A review and rationalisation of journal subscriptions undertaken by a library and information service in a Mental Health Trust in North-East England in 2009

Abstract

Aim: To describe the methods and processes used in an evaluation of local journal subscriptions in a mental health trust and to suggest possible further areas of investigation were similar exercises to be undertaken again. Method and Results: Results from a user questionnaire were analysed along with e-journal usage statistics and data from local document supply activity. Conclusions: Journal reviews can yield surprising results. Carrying out a user survey is valuable in highlighting awareness of e-resources more generally and thus in providing evidence for marketing ⁄ information literacy initiatives. Future journal reviews should undertake impact analysis as potent evidence for continued expenditure on journals in this age of austerity.Keywords: collection development, electronic journals, health care, health science, journals, librarianship, libraries, marketing and publicity. Key Messages Implications for Practice• NHS Library ⁄ Knowledge Services should undertake regular analysis of journal subscriptions. This should comprise some solicitation of user feedback as well as measurements of usage. User feedback can often yield surprising results.• Marketing of journal subscriptions and more targeted signposting of resources should be priorities.• Library and Information Service (LIS) information skills training should consider more general interventions such as highlighting available online journals through link resolvers and A-Z lists as well as more advanced training in searching bibliographic databases.• User surveys are an excellent way of raising the profile of the LIS and can themselves serve as a marketing tool. Implications for Policy• Library staff should not assume that users are fully aware of the range of journal subscriptions offered. Awareness is often less than we think.• A future review should consider the value of journals more in quantifiable financial terms, e.g. by applying a return on investment (ROI) calculation. If it can be shown that having a LIS saves the organisation money through its subscriptions and inter-library loan service, this would be excellent evidence of the benefits of the LIS.• Future journal evaluations should undertake impact analysis to find evidence of 'how' staff are using journals, rather than just 'how many' staff are accessing them. This may provide convincing evidence for continuing funding in this challenging financial climate. Because a significant number of LIS users rarely (or never) visit service points, and therefore do not give verbal feedback to LIS staff, the Trust LIS Committee requested that a thorough review should take place to determine whether current journal subscriptions were meeting the needs of users and potential users. Previously, decisions on journal subscriptions were taken by library staff using their expertise and experience, ad hoc methods such as personal recommendations from users, perusal of impact factors and reading lists from organisations such as the Royal College of Psychiatrists.These methods are sound, but it was decide...

Increasing impact in a time of decreasing budgets

“…Moving to the original articles, we begin by focusing on some of the key services health libraries currently provide. Steele provides an evaluation of journal subscriptions in a UK mental health trust . To find out whether current journal subscriptions were meeting the needs of users and potential users, a questionnaire was conducted, and online usage statistics and inter‐library loan data were analysed.…”

Writing academic papers: lost in translation?

“…The authors represented in this issue of the Health Information and Libraries Journal (HILJ) have all successfully navigated the journey from submission through to the publication and cover a wide spectrum of library and information service provision ranging from stock selection 4 to direct contact with service users, 5 from students 6 to qualified staff, 7,8 and the quality of information provision 9 vs. the quality of information retrieval 10,11 . As we have seen from the text above, referees play an essential role in ensuring the quality and transparency of the papers published in HILJ and in this final issue of the year, it is timely to thank HILJ referees for their contributions 12…”