Welcome

Joep Verheggen

Library Connect’s first issue in this new year presents insights into how knowledge about user behavior and user needs can help both librarians and publishers to optimize services offered to our customers.

This issue looks at different ways information about users and user behavior can be built up. In-depth user surveys, field studies, usage- and path-analysis, and other methods are increasingly being used to capture what users expect to find in the products and services we develop for and with them. This so-called “evidence-based” development is our guiding principle for all product development across Elsevier.

When people ask me about e-product development, my favorite subject is a very simple and obvious rule which should never be neglected in the product development process. The rule is: “Whatever you do in electronic publishing, make sure you and your customers can measure usage and user behavior,as this directly translates into the value of your products and services.”

Librarians and publishers alike will continue to improve the ways user/usage statistics are being captured and applied when considering new access models and pricing models. Our ever-growing and combined knowledge of this subject will help us in preparing for future models and guide us in making the right decisions going forward.

I sincerely hope you will enjoy reading this issue of Library Connect which is, thanks to all our contributors, such an informative read!

Wishing you a very happy new year,

Joep Verheggen,
Director, ScienceDirect, Elsevier, Amsterdam, The Netherlands

Q&A  Snapshot with Joep Verheggen

Q: What were you doing before joining Elsevier?

A: Following my graduation from the University of Utrecht, where I studied in the Department of Mathematics and Physical Sciences, I spent a brief period in the financial sector. For 15 years now, I have been with Elsevier in various publishing and management positions.

Q: What industry trends are you watching?

A: Obviously mostly trends in the changing models in the publishing industry and technology trends relevant to this industry. I also like to keep up with general trends in usage and user behavior.

Q: What's the best part of your job?

A: The fact that ScienceDirect and thus my job touches almost all aspects of the publishing process.

Q: What is your favorite book?

A: Very difficult question. The Name of the Rose by Umberto Eco, The Discovery of Heaven by the Dutch author Harry Mulisch, and Oblomov by the Russian author Ivan Gontjarow. And of course The Hitchhiker’s Guide to the Galaxy by Douglas Adams.

Q: What are you reading now?

A: I’ve just completed Extremely Loud and Incredibly Close by Jonathan Safran Foer, and am starting The Sea by John Banville.