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Is There a Role for Agents in the Age of E-Journals and Consortia?

Is There a Role for Agents in the Age of E-Journals and Consortia?. Cary Bruce EBSCO Information Services June 2004. Some Current Theories. Handling of E-Journals is easier than handling print therefore no external support is needed.

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Is There a Role for Agents in the Age of E-Journals and Consortia?

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  1. Is There a Role for Agents in the Age of E-Journals and Consortia? Cary Bruce EBSCO Information Services June 2004

  2. Some Current Theories • Handling of E-Journals is easier than handling print therefore no external support is needed. • Agents do not add value in the electronic world. Their focus is on print. • It is less expensive to buy electronic directly from the publisher because we save the service charge and get a publisher discount. Also publishers will not allow agents to handle the transaction. 2

  3. Managing e-journals:challenges for the library 3

  4. License terms E-resource life cycleLibraries Order Trial use Price Pay Assess need/budget Evaluate Acquire Evaluate Monitor Provide Access Provide Support Administer 4

  5. E-resource life cycleLibraries IP Addresses Register Acquire Proxy Servers Catalog Evaluate Monitor Provide Access Portals/Access lists Campus authentication URL maintenance Provide Support Administer 5

  6. E-resource life cycleLibraries Acquire Evaluate Monitor Provide Access Provide Support Administer User IDs Admin module information Preferences (store) Holdings lists Access restrictions Claiming View rights for use 6

  7. E-resource life cycleLibraries Acquire Evaluate Monitor Provide Access Provide Support Problem log Administer Hardware needs Software needs Contact info Troubleshoot/ triage 7

  8. E-resource life cycleLibraries User feedback Acquire Usage stats Evaluate Monitor Provide Access Downtime analysis Review problems Provide Support Problem log Administer 8

  9. License terms E-resource life cycleLibraries Order Trial use Price Pay Assess need/budget IP Addresses Evaluate Register User feedback Acquire Proxy Servers Catalog Usage stats Evaluate Monitor Provide Access Portals/Access lists Downtime analysis Campus authentication Review problems URL maintenance Provide Support Problem log Administer User IDs Hardware needs Admin module information Software needs Preferences (store) Contact info Holdings lists Troubleshoot/ triage Access restrictions Claiming View rights for use 9

  10. License terms E-resource life cycleLibraries Order Trial use Price Pay Assess need/budget IP Addresses Evaluate Register User feedback Acquire Proxy Servers Catalog Usage stats Evaluate Monitor Provide Access Portals/Access lists Downtime analysis Campus authentication Review problems URL maintenance Provide Support Problem log Administer User IDs Hardware needs Admin module information Software needs Preferences (store) Contact info Holdings lists Troubleshoot/ triage Access restrictions New processes introduced Claiming View rights for use 10

  11. License terms Order handling E-resource life cyclePublishers Offer trial Pricing Marketing/ Sales Hosting site Invoices Fulfillment reports Registration Acquire IP Addresses Title lists Evaluate Monitor Campus authentication Provide Access Usage stats Metasearch/ Z39.50 Durable URL Support Provide Support Subscription problems Administer User IDs Hardware problems IP Changes Software problems Title Lists for packages Customer Service Subscription upgrades Enforce License terms Technical Support Title Changes Claiming 11

  12. What is the Role of the Agent? • Offer subscription services and supporting products that benefit both libraries and publishers • Do this more efficiently than either can do on their own • Be compensated by both parties for the value we add 12

  13. What value do Agents bring? • “Traditional” agent services that also apply to the e-journal world • New “e-agent services” that help customers acquire and manage e-resources • E-resource management products, linking services and databases 13

  14. Traditional Services that apply to the E-journal World • Pre-payment of order – cash flow issue • Order consolidation • Proof of payment maintenance • Line item invoicing • Fund accounting • ILS feeds for invoicing • EDI • Consolidated Renewals • Reporting • Customer Service Representative / Tech Support 14

  15. New E-Agent Services Special handling for online orders • Dedicated e-journal processing teams • Rapid processing of online orders and registration assistance • Gathering of PID/SID numbers from publishers • Email notification to customers of PID/SID & registration requirements • Notify publishers of IP address changes • Automatic registration for select publishers • Assistance with subscrition upgrades and format changes 15

  16. New E-Agent Services With order through Agent, library benefits from • Automatic update of E-Journal gateway • Automatic update of online Title List (A-to-Z service) • Automatic update of Link Resolver • Automatic update of OPAC – MARC records • Automatic update of Smart Links 16

  17. 1 4 2 3 5 6 7 Processing of e-journals without an Agent Without Agent Administrator Publisher site E-Journal Gateway Publisher site Publisher site Publisher site • CUSTOMER • Place order • Get SID/PID • Register • Add to gateway • Add to A-to-Z list • Add to link resolver • Catalog • Add to Locals at A&I • Add to Locals at FT A-to-Z List 8 A&I database 8 A&I database 8 A&I database Link resolver 9 9 Full text database 9 Full text database Full text database OPAC 17

  18. 1 3 2 With Agent(Worst Case publisher) Order processing Administrator Publisher site EBSCOhost EJS • CUSTOMER • Place order • Get PID/SID • Register • Export titles from EJS & update holdings • Agent • Order • Add to EJS • Add to SmartLinks • Add to A-to-Z list • Add to LinkSource • MARC updates for OPAC Publisher site Publisher site Publisher site EBSCO A-to-Z 4 A&I database 4 A&I database EBSCOhost A&I SmartLinks LinkSource Full text database 4 Full text database 4 EBSCOhost Full text OPAC How an Agent helps the librarian improve processing of e-journals 18

  19. New E-Agent Services Publisher Package Purchases Assistance with information, pricing, negotiation and ordering for individual institutions and consortia Holdings Analysis Publishers require a report of holdings in order to consider making an offer for their subscription package. The agent is uniquely suited to provide this information quickly and accurately -- and is generally a trusted source for the publisher. 19

  20. New E-Agent Services E-journal Auditing • Are you getting what you paid for? (delayed, ceased, titles sold) • Are you getting what you want? (tracking package title changes) Customized Reports • To evaluate the benefits of subscribing to a publisher package or through a consortium. • Reports showing savings for discounted print • Reports showing savings with annual price caps • Other customized reports 20

  21. New E-Agent Services Summary inventory of e-access information • Where can the title be accessed? • What does the publisher need in order to provide access? One-stop customer service • What happens if you can’t get access? Who do you call? • How many publisher contacts do you have to maintain? 21

  22. E-Resource Access Management Products • E-Journal Gateways • A-to-Z or Title lists • Full text databases • Bibliographic databases • Link Resolvers (OpenURL) • Smart Linking 22

  23. Library e-Services Publisher site Publisher site Publisher site Publisher site E-Journal Gateway A&I database A&I database User A&I database A-to-Z List Link resolver Full text database Full text database Full text database OPAC Document Delivery Document Delivery Document Delivery 23

  24. Value provided by products E-Journal Management • Registration tracking • Admin Alerts • Content, access coverage and embargos • Complete collection management • URL management • Article and journal level linking support • Knowledgebase management for link resolvers E-Journal Access • Locator tools for both journals and articles • TOC browsing • Cross-publisher searching of e-journal holdings • Easy incorporation with metasearch systems 24

  25. Value provided by products Linking • Increase in usage efficiency through interconnectivity of resources • Streamlining of collection management • Cost reduction due to decrease of interlibrary lending and document delivery services Usage Statistics • Journal and article level usage • Link-out activity • Basis for collection management, purchase evaluation, budget allocation and user training General • Platform harmonization and reduction of access complexity • Independence from publisher platforms • Reduction of IT costs through hosted solutions and continuous product development 25

  26. ess op License terms ess E-resource life cycle Libraries ejs Order ess op Trial use Price Pay cs ps ejs Assess need/budget ess IP Addresses Evaluate ps ejs Register User feedback az Acquire Proxy Support ejs az Catalog Usage stats az Evaluate Monitor ejs ls Provide Access Portals Access lists az Downtime analysis ls ejs Authentication ls Review problems ejs URL maintenance az Provide Support Problem log Administer ejs az User IDs ls Hardware needs Admin module information Software needs Preferences (store) ejs Contact info az Holdings lists us Troubleshoot/ triage Access restrictions cs Claiming View rights for use 26

  27. ess op License terms ess Order handling E-resource life cyclePublishers ps ejs ess ess Offer trial mp ejs Pricing cs Marketing/ Sales Hosting site Invoices ps ejs Fulfillment reports cs Registration Acquire ps cs IP Addresses Title lists az ejs Evaluate Monitor Campus authentication Provide Access mp Usage stats ejs ejs az Metasearch/ Z39.50 az ejs cs Durable URL Support az Provide Support Subscription problems Administer us User IDs Hardware problems ps IP Changes us Software problems cs Title Lists for packages cs op cs Customer Service az Subscription upgrades Enforce License terms us Technical Support cs cs Title Changes Claiming 27

  28. Is the total cost of a subscription really decreasing without an Agent? • Increased number of tasks and complexity creates need for new and more skilled staff • Cost of purchase vs. total cost of owning and managing a subscription • loss of economies of scale • Shift of work from publisher/agent to librarian • Still need for comprehensive title information • Library traditional budgets decrease or shift away from library after intial e-resource experimentation phase – loss of budget control 28

  29. Other things to consider in buying direct from publishers • Central buying entities are comparable to small agents without systems and service infrastructure – the additional cost will impact libraries in the mid-term • Most discounts provided to librarians are also provided to agents • Despite what the publisher sales reps might say: publishers will allow agents to handle e-journal transactions if libraries wish to do so 29

  30. A new paradigm is developing • Focus and alignment of interests in License Negotiation • Cost effective and systems based transaction handling and administration • Keeps Library in control of its purchasing E-License Negotiators (Consortia or Library) Information Services Agents + 30

  31. CUSTOMERFOCUSED CONTENTDRIVEN for more information contact cbruce@ebsco.com 31

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