Electronic Resource Management: a Vended Approach

1
Electronic Resource Management a Vended Approach

• Tony Harvell
• Head of Acquisitions
• UCSD Libraries
• tharvell_at_ucsd.edu

2
Background of UCSD Libraries

• Subscribe to over 400 paid electronic resources
  (including e-journal packages, aggregators,
  databases, CD-ROMs)
• About 60 are purchased consortially through
  California Digital Library
• Innovative Interfaces user since 1987
• Full-level cataloging done on nearly all
  e-journals (both for UCSD and the CDL)

3
Need to better manage e-resources

• Shift to e-only journal access (over 8,000 paid
  e-journals)
• E-resource budget share continues to grow (in
  excess of 15 currently)
• Need to track resources from trial through
  licensing negotiation and payment
• ILS had no means monitoring all activities so
  many separate files were being maintained, many
  in paper

4
Considerations

• Identified all potential users of an ERMS
• Identified the potential uses of the system
• Examined amount of human resources and computer
  resources needed to develop and maintain the
  system
• Is system scaleable and sustainable?
• Is financial support available for future
  developments and enhancements?

5
Options available

• Develop system in-house
• Costs prohibitive
• IT staff unavailable
• Adopt (purchase?) system from another library
• UCLA
• Purchase a vended system

6
Vendor solution

• Innovative Interfaces Electronic Resources
  Management was in development at this time
• Our library has historically been a beta test
  library for other III products
• We believed it would require little or no local
  programming or development
• We hoped it would be fully integrated into our
  existing ILS

7
Implementation

• Installation in October 2003
• WebEx training from III
• Working Group created to evaluate product,
  provide feedback to III, and develop local
  standards for implementation
• Participate in e-discussion list and conference
  calls with other users

8
Positive experiences

• Uses same platform as our existing Web- based
  technical services components
• Can build database using existing records for
  orders and holdings
• Offers quite a bit of local customization ability
  and locally defined fields and labels
• Generally follows the Digital Library
  Foundations ERMI standards and practices

9
Challenges

• Because it is in beta, there is no documentation
  and kinks are continuously being worked out
• System architecture may require us to rethink how
  we currently catalog electronic resources
• OPAC display is currently being developed, so we
  may have to redesign OPAC screens
• Not clear as to how it can be used to develop our
  e-resources portal (SAGE) which includes both
  licensed and open-access resources

10
Future directions

• Experiment with E-holdings loads
• Work with public services staff to redesign OPAC
  displays to incorporate ERM data
• Develop resource records that monitor vendor
  performance and track usage statistics
• Possible adoption for consortial use by UC
  libraries?