Who reads this journal?: Indicators that influence decisions on subscription cancelation/renewal of scien

Abstract

Exponential growth in the number of information sources, especially scientific journals, on one side and decreasing funding for their acquisition on the other, forces libraries to enhance their cooperation and constantly measure the relevance of their scientific journals collections, in order to continue supporting research, education and training, as well as services offered by their respective organizations and/or patrons, and to justify investments involved in developing and maintaining relevant scientific journals collections. A survey of international and local library science literature published during the last 30 years was made to screen the experience and effort involved in solving such problems. A list of indicators, based on screened literature sources, was compiled, which could influence decisions concerning the cancellation and/or retention of scientific journals in paper form