E‐serials Collection Management: Transitions, Trends and Technicalities

Citation

Kidd, T. (2005), "E‐serials Collection Management: Transitions, Trends and Technicalities", Library Review, Vol. 54 No. 6, pp. 387-388. https://doi.org/10.1108/00242530510605539

This collection of contributions is one of a series published by the Haworth Press on serials librarianship. There are thirteen chapters – unsurprisingly, the majority of the contributors are from the United States, although two chapters are written by Canadian librarians, one from Australia, and one from the United Kingdom. It is possibly worth saying that this is not a re‐issue of previously published journal articles, but is an edited compilation of original writings on particular topics. There is a helpful 15‐page index covering all the chapters.

The subjects covered range widely, and are in fact rather broader than the title would suggest, including useful chapters on e‐books (from Canada), and on the electronic reserve collection (from Australia). There is also what has become these days the obligatory chapter on open access and the future of scholarly communication, written by Gerry McKiernan of Iowa State University, a well‐known contributor to the relevant discussion lists. This is a particularly fast‐moving field, and the nature of the publication process inevitably means that recent developments from 2003 and 2004 are not included. The chapter is more of a catalogue of particular initiatives, titles, software, and so forth, than a discussion of the implications, and pros and cons, of open access, but is nevertheless a useful description of some of the important twists and turns along the open access/self‐archiving/eprints road.

Contributions cover most of the relevant issues in the world of e‐serials collection management. The acquisition of e‐journals theme includes chapters on the advantages and disadvantages of using subscription agents, and on the importance of consortia in this area. The sole UK contribution is from Paul Harwood and Carolyn Alderson, then of Swets Information Services, now of Content Complete Ltd, negotiators for the UK's NESLi2 consortium for acquiring access to e‐journals for higher and further education institutions. Their chapter uses Swets data, and their experience of negotiating the original NESLI agreements, to look at publisher licences – including the application of “model licences” – and pricing strategies. This study is also more discursive, with reasoned arguments and conclusions, than some of the papers in the compilation, which, while useful, tend to be more descriptive of practices in a particular institution or group of institutions.

Acquiring rights to access an e‐journal is only the start of a long process, as practitioners in this area know only too well. A number of chapters cover access issues – IP v username/password; maintaining access/troubleshooting. Then there is the question of providing information on what is available to users, with chapters on cataloguing e‐resources, and on setting up databases to supply the more comprehensive details required for their successful exploitation. Finally, there is a well‐argued chapter on the important topic of usage data, its collection, dissemination and management.

This collection is a very worthwhile guide, although I would have liked to see a little more on a couple of themes. Serials management systems provided by such as Serials Solutions, TDNet, or the subscription agents, and the newer e‐resource management modules being developed by many of the library management systems, could have benefited from more emphasis; and the whole question of permanent archive access in its various manifestations, vital to collection management and development in our hybrid world, should perhaps have received more attention. Nevertheless, there are many insights into problems and practices in this constantly changing environment, and this collection will be a constructive guide and stimulus to those working in this field.