Acquisition and co‐operative use of serials

Abstract

Proposes the creation of a co‐operative acquisition centre that would permit improved use of serials to academic users in university libraries. Supported by the latest telecommunications technology the system would permit reception of requests for journal articles in a simple and rapid manner. Outlines economic feasibility and concludes that the creation of a centre is technically and economically feasible.

Knowledge Alert

“…Improvements to the preliminary design : The final design of the system, presented in Figure 1, shows significant improvements compared with the preliminary design presented in Del Sol et al [1], one of which is the following: in the preliminary design, the libraries would have to scan the tables of contents and send them directly to faculty members using a computer with a fax card. In the present design, the libraries send faxes with the tables of contents to Knowledge Alert from where they are distributed to interested users.…”

“…The library receives the fax with the request and photocopies the relevant article or abstract, sending it directly to the user by the specified means. At the end of the day, all of the libraries which have despatched faxes or article copies must report the transaction to Knowledge Alert, indicating the number of faxed or mailed pages.Users can also, through the table of contents availability has not been known, sending Knowledge Alert the complete bibliographic citation of the article. Improvements to the preliminary design : The final design of the system, presented in Figure 1, shows significant improvements compared with the preliminary design presented in Del Sol et al [1], one of which is the following: in the preliminary design, the libraries would have to scan the tables of contents and send them directly to faculty members using a computer with a fax card. In the present design, the libraries send faxes with the tables of contents to Knowledge Alert from where they are distributed to interested users.…”

“…Del Sol et al [1] show that the Co‐operative Acquisition Service has achieved savings of over 5 per cent on the subscription prices previously paid by the individual universities.…”

“…The Current Awareness and Individual Article Supply Service makes available to users more than 3,000 titles from the periodical collections of the ten universities which at present participate in the project. Del Sol et al [1] identify and quantify the benefits obtained by the universities from this service.…”

“…This article describes Knowledge Alert. Its specification is quite different and much more specific than the preliminary one presented by Del Sol et al [1]. The article explains the services offered, the procedures and technologies used, the legal structure of Knowledge Alert and the finance strategies for the next few years.…”