Guidelines for the Selection of and Access to  Electronic Resources

Introduction

The National Library provides access to networked Australian and overseas electronic resources in accordance with the National Library of Australia Electronic Information Resources Strategies and Action Plan 2002-2003 and the Collection Development Policy. This aligns with the Library’s Directions for 2003-2005 in which a major priority is ‘to provide people with rapid and easy access to the wealth of information resources that reside in libraries and other cultural institutions’.

The provision of networked electronic resources is still undergoing a period of rapid change, and so these guidelines will require regular review. Readers are increasingly seeking information through electronic resources as the benefits of immediacy and access to large amounts of information are obvious. Initially some resources will continue to be collected in printed format as well as being available electronically. As users become more committed to electronic resources, and as producers of electronic resources consolidate their offerings, there will no doubt be a move to increased electronic access and a reduced need to collect print resources.

These guidelines are designed to assist staff in selecting Australian and overseas electronic resources. The guidelines cover purchased resources and resources available on the web free of charge but exclude Australian electronic resources archived in PANDORA. Selection guidelines for inclusion in the PANDORA Archive can be found at http://pandora.nla.gov.au/selectionguidelines.html

Selection and Access Intentions

The Library aims to provide access to a wide range of networked electronic resources that will primarily support research work and will augment the printed collections in meeting readers’ needs. Access is provided to a variety of types of electronic resources including major indexing and abstracting tools, databases, electronic journals, and full text aggregator services. In addition to free electronic resources and commercial electronic resources, the Library also provides access to digital collections both of National Library material and of material from other organizations.

Electronic resources are intended to complement the existing collection and will reflect the Library’s collecting priorities.  The selection process for an electronic resource is similar to that for any other resource Assessment of content is made with consideration of the Collection Development Policy and the extent to which the resource will meet the information needs of researchers.  In addition to content, there are other criteria that should be addressed in selecting electronic resources and these are listed in detail in the section ‘Selection Criteria’.

Reference materials

A rich collection of print, microform and electronic publications is available for readers. As electronic resources grow in number and popularity, the print component of the reference collection will decrease, especially as more publications cease to be available in print and are only available electronically. Publications are acquired in networked electronic format where possible and where online access is considered preferable to the print version. Guidelines on the Library’s reference collection, including selection criteria for both content and format, can be viewed at www.nla.gov.au/policy/refshelf_guidelines.html

Electronic journals

  • Print + online subscriptions

    Where a print subscription entitles the Library to online access to a title at no extra charge, this access is generally provided.  Preference is given to those titles available through subscription systems that are hosted by vendor services rather than providing individual access via publisher sites which involves more work to set up.  A link is added to the print catalogue record. Document delivery is not negotiated as part of this arrangement.

  • Online-only titles

    Individual titles only available online will be considered for acquisition on a case-by-case basis whether they are subscription or free resources.

  • Aggregated services

    The Library prefers to provide access to electronic journals through a small number of aggregated services rather than subscribe to individual electronic journals.

Print vs online

In deciding whether to retain subscriptions to print journals when titles are available in aggregated services, the print version will be retained when:

  • the title has been identified as a core title in its subject area, or
  • the embargo period on fulltext is longer than 3 months, or
  • the content of the electronic version is not equivalent to the print, or
  • the content is continually updated but there is a need to retain older information eg. directories such as Directory of Australian Associations.

Consortia

The Library is an active member of the Council of State Libraries (CASL) Consortium. The Consortium exists to purchase particular electronic resources in a joint arrangement whereby costs and licence negotiations are shared. This arrangement enables the Library to provide access to some resources that it might not otherwise be able to afford. Where the Library can obtain better conditions and/or price through the Consortium, then it will seek to do so.

Access

The main point of access to electronic resources is provided through the Library’s catalogue and an additional point of access is through the Library’s Indexes and Databases page. Resources selected will be progressively catalogued although at the moment, only purchased resources have been catalogued and generally only to the database level. Fulltext titles included in these databases only have individual catalogue records if these have been provided by the vendor.  When purchasing aggregated collections, the Library seeks to obtain MARC records to be loaded and updated as a set via Kinetica eg. Academic Search Premier and Eighteenth Century Collections Online.  Generally, if the Library provides access to a resource in two formats, a separate catalogue record is created for each format. In the case of digital versions of material from the Library’s own collections, a link to the digital version is added to the catalogue record for the original item. In the future, catalogue records for digital collections of other organizations may be included in the Library’s catalogue.  Further information on the cataloguing policy for electronic resources is outlined in the National Library of Australia Cataloguing Policy.

Users may also access electronic resources in a variety of ways  including the Search box on the Library’s home page and the Electronic Resources  page on the website: access options include indexes and databases, journals, newspapers, internet resource guides,  and Electronic Australiana.

Where possible, the Library negotiates for remote access for registered users. However implementation of remote access is awaiting development of a suitable authentication mechanism.

The Library aims to ensure that links are periodically checked. For subscription products, the primary link to the database is checked at the time of subscription renewal. For links within a publisher’s database, any problems encountered by the Library’s users are reported to the publisher.

Usage

Usage statistics for all resources on the Indexes and Databases page of the Library’s web site are produced monthly from National Library log file analysis to provide some consistent measure. Access via individual catalogue records from the Library’s online catalogue is not included in these figures at present but investigations are underway to determine if these usage statistics can be captured.

For subscription resources, some products are able to provide varying levels of statistical reporting although these are not always consistent. International standards efforts, eg. COUNTER, are working to address the problem of inconsistent and/or nonexistent vendor statistics, and the Library is monitoring these efforts.

Selection Criteria

Purchased web resources

Purchased web resources are selected in accordance with the Collection Development Policy and considered in terms of the principles listed below. Some products are electronic versions of individual titles while others are services containing a number of titles. There should be a clear advantage in subscribing to an electronic product over a print version of the same item. In certain cases, purchase of a permanent archival electronic dataset may be considered in addition to providing access to the resource on a subscription basis from the publisher’s site.

Licence conditions are examined carefully against the Library’s Statement of principles guiding licence negotiation document found at Appendix 1. The Manager, Serials, is responsible for checking licence agreements. Licence agreements are stored on Trim file NLA/15243. If document supply has been negotiated as part of the licence, this is included in the Library’s holdings statement. Information Services staff are informed by the Manager, Serials, of titles that may be used in the AskNow! Service.

When a resource appears to satisfy both selection and licence principles, it is formally evaluated using the Purchased electronic product evaluation form found at Appendix 2 (RTF or PDF). Evaluation is usually carried out by a staff member from Information Services. The Electronic Resources Coordinator is responsible for organising a formal evaluation in consultation with the Electronic Resources Working Group (ERWG). A final decision on whether to subscribe is made by ERWG.

Mandatory features

Adherence to Collection Development Policy

  • The product/service should add to the Library’s strengths in social sciences and humanities and be consistent with the Collection Development Policy.
  • The content should be scholarly, authoritative and accurate.

Licence conditions

  • Terms and conditions for access should meet the Library’s mandatory requirements as outlined in Statement of principles guiding licence negotiation (Appendix 1). These requirements include:
    • the ability to provide document supply without unworkable restrictions, and the ability to use the product to answer reference inquiries
    • consistency with Fair Dealing as defined in the Copyright Act 1968
    • the facility to measure use and provide reports to the Library on a regular and timely basis in accordance with international standards
    • IP address authentication or other seamless mechanism for authorisation
    • no distinction being made between registered and walk-in users regarding functionality such as printing, emailing and downloading.

Cost effectiveness

  • Access to electronic information via the product/service should provide value for money.
  • Access is free at point of use.
  • Expensive products/services should be trialled as test sites before a decision is made.
  • When networked resources are licensed for a number of simultaneous users, the number selected for subscription should be based on cost and estimated usage.

Added value over print version

  • The product should provide more timely and wider access for users
  • The cost for the electronic version should not be more than the print version unless there are significant advantages in the electronic format.
  • Searching functionality should enhance access
  • Electronic versions should be selected over print where the print version requires regular maintenance such as updating of a looseleaf service.

Access via connection to publishers’ or aggregators’ sites.

  • Access should be stable and trouble-free.
  • Performance should be reliable with good response times and hours of availability.
  • The Library will not host datasets unless the data has been purchased and can only be made available from the Library’s website. Where the Library has purchased such datasets, they will be stored securely and preserved/reformatted as necessary to ensure that the data can be accessed in the future if the publisher’s site is no longer available.

Ease of use

  • The product/service should be intuitive for users and should not require passwords. It should not require continual assistance from Library staff for users to be able to access information. Online help should be provided and should be user-friendly.
  • Functionality should be assessed from the point of view of users as well as Library staff. Interfaces and search engines should be easy to use but should also enable advanced searching and direct linking to the title.

Desirable features

Persistence

  • The product/service should manage for persistence so that there are no problems with broken links.

Format

  • Online format is preferable to CD-ROM format.

Frequency of update

  • The product/service should be updated regularly and in a timely manner so that it is accessible soon after publication and before a print version (if applicable) is available.

Embargo periods

  • The product/service should have either short or non-existent embargo periods on recent and current issues. The effect of embargo periods should be considered carefully, especially if a decision is needed as to whether to continue or cancel a print subscription. Embargo periods of three months should be the longest period acceptable.

Continuity of access

  • Content should be stable. As sudden removal of journal titles from a service can be very detrimental, reputable service providers should be used.

Perpetual access

  • The product/service should provide the Library with perpetual access to electronic information to which it has subscribed.

Access after cessation of subscription

  • It is preferable that access should continue to be provided through the online site, rather than in CD-ROM or other format. If no access is possible after cessation of subscription, serious consideration should be given to continuing title in print if possible. This should be weighed up against user needs and benefits of electronic version. Core titles should not be subscribed to in electronic form only if there is no guarantee of continued access after cessation of subscription period.

Packaged service

  • Where a subscription is taken out for a service including a number of titles, the service should provide access to the package of titles to reduce the need for the Library to manage multiple individual subscriptions and licences.
  • For abstracting and indexing services which do not contain full text, consideration should be given to the percentage of titles which match the Library’s current holdings – the higher the percentage, the more attractive the service.

Full Content

  • Prime emphasis is on full content with the resource directly and simply accessible to the user, i.e. complete journal title not just individual articles. Full content includes all articles, abstracts, reviews, bibliographies and non-advertising illustrations.

Intellectual Content

  • The electronic version should contain at least the same intellectual content as the print version if one is available.
  • A product/service containing information not available elsewhere should be rated more highly than one where the information can be found in other sources.
  • The coverage period should continue to grow unless the resource is static; the producer should not remove earlier years as later years are added.

Direct links to catalogue record

  • The product/service should provide the means to enable the Library’s catalogue record to link directly to the title described rather than a generic page for the electronic resource.

Cataloguing records

  • Preference may be given to a service that offers bibliographic records and bibliographic updates as part of its service.

Vendor performance

  • The vendor should be reputable and able to provide responsive support, documentation, training and upgrades as appropriate.

Equipment

  • The product/service should operate on equipment currently available without needing specialised equipment or storage space, unless there is exceptional value in the content.

Display

  • The product/service should have a high quality presentation, preferably offering a variety of display options.
  • Users must be able to view illustrations as well as text in high quality resolution via a display format such as Adobe Acrobat PDF.
  • Display should be easily understandable and legible with clear directions for users.
  • In titles where illustrations are particularly important, provision of a zoom or resizing facility would be attractive.

Remote access

  • The product/service should provide the facility for use by offsite users should this be negotiated by the Library

Free web resources

The provision of access to free web resources via the Library’s website comprises part of an electronic reference collection designed to assist researchers meet their information needs. 

The emphasis is on scholarly/research sites and encompasses both portals and content rich sites. Preference is given to sites created by academic and governmental institutions or organisations that are leaders in a given subject field.

Priority is given to research orientated websites, not personal viewpoints or individuals’ websites, unless the content satisfies other aspects of the Library’s evaluation criteria.

Although these resources are free, making them available still involves both short-term and long-term costs, such as selecting and evaluating, cataloguing and ensuring continual access. Other issues in selecting free web resources include the lack of any archival guarantee and the possibility of the information being moved or removed at any time or no longer being maintained. All Australian free web resources considered for selection are referred to PANDORA for possible archiving.

Subjects that are included are those that comprise the Library’s core subject areas and that support and enhance the Library’s hardcopy collections. Resources are selected in accordance with the Collection Development Policy. Particular emphasis is given to Australian resources.

Free web resources under consideration are evaluated using the Free web resources evaluation form found at Appendix 3 (RTF or PDF). A final decision on whether to provide access to them via the Library’s website is made by the Electronic Resources Coordinator and is brought to an ERWG meeting.Resources are added to the Indexes and Databases listing on the website.  This practice will change when the Indexes and Databases page is produced from the catalogue.  At that time all new resources will be added to the catalogue.  The website listing will be generated from the catalogue entries.

Criteria listed under ‘Purchased web resources’ should also be applied in selecting free web resources, with the omission of those criteria related to cost, licence conditions and perpetual access.

De-selection criteria

Networked electronic resources

The following criteria should be used if consideration is being given to discontinuing a networked electronic resource:

  • Usage drops below acceptable level – level will vary depending on material, cost and other availability of similar information
  • Potential not realised – this may be linked to the point above or may reflect other aspects of the resource which have not lived up to expectation.
  • Availability elsewhere of similar resource in preferable format/cheaper price
  • Drop in quality or currency of product
  • Vendor problems
  • Cost outweighs benefits
  • Cessation of product
  • Change in collecting priorities
  • Continual access problems

De-selection decisions are taken in Collection Development following consultation with Information Services, the Electronic Resources Coordinator and ERWG.

Print editions

Print editions of titles now accessible as part of a networked electronic resource are generally retained although indexes may be relocated from the Reference Collection to the Stacks. Where issues of titles fall into categories for discard as set out in the Library’s Guidelines for the Discard and Retention of Library Material, they may be deselected. 

Conclusion

This set of guidelines is a working document dealing with an everchanging environment. It will be reviewed regularly and amended when necessary. 

Appendix 1

Statement of principles guiding Licence negotiation

Appendix 2

Available in PDF or RTF formats.

Appendix 3

Available in PDF or RTF formats.

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