Consortium purchases: Case study for a cost-benefit analysis

Journal of Academic Librarianship

Volumn 28, Issue 6, 2002, Pages 393-399

  Scigliano, Marisa ^a  

^a TRENT UNIVERSITY   (Canada)

Author keywords

[No Author keywords available]

Indexed keywords

EID: 0036861333     PISSN: 00991333     EISSN: None     Source Type: Journal    
DOI: 10.1016/S0099-1333(02)00346-4     Document Type: Article

References (45)

1. For an overview of library cooperation see G. E. Gorman, "Solving Local Problems through Regional Action: The Role of Library Consortia," in Information: Management, Sources, and Other Studies: Essays in Honour of Professor K. Navalani, edited by A. Shokeen & M. P. Satija (New Delhi: Ess Ess Publications, 2001), pp. 93-120.
2. Sharon L. Bostick, "The History and Development of Academic Library Consortia in the United States: An Overview," Journal of Academic Librarianship 27 (2001): 128-130.
3. Ontario Council of University Libraries, OCUL ConstitutionAvailable: http://www.ocul.on.ca/const.html (accessed April 18, 2002).
4. Eric Lease Morgan, "Resource Sharing and Consortia, or, Becoming a 600-Pound Gorilla," Computers in Libraries 18 (1998): 40-41.
5. Thomas A. Peters, "What's the Big Deal?," Journal of Academic Librarianship 27 (2001): 303.
6. For an analysis of the new rules governing collection development, see Tom Sanville, "Use Levels and New Models for Consortial Purchasing of Electronic Journals," Library Consortia Management 1(3/4) (1999): 47-58.
7. Peters, "What's the Big Deal?," p. 303.
8. Peter G. C. Townley," Principles of Cost-Benefit Analysis in a Canadian Context (Scarborough, Ont: Prentice-Hall, 1998), pp. 243-263.
9. Sunk costs are the costs of resources incurred in the past which cannot be recovered. Harry Kitchen, Professor of Economics at Trent University provided assistance in identifying sunk costs for this study.
10. F. W. Lancaster, If You Want to Evaluate Your Library ... 2nd ed. (Champaign, IL: University of Illinois, Graduate School of Library and Information Science, 1993).
11. Ibid, p. 294.
12. Bruce P. Schauer, The Economics of Managing Library Service (Chicago, IL: American Library Association, 1986), p. 215.
13. Bruce R. Kingma, The Economics of Information: A Guide to Cost-Benefit Analysis for Information Professionals, 2nd ed. (Englewood, CO: Libraries Unlimited, 2001).
14. Stephen A. Roberts, Cost Management for Library and Information Services (London: Butterworths, 1995).
15. Ibid, p. 34.
16. See for example, Marilyn M. Browning & Leslie M. Haas, "Is Business Periodicals Ondisc the Greatest Thing since Sliced Bread? A Cost Analysis and User Survey," CD-ROM Professional 4 (January 1991): 37-41;
17. Adele F. Bank, "Business Periodicals Ondisc: How Full-Text Availability Affects the Library," Computers in Libraries 15 (May 1995): 54-56;
18. Bruce R. Kingma, The Economics of Access versus Ownership (New York: Haworth Press, 1996);
19. Janet Hughes, "Can Document Delivery Compensate for Reduced Serials Holdings? A Life Sciences Library Perspective," College & Research Libraries 58 (1997): 421-431.
20. Richard W. Meyer, "Locally Mounted Databases: Making Information as Close to Free as Possible," Online 16 (January 1992): 15, 17-24.
21. A. Craig Hawbaker & Cynthia K. Wagner, "Periodical Ownership versus Fulltext Online Access: A Cost-Benefit Analysis," Journal of Academic Librarianship 22 (1996): 105-109.
22. Gary W. White & Gregory A. Crawford, "Cost-Benefit Analysis of Electronic Information: A Case Study," College & Research Libraries 59 (1998): 503-510.
23. Karen Svenningsen, "An Evaluation Model for Electronic Resources Utilizing Cost Analysis," Bottom Line 11 (1998): 18-23.
24. Bruce R. Kingma, "The Costs of Print, Fiche, and Digital Access: The Early Canadiana Online Project," D-Lib Magazine 6(2) (2000). [Online]. Available: http://www.dlib.org/dlib/february00/kingma/02kingma.htm (accessed February 16, 2002).
25. Sam Byrd, Glenn Courson, Elizabeth Roderick, & Jean Marie Taylor, "Cost/Benefit Analysis for Digital Library Projects: The Virginia Historical Inventory Project (VHI)," Bottom Line 14 (2001): 65-75.
26. Sanville, "Use Levels and New Models for Consortial Purchasing of Electronic Journals," p. 48.
27. Kingma, "The Costs of Print, Fiche, and Digital Access."
28. For more information, see the Annual Reviews Web site at http://www.annualreviews.org.
29. Among OCUL, 41 print subscriptions were retained for 2002. Because these were negotiated outside of the AR Online subscription they were not included in this study.
30. At the time of re-invoicing, January 2002, the rate of exchange in effect at the lead institution was CA$1.615 per U.S. dollar.
31. Ebsco Subscription Services, Serials Prices 1997-2001 with Price Projections for 2002 (Birmingham, AL: Ebsco Subscription Services, 2001), p. 2.
32. According to Annual Reviews, Inc., for consortia purchasing AR Online in 2001 the price would have been US$3,186, and, in 2002, it is US$3,227, an increase of 1.29%.
33. Throughout this study, historical rates of exchange are based upon the Bank of Canada rates. It should be noted, however, that the libraries' rates of exchange, as reported with the invoice payments, may differ from the exchange rates posted by the Bank of Canada, and as a result, may explain the slight discrepancy.
34. Rates of exchange complicate the CBA and have an overall deleterious impact on Canadian academic libraries, For example, when Annual Reviews, Inc. provided the original cost quotation, in July 2001, the lead institution's rate of exchange was CA$1.53. When the subscription began in January 2002, the rate of exchange was CA$1.615. This means that OCUL paid CA$3,839.86 more in January 2002 than if billed in July 2001, reflecting an increase of 5.6% over this time period.
35. The actual number of AR Online volumes available through this subscription is greater than 406 since a significant number of back volumes are included in the subscription, Fourteen institutions received online access to a total of 2170 back issues in addition to the current subscription.
36. Bank of Canada, Monthly Average Exchange Rates: 1990-present. Available: http://www.bank-banquecanada.ca/en/exchange-avg.htm (accessed April 18, 2002).
37. Bank of Canada, Consumer Price Index, 1995-present. Available: http://www.bank-banque-canada.ca/en/cpi.htm (accessed April 18, 2002).
38. Ebsco Subscription Services, Serials Prices 1997-2001, pp. 2-4.
39. HighWire Press, which hosts AR Online, is responsible for collecting and reporting use statistics. Articles downloaded are reported either as .html or .pdf downloads. The figures reported in these categories might not be unique, depending on how users access the articles. This means that the same download may be counted twice. After reviewing the conditions under which an article was likely to be counted twice in the statistics, it was estimated that these double counts would account for about one-quarter of the downloads. Consequently, it is assumed that there is a 25% overlap between the number of .html and .pdf articles downloaded. Therefore, the totals are adjusted downwards accordingly. At the time of writing, according to HighWire, there is no way to avoid this double counting.
40. Marisa Scigliano, "Serial Use in a Small Academic Library: Determining Cost-Effectiveness," Serials Review 26 (2000): 43-52.
41. Marilyn Roche, ARL/RLG Interlibrary Loan Cost Study (Washington, D.C.: Association of Research Libraries, 1993). According to Roche's study, the average cost to borrow an item in 1993 was US$18.62. When adjusted for inflation and Canadian exchange rate, this figure is equivalent to CA$30.65.
42. Statistics Canada, Salary Analysis of Full-Time Teachers in Canadian Universities and Colleges, 2000-2001 (Ottawa, Ont.: Statistics Canada, 2001), Table 2.3. The system average is for 17 degree-granting institutions excluding the Ontario College of Art and Royal Military College.
43. Tom Sanville, "A License to Deal," Library Journal 124(3) (1999): 122-124.
44. Fern Brody, "Planning for the Balance Between Print and Electronic Journals in the Hybrid Digital Library: Lessons Learned from Large ARL Libraries," Ph.D. Dissertation (Pittsburgh, PA: University of Pittsburgh, 2001), p. 79,
45. cited in Rush G. Miller, "Shaping Digital Library Content," Journal of Academic Librarianship 28 (2002): 98.