A change in scientific developments in recent decades is widely proclaimed which may be associated with terms like postmodern science or steady state science. This change is usually discussed from a more epistemological viewpoint. In order to enhance the understanding of the underlying key factors, bibliometric, demographic and Nobel Prize recipient data spanning of the last hundred years are considered and analyzed. It is found that in general the considered data point to a quasi-steady state in bibliometric developments of highly developed countries. For emerging countries, such a steady state is not yet attained; therefore, the research output in scientific journal articles is still expected to rise considerably. Consequences and interpretations of an ever growing research output in relation to the increasing age of Nobel Prize recipients are discussed and conclusions are drawn from the considered data.
The combined influence of rapidly changing technology and the economic downturn has forced librarians and publishers to reassess their respective roles in the delivery of information. Many are realizing that the costs of traditional collection management through journal subscriptions and particularly the "Big Deal" are not only burdensome but unsustainable. The result of these forces will likely be continuing diversification in access models, with institutions acquiring content through subscriptions, aggregators, patron-driven acquisition (PDA), document delivery, and repositories. Increased complexity in business models and the high cost of information will bring increasing need for careful evaluation and analysis of financial efficiencies. The obvious place for such analysis to occur is in the library. PDA offers inherent cost savings for libraries, as the library only pays for the content that is read. In this article, we will describe a trial of a PDA service for scholarly journal articles, using ReadCube Access technology, and executed in partnership between the University of Utah and Nature Publishing Group (NPG). The goals of the project are to provide instantaneous access to journal content for patrons, while providing the means for just-in-time delivery, at a reduced cost per usage.
KEYWORDS patron-driven acquisition (PDA), sustainable access, journal literature, electronic resources, article delivery, demand-driven acquisition (DDA)During the 2012-2013 academic year, the University of Utah Marriott Library and Labtiva, Inc., the creators of ReadCube software, collaborated in the development and pilot study of ReadCube Access, a service designed to allow researchers to immediately acquire individual articles and undercut traditional interlibrary loan and document delivery (ILL-DD) costs. The 96 Downloaded by [Southern Illinois University] at
The University of Utah Library has teamed with a new company, Labtiva, to experiment with a product called ReadCube Access. This product allows the library to provide access to journal articles using a patron-driven acquisition (PDA) mechanism, using a tiered pricing structure based on level and permanence of access. Outcomes of the pilot program and a value analysis are discussed. Overall, the program is deemed a success by the Library.
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