Xan Arch

Electronic Resources & Libraries, 2nd Annual Conference 2007: Another Perspective

Purpose – The purpose of this paper is to report on the “Electronic resources and libraries” 2nd annual conference.Design/methodology/approach – The paper provides an overview of the presentations given at the conference. Findings Presentations include discussions on Web 2.0 technologies and how librarians view Open Access.Originality/value – The paper provides a useful review of the conference, focusing on such topics as screencasting, Open Access and scholarly communications.

A Dialogue on PDA

Editor’s Note: How does patron-driven acquisition (PDA) affect the scholarly marketplace? How will PDA affect university presses? Two of the leading voices on the topic, Sandy Thatcher and Rick Anderson, have recently been discussing these questions. In a conversation initiated by Sandy’s revision of his Charleston Conference presentation titled “Back to the Future: Old Models for New Challenges”(Against the Grain, February 2011), the two have been exploring the challenges and opportunities posed by PDA. Sandy’s position, in brief, is that PDA can potentially cause significant problems for university presses. To begin with, PDA can reduce immediate cash flow to publishers as orders for books are extended over a longer period of time compared with revenue generated from traditional approval plans. It is also possible that PDA will result in a lower number of sales overall, as evidence shows that many monographs on library shelves never circulate. For his part, Rick feels that the programmatic acquisition of library books that are never used may be too high a price to pay for the support of university presses. If these (or any other) presses are publishing books that no one wants to use, the solution is probably for those presses to publish different books rather than to insist that libraries purchase the ones no one wants. Let the debate begin! — XA

Redirecting Periodicals in the Academic Library: A Stanford University Case Study

In 2005, Stanford University Libraries (SUL) transferred, or “redirected,” all subscriptions for titles published in the United States (U.S.) and the United Kingdom (UK) to a new vendor. The total number of titles redirected was approximately 6,000. This case study examines the processes used in this large batch transfer and provides recommendations for other libraries considering periodical transfers.