E-Trials in Academic Libraries: 101 and Beyond

Bhatt, Anjana H.

doi:10.1080/1941126x.2015.1029424

Cited by 3 publications

(3 citation statements)

References 3 publications

(10 reference statements)

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“…In the library and information science literature, trials to electronic databases emerge as a topic that is often discussed in relation to the electronic resource life cycle and best practices. Bhatt (2015) discusses lessons learned from years of coordinating trials for electronic resources and identifies common pitfalls. Some of those common pitfalls include an abundance of simultaneous trials, lack of established processes for gathering feedback, and lack of mechanisms for documenting trial history.…”

Section: Literature Reviewmentioning

confidence: 99%

Free Lunch? Vendor Offers during COVID-19

Hosoi

2021

Ticker: The Academic Business Librarianship Review

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Academic libraries received numerous free offers during the COVID-19 pandemic. Existing business literature suggests that there are benefits and costs associated with free offers for both the businesses that provide them and their customers. This study analyzes the free offers received during a three-month period at the beginning of the pandemic in 2020. The author monitored direct offers from vendors, LIBLICENSE-L@LISTSERV.CRL.EDU, information obtained from peers, and publicly available data from the International Coalition of Library Consortia (ICOLC). The offers that would normally require paid institutional subscriptions were included in the study. Databases were the largest offer category (41%), followed-by e-books (20%). Most (76%) required registration by library representatives, allowing vendors to track usage data. Only a small portion (8%) of these free offers was already held at the study site, Penn State University Libraries (PSUL). The implication might be that most of the offers were either new, not high-priority or not affordable for PSUL. The findings of this study suggest free offers provide intangible value for both libraries and vendors that cannot be measured through cost-per-use data analysis. For example, libraries gained opportunities to trial new products without any risk, temporarily expand their collections, and help users during the crisis when access to the library buildings was disrupted. Vendors increased product visibility, gained customer information and usage data, identified potential customers, and created goodwill with the library community. This study is relevant to business librarianship not only because these free offers included business and related disciplines but also because some business librarians engage with vendor relations and need to understand different business models including free offers.

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Section: Literature Reviewmentioning

confidence: 99%

Free Lunch? Vendor Offers during COVID-19

Hosoi

2021

Ticker: The Academic Business Librarianship Review

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“…For instance, the use of e-trials where graduate students and academic staff are made to participate is a very effective method to boost the use of electronic resources. On the other hand, these trials also offer librarians first-hand the opportunity to, among others, match products to curricular needs in the face of dwindling budgets (Bhatt, 2015). There is a need to also regularise training programmes to further consolidate the trialability conception of digital libraries in Africa.…”

Section: African Conceptions Of Digital Libraries Based On the Attributes Of Innovationmentioning

confidence: 99%

Conceptions of digital libraries: an African perspective

Owusu-Ansah

2020

DLP

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Purpose The purpose of this paper was to explore African conceptions of digital libraries from the perspective of the historical literature. This paper argues that the concept of digital libraries is a western creation and that there was a need for developing societies to develop their own conceptions to guide their own digital library development agenda. Design/methodology/approach The paper is based on a literature review. The paper makes use of publicly-available literature on the theme of digital libraries from both the Western and African perspectives. The search terms used were “digital libraries”, “Africa digital libraries”, “electronic libraries”, “information communication technologies/libraries” and “institutional repositories”. A total of 89 publications were examined for this purpose. Findings The analysis revealed that most of the initial digital library initiatives in Africa emanated from the west with African countries benefiting from international initiatives to expand access to information resources to bridge the global digital divide. However, due to a number of contextual challenges such as lack of sustainable funding and inadequate capacity and strategy, the development of digital libraries was hampered. Thus, even though digital libraries enjoy considerable goodwill, there remain negative conceptions of digital libraries in Africa. Practical implications Information institutions in African countries must evolve a unified conception of digital libraries as this would largely drive the direction of digital library development towards achieving the developmental goals of the continent. Originality/value The study applies the attributes of innovation to explain contextual factors shaping African conceptions of digital libraries.

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“…However, Ritterbush (2012) earlier pointed out that no more than three trials should be scheduled simultaneously to avoid trial fatigue and maximise participation and feedback. Bhatt (2015), however, recommends no more than two simultaneous trials and stresses that users must have a clear understanding and awareness of the trial to make the trial time worthwhile.…”

Section: Trials and Stakeholder Feedbackmentioning

confidence: 99%

Investigating the optimisation of South African university library budgets in an austerity environment.

Chatikobo

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E-Trials in Academic Libraries: 101 and Beyond

Cited by 3 publications

References 3 publications

Free Lunch? Vendor Offers during COVID-19

Free Lunch? Vendor Offers during COVID-19

Conceptions of digital libraries: an African perspective

Investigating the optimisation of South African university library budgets in an austerity environment.

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