Online Serials Access X-Game: Surviving a Vendor Change for Online Serials Access and Thriving!

Figures & data

TABLE 1 Timetable

Task	2007/08 Target completion date
Identify required versus desired features	October 24
Identify potential vendors	October 24
Gather initial cost information	November 1
Complete feature checklist	November 15
Develop vendor questions
Develop final vendor list
Administrator demonstrations/trials	December 15
Public demonstrations	December 21
Recommendation to Information Technology Council/Decision	January 15
Product availability date	January 31
Training (START)	February 15
Implementation: Interface customization	March 31 (May 15)
Implementation: Content upload (START)	March 31 (May 15)
Select referring source transfers	April 15
Develop training material (START)	April 15
Final troubleshoot	April 30 (May 31)
Overlap (select referring sources)/Introduction	May 1–June 30
	(June 1–30)
Final referring source transfers/Testing	June 27–29
Cutoff date/Official launch	June 30
Dates in parentheses are alternate dates—the latest that a task could be completed and still meet the June 30 launch date.

TABLE 2 Desired Features and Vendor Ratings

Feature category	Feature	Current vendor	Vendor #1	Vendor #2	Vendor #3
Cost/License	Annual cost (2008)	$14,000	$1,800 (no ERM system) $3,600 (w/ERM system)	$12,000	$13,029 (Year 1)
Cost/License	Pricing Model	title count	annual fee	title count	annual fee
Cost/License	License/Terms info	annual subscription	annual subscription; license required	annual subscription; no license	3-year license required
Cost/License	Discount description	20% SOLINET applied	10% Tenn-Share applied (w/ERM system)	10% multi-year discount	none
Cost/License	Annual fee to include ongoing support and training	included	included	included	Year 1 training included
	Features
Administrative Options	Notes options in A–Z: Public notes	0	1	1	?
Administrative Options	Real time updates of sources/targets (no less than overnight)	0	1	1	1
Administrative Options	Title analysis to date level	0	0	0	−1
Communication	Proactive communication of problems (server outages, major library resource issues (e.g., PubMed, Gale/Cengage))	0	1	1	1
Communication	Proactive communication of product changes/enhancements	0	1	1	?
Communication	Proactive communication of additions (e.g., new targets, new additions to knowledgebase)	0	1	0	0
Communication	Clear communication process for adding targets, referring sources	0	1	1	1
Communication	Appropriate response time to problems (client input)	0	1	1	0
Customization	Ease of customization: Branding, display of holdings, placement/suppression of options, label names, order of options	0	1	1	−1
Knowledgebase	Flexibility of knowledgebase (for special packages, databases)	0	1	1	0
Knowledgebase	Ease of customer-initiated knowledgebase input (by journal title, by database with titles)	0	1	1	0
Knowledgebase	Ease of customizing holdings to date level	0	0	0	−1
Knowledgebase	Ease of uploading print/other holdings	0	1	1	1
Reports	Ease of downloadable reports, title lists (e.g., csv, Excel, rdb)	0	1	1	1
Reports	Scheduling of statistical reports	0	0	1	1
Reputation and Relationship	Solid reputation among user base (based on client input)	0	1	1	0
Reputation and Relationship	Knowledgeable, accessible support staff (based on client input)	0	1	1	0
	Total Features Score Features—Value Added	0	14	14	3
Administrative Options	Automated problem reporting to users	0	1	0	0
Administrative Options	Advanced statistics: referring source	0	1	0	1
Administrative Options	Option to show index databases	0	1	0	0
Customization	Multiple subject options	0	1	0	0
Customization	Custom/local subject options	0	1	0	0
Customization	De-duplication by vendor	0	−1	0	0
Customization	Save citations in different formats	0	0	0	1
Customization	Advanced customization options	0	1	0	0
Customization	Customize names of holdings (e.g., Academic OneFile— replaces InfoTrac OneFile)	0	0	0	0
Knowledgebase	Alternate, subsequent, previous title cross-searching	0	1	1	1
Reputation and Relationship	Evidence of continuous improvement: user-based	0	1	1	1
Reputation and Relationship	Evidence of continuous improvement: administrator-based	0	0	1	−1
	Total Value Added Features Score	0	7	3	3
	Grand Total Features Score	0	21	17	6

TABLE 3 Commonly Held Features

Feature category	Features
Administrative Options	Hosted solution
Administrative Options	Integrated A–Z component with link resolver
Administrative Options	Established relationships with existing vendors
Administrative Options	Ability to link populate OCLC ILLIAD
Administrative Options	Basic statistics reports: searches, click-throughs
Administrative Options	Supports proxy server
Administrative Options	Citation search
Administrative Options	Support of alternate formats (e.g., books, dissertations) (in development is acceptable)
Knowledgebase	Links within public databases (e.g., Google Scholar, PubMed)
Knowledgebase	Extent of knowledgebase—covers library holdings
Knowledgebase	Links to public databases—Google Scholar, PubMed, CrossRef
	Features—User-Based (A–Z and Link Resolver)
	Ease of use; intuitiveness
	Navigability
	A–Z title list features (alphabetical by title, by database, subject groupings, ISSN)
	Readability of screen (use of white space, tabs, etc.)
	Searchability (A–Z) (options: by title, ISSN, keyword, part of title, publisher, etc.)
	Preferred Features
	Coverage/support of open-source databases (if no coverage, customer-initiated knowledgebase changes are required)
	Multiple log-in levels
	Compliant to OpenURL 1.0 (SAP1 or SAP2?) (SAP2 resolves multiple Context Objects)
	Plays well with other vendors (metasearch, ERM system)