Evaluating Online Resources for College and University Libraries: Assessing Value and Cost Based on Academic Needs

ABSTRACT

This guide presents several fundamental principles for the evaluation and selection of online resources in academic libraries. It first describes the universe of scholarly documents: the narrow scope of most academic library collections; the distinctions between information, documents, titles, information resources, and products; and the striking variations in impact and importance that can be seen among both articles and journals. Second, the article discusses the ways in which libraries can help meet academic needs by selecting only high-quality resources that strengthen the links between course requirements and broader educational goals. Specifically, it addresses the distinction between students’ wants and needs, the primacy of content, the importance of comparative assessments, the advantages of title-by-title selection, and the need for resource coherence by subject or function. Third, the article presents seven guidelines for assessing and promoting cost-effectiveness—guidelines that focus on indirect costs, opportunity cost, sunk costs, the difference between views/downloads and academic use, the need to avoid ongoing financial commitments, the evaluation of cost for resources with a finite lifetime, and the impact of librarians’ decisions on the pricing strategies of vendors and publishers.

Keywords:

• academic libraries
• collection development
• cost-effectiveness
• journals
• prices
• selection

Acknowledgments

I am grateful for the advice of Esther Isabelle Wilder and three anonymous referees.