamount to your clients, will your publisher's update cycle meet you and yourpatrons' needs? An investor seeking the most current information on a companywants information in real time. On the other hand, a student seekingbiographical information on Bill Gates may be completely satisfied with year-oldinformation.

Location of users is another issue to factor into the equation. Seldom areprint reference titles allowed to circulate, but when a branch library systemholds only one copy of a title in its entire collection, interlibrary loan isoften an option. Consider whether the demand for a title purchased in print maymerit paying for additional copies. Networked CD-ROMs help alleviate patronfrustration with heavily used titles as they provide multiple-user access withina library. If, however, your library needs multiple-user access at branches allacross town, the Web may be the best alternative. As patrons become more andmore computer-savvy, providing electronic access to information may not be asimple issue of convenience, but rather one of necessity especially as librariesbegin to provide more than just the catalog over the Web.

Ease of use, navigation and additional functions should all be evaluated. Ifa patron is unable to find the information they need, there is no use for theproduct. Is the organization of the title logical and intuitive? For printproducts, indexes, abstracts, tables of contents and good old-fashioned browsingprovide the navigation.

CDs present the opportunity to access much more data via queries. Usersperform simple word searches in addition to more complex custom searches (which,curiously, were often created in an attempt to mimic the ways we searched printsources). When the searches are executed, determine if the expected results arereturned. Most important, are the results relevant? The same questions can beasked of Web-delivered products. Keep in mind that Web products, by and large,do not attempt to improve upon CD search functions; rather they endeavor toreplicate them. There are a number of reasons for this phenomenon. Cost is aleading factor - why spend money to retool something that is workingsufficiently? Over-engineering is another issue. Some products attempt to allowfor every possible search option, thereby confusing the user. Keeping it simpleis paramount, especially for Web products.

In addition, do the limits of the Web (delivery, load times, etc.) negativelyimpact the usability of the title? The Web presents a considerable challenge topublishers which have "large" documents to deliver. The balance between slowload times and context is fragile. The general rule of thumb among Web designersis that five-to-ten seconds is the maximum a user will wait for a page to load.If the document you are attempting to retrieve is large, that load time isslowed. Publishers consequently break up large documents into smaller portionsto offset the load time. Are the documents in the title so large that load timesare slow or that they have been reorganized to the point of uselessness?Usability should be a major factor in the selection of any title because if youas a librarian have difficulty, imagine the difficulty your patrons willencounter. Be sure to review the help file to determine if the explanations onthe basics of use and navigation are clear and understandable. What othersupport does the publisher offer? When is it available? Staff time to handle anyend-user training should also be considered.

Other functions, such as printing, should also be evaluated. Does the printfunction meet your needs? Can users download or save information to disk? Thesefunctions are markedly different between CD-ROM and the Web. Print functions forthe Web work only on what is currently loaded to the screen. This can present aninconvenience to users who want to print an entire document that has been brokenup into smaller pieces to allow for better load times.

Pricing is another key factor. If the data used to make the books, CDs andWeb products are all housed in the same databases, should not prices be goingdown? The answer is yes and no. Because all the data are stored in the sameplace, yes it is easier and often costs less to maintain. However, any savingshere are offset by the need to maintain numerous and totally separate deliveryprocesses to provide the data: one each for print, CD and on the Web. Consideralso the costs of more frequent update cycles, especially for Web delivery.Fortunately, libraries can oftentimes strike a deal on pricing with a publisher.

If you decide to buy across delivery mediums, there are often discounts whencompared with separate subscriptions. Be sure to pursue this if you have userswith different needs and abilities. Also, it is not unheard of for discounts tobe given to libraries that subscribe to a number of separate titles published bythe same company. While not all publishers are willing to give these discounts,the old adage "Nothing ventured; nothing gained" applies.

Value does not mean getting the highest-priced item for the least amount ofmoney. Value is about meeting the needs of you and your users for the least cost- cost in terms of human resources (ranging from maintenance and training toevaluation and acquisition), time, ease of use, and, of course, money.

As more print and CD publishers venture into Web delivery, libraries mustevaluate the pros and cons of the different media for their unique needs. Themyriad options we now have are making life both easier and more difficult forlibrary staff and management. Costs are a key factor, but meeting the needs ofthe patron remains paramount. Value can be found in each of the formats; withluck, some of the points above will aid you in determining which format is rightfor your library.

Elizabeth R. Mansfield is an editor with the Bureau of NationalAffairs, Inc., Washington, DC