Research into Libraries' Purchasing and Access Requirements

Funded by the Association of Subscription Agents (ASA)

Project head: Dr Fytton Rowland, Department of Information Science

Research associate(s): Mari Connal

Duration: 1/9/01 - 31/1/02

Description: This research was aimed at determining what aspects of services provided by subscription agents are valued by libraries and how they perceived the role of the agent and intermediary in the purchase of and access to their subscriptions, both paper and electronic. Specific aims of the research were to provide information in the following areas:

• To determine how libraries organised the purchasing of their journals and their preferences for the different means of doing so
• To examine if there were significant differences in these preferences between the acquisition of paper and electronic products.
• To examine the likely future preferences for intermediary services in the foreseeable future, when the large majority of journals would be available in electronic format.
• The areas of purchasing and accessing of electronic journals which could be improved, especially those areas in which current services were considered weak.

The research focused on academic libraries, corporate libraries and consortia in the research environment, rather than more specialised libraries (e.g. law). Questionnaires were sent to an international sample of libraries, and a small number of telephone interviews were also conducted to gather data of a more qualitative nature.
Results were published in the following paper: Rowland, J.F. and Connal, M., ''Research into Libraries' Purchasing and Access Requirements'', Serials, 15(3), 1st November 2002, 191-199, Available from: http://www.metapress.com/content/d3wehj8xwt9rxhpm/fulltext.pdf.

Contact: Dr Fytton Rowland, Senior Lecturer,
Department of Information Science,
Loughborough University, Loughborough,
Leicestershire LE11 3TU .
Tel: 01509 223039
E-mail J.F.Rowland@lboro.ac.uk