Transcript Trends

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.
 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.
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Managing e-journals:
challenges for the library
3
License
terms
E-resource life cycle
Libraries
Trial use
Order
Price
Assess
need/budget
Pay
Evaluate
Acquire
Evaluate
Monitor
Provide Access
Provide Support
4
Administer
E-resource life cycle
Libraries
IP Addresses
Register
Proxy Servers
Acquire
Catalog
Evaluate
Monitor
Provide Access
Provide Support
5
Administer
Portals/Access
lists
Campus
authentication
URL
maintenance
E-resource life cycle
Libraries
Acquire
Evaluate
Monitor
Provide Access
Provide Support
Administer
User IDs
Admin module
information
Preferences
(store)
Holdings lists
Access
restrictions
6
View rights for
use
Claiming
E-resource life cycle
Libraries
Acquire
Evaluate
Monitor
Problem log
Provide Access
Provide Support
Hardware
needs
Software
needs
Contact info
Troubleshoot/
triage
7
Administer
E-resource life cycle
Libraries
User
feedback
Acquire
Usage stats
Downtime
analysis
Review
problems
Problem log
Evaluate
Monitor
Provide Access
Provide Support
8
Administer
License
terms
E-resource life cycle
Libraries
Trial use
Order
Price
Assess
need/budget
Pay
IP Addresses
Evaluate
Register
User
feedback
Proxy Servers
Acquire
Catalog
Usage stats
Evaluate
Monitor
Downtime
analysis
Portals/Access
lists
Campus
authentication
Provide Access
Review
problems
Problem log
URL
maintenance
Provide Support
Administer
User IDs
Hardware
needs
Software
needs
Contact info
Admin module
information
Preferences
(store)
Holdings lists
Troubleshoot/
triage
Access
restrictions
9
View rights for
use
Claiming
License
terms
E-resource life cycle
Libraries
Trial use
Order
Price
Assess
need/budget
Pay
IP Addresses
Evaluate
Register
User
feedback
Proxy Servers
Acquire
Catalog
Usage stats
Evaluate
Monitor
Downtime
analysis
Portals/Acces
s lists
Campus
authentication
Provide Access
Review
problems
Problem log
URL
maintenance
Provide Support
Administer
User IDs
Hardware
needs
Software
needs
Contact info
Admin module
information
Preferences
(store)
Holdings lists
Troubleshoot/
triage
Access
restrictions
New processes introduced
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View rights for
use
Claiming
License
terms
E-resource life cycle
Publishers
Offer trial
Pricing
Marketing/
Sales
Fulfillment
reports
Order
handling
Invoices
Hosting site
Registration
Acquire
IP Addresses
Title lists
Usage stats
Evaluate
Monitor
Campus
authentication
Provide Access
Metasearch/
Z39.50
Subscription
problems
Hardware
problems
Software
problems
Customer
Service
Technical
Support
Provide Support
Durable URL
Support
Administer
User IDs
IP Changes
Subscription
upgrades
Claiming
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Title Lists for
packages
Enforce
License terms
Title Changes
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
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What value do Agents bring?
1) “Traditional” agent services that also
apply to the e-journal world
2) New “e-agent services” that help
customers acquire and manage eresources
3) E-resource management products, linking
services and databases
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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
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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
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
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Processing of e-journals
without an Agent
Without Agent
1
Administrator
4
E-Journal
Gateway
CUSTOMER
2. Get SID/PID
4. Add to gateway
A-to-Z
List
8
Link
resolver
9
6
5. Add to A-to-Z list
6. Add to link resolver
7. Catalog
8. Add to Locals at A&I
3
Publisher
Publisher
site
Publisher
site
Publisher
site
site
5
1. Place order
3. Register
2
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OPAC
9. Add to Locals at FT
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8 A&I
8 A&I
database
A&I
database
database
9Full text
9Full text
database
Full text
database
database
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With Agent
Order
processing
(Worst Case publisher)
Administrator
CUSTOMER
1. Place order
EBSCOhost
EJS
Publisher
Publisher
site
Publisher
site
Publisher
site
site
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2. Get PID/SID
3. Register
4. Export titles from EJS &
update holdings
EBSCO
A-to-Z
4
Agent
•
Order
•
Add to EJS
•
Add to SmartLinks
•
Add to A-to-Z list
•
Add to LinkSource
•
MARC updates for OPAC
LinkSource
OPAC
A&I
A&I
4 database
EBSCOhost
database
A&I
SmartLinks
Full text
Full text
4 database
EBSCOhost
4
database
Full text
How an Agent helps the librarian
improve processing of e-journals
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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.
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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
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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?
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E-Resource Access Management
Products
•
•
•
•
•
•
E-Journal Gateways
A-to-Z or Title lists
Full text databases
Bibliographic databases
Link Resolvers (OpenURL)
Smart Linking
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Library e-Services
Publisher
Publisher
site
Publisher
site
Publisher
site
site
E-Journal
Gateway
User
A-to-Z
List
Link
resolver
A&I
A&I
database
A&I
database
database
Full text
Full text
database
Full text
database
database
OPAC
Document
Document
Delivery
Document
Delivery
Delivery
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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
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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
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ess
ess
E-resource life cycle
Libraries
Trial use
License
terms
ejs
Price
Assess
need/budget
ess
op
cs ps ejs
Pay
IP Addresses
Evaluate
az
ls
ps ejs
az
Proxy Support
Acquire
ejs
Downtime
analysis
Review
problems
Order
Register
User
feedback
Usage stats
ess
op
Catalog
Evaluate
Monitor
Problem log
Portals
Access lists
az
ls
ejs
Authentication ls
URL ejs
maintenance az
Provide Access
Provide Support
Administer
User IDs
Hardware
needs
Software
needs
Contact info
ejs
Admin module
information
Preferences
(store)
ejs
Holdings lists az
us
Troubleshoot/
triage
Access
restrictions
26
View rights for
use
az
ejs
cs
Claiming
az
ls
ess
ess
E-resource life cycle
ess
Publishers
Offer trial
License
terms
ejs
Title lists
cs
ess
Pricing
Marketing/
Sales
Fulfillment
reports
Order
handling
cs
Invoices
op
ps
mp ejs
Hosting site
ps ejs
cs
Registration
ps
Acquire
IP Addresses
az
mp
Usage stats
ejs
az
Evaluate
Monitor
Campus
authentication
ejs
Provide Access
az
Metasearch/
Z39.50
ejs
cs
Subscription
problems
ejs
Provide Support
Administer
us
Hardware
problems
us
Software
problems
Customer cs
Service
us
Technical
Support
Durable URL
Support
User IDs
IP Changes
ps
cs
Title Lists for
packages
az
Enforce
License terms
cs op
Subscription
upgrades
Claiming
27
cs
Title Changes
cs
az
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
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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 midterm
• 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
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A new paradigm is developing
E-License Negotiators
(Consortia or Library)
+
Information Services
Agents
• Focus and alignment of interests in License
Negotiation
• Cost effective and systems based transaction
handling and administration
• Keeps Library in control of its purchasing
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CUSTOMERFOCUSED CONTENTDRIVEN
for more information contact [email protected]
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