Effective Practices in Academic and Research Librarianship

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Practice 2003-5
Institution Name	Purchase College Library
Library Type	College
Submitter	Sheri Webber, Electronic Resources Librarian, sheri.webber@purchase.edu , 914-251-6413
Address	Purchase College Library 735 Anderson Hill Road Purchase, Ny 10577-1400
Title	Electronic Resources Management Program
Program Summary	The purpose of the Electronic Resources Management Program at the Purchase College Library is to provide a comprehensive structure for the various and often disparate activities that lead to the successful delivery of electronic information. To this end, Purchase College Library has implemented specific activities by all work environments and innovative assessment tools. Below is a brief summary of how some of the Library's departments promote and support the program. The Library's electronic resources manager coordinates the electronic management program among the different working groups, ensures that the procedures performed are effective, efficient and timely, implements regular program assessments, and develops program analyses and recommendations. As part of this charge, the manager represents the library to vested outside parties such as vendors and consortia committees; identifies and reviews new products, features and functionalities; participates in contract and license negotiation; promotes and markets the electronic resources; and develops the web presence for the electronic collections. Library subject specialists ensure a balanced electronic resources collection that supports the educational mission of the college by working with the academic departments to identify and purchase new and/or comparable products within their subject area. The reference and instruction department educates the user communities and facilitates the use of electronic resources, evaluates the usability of the electronic collection through user feedback, and recommends changes to functionality and display for those resources that allow customizations. The library's technical services department provides multiple access points to the electronic resources, administers the collections accounts, and obtains usage data from the different vendor log files. In order to assess the program, we have developed an electronic resources management database, which includes tables and reports to track various aspects of the collection. The database also provides forms for documenting and archiving feedback from working groups. A spreadsheet has been designed to provide comparative usage statistics.
Benefits	Implementing this program has made the entire staff keenly aware of the enormous amount of activity necessary to deliver relevant, usable, accessible, cost effective and legally compliant resources. The program fully integrates, in fact is dependent upon, assessment to propel it forward. As products, technology, pricing, laws and the needs of our users are in constant flux, it is necessary to have a flexible and dynamic program in place.
Costs	The cost of the practice depends entirely on the size of the library and its mission. The cost of the resources alone can be overwhelming. Seek out consortial affiliations. There are support services such as OCLC Catme, Serials Solutions and Charleston Advisor. And there are a considerable number of man-hours from almost every department of the library to consider.
Alignment	The mission of our library is to provide service and resources that support the curricular needs of the students and faculty. Ensuring that the electronic resources we procure are relevant, accessible, usable, cost effective and legally compliant is directly related to the library's overall mission.
Measurability	Assessment techniques are built into the body of the program and are carried out by several means. Assessment tools have been developed for use by a wide variety of work environments within the library. This allows for the greatest variety of feedback, allowing us to make improvements in the program for the coming academic year.
Sustainability	Adequate staffing is a concern. In order to fully take advantage of the program's benefits, staff must have the time and resources not only to perform the work, but also to learn new technologies and network with colleagues. Assessment activities are easily put on the back burner when organizations become understaffed.
Transferability	This program is structurally similar to many collection management programs, though the activities are quite different. This program could be implemented in any library type.
Responsiveness	In an era of dwindling resources, many libraries find themselves having to carefully consider their expenditures. Electronic information is consuming a much larger chunk of the overall budget. The implementation of this program helps to inform decision makers not only about the electronic information needs of library users, but also how to best go about meeting those needs.