Electronic Resource Management: Solving the Puzzle

Electronic resource management is the process of managing the information necessary to select, evaluate, acquire, maintain and provide access to electronic resources in accordance with license terms.

Kathryn Harnish, Meridian Product Manager, Endeavor Information Systems, Des Plaines, IL, USA

We’ve all seen the evidence: Electronic resources have become increasingly popular in libraries and among library patrons in the last decade. Not only are the majority of scholarly journals now available in electronic format, but a recent survey1 reports that 80% of students and faculty indicated they access online journals, with three-quarters of respondents reporting a preference for the electronic version.

Although electronic resources offer exciting advantages for patrons, libraries are left with the considerable burden of managing this content and the associated license agreements. Electronic resource management (ERM) has emerged as an important topic of discussion; it’s a key aspect of a librarian’s work and many libraries have developed homegrown systems to tackle this challenge. Certainly, all agree there’s a need for systems to help with this task.

Tim Green, Library IT Manager at the London School of Economics (LSE), explains, "It is essential that we have an effective way of keeping track of the licenses associated with our ever-growing pool of electronic journals, books, datasets, and databases. This means not only tracking the applicable licenses, but also recording key details about each, such as administrative data like renewal dates and which groups of users can use which resources and from where." Green continues, “Tracking electronic journals licenses is a complex business with many titles available via several packages and, of course, with different license terms dependent on the package and supplier. The titles associated with particular packages are volatile, which further complicates matters. If we are to have any hope of keeping on top of the relevant terms and conditions, it is important that any solution works well with our existing systems — not to mention data from specialist service providers like Serial Solutions who help us keep track of the 13,000 plus titles we manage." Only with an effective system for managing all processes related to electronic resources can libraries increase the level of service provided to patrons and decrease effort for library staff.

In early 2003, acting upon needs articulated by libraries such as LSE and the Digital Library Federation Electronic Resource Management Initiative, Endeavor Information Systems began the development of Meridian — a system designed to manage information about electronic resources. From the outset, we worked with libraries to ensure we addressed the kinds of e-content challenges encountered by electronic resource specialists and their colleagues throughout the library. Extensive discussions with more than 100 libraries from around the world surfaced key functional issues and provided feedback on topics such as workflows and interface design.

In addition, we engaged four development partners: Columbia University Libraries, New York, NY; the Library of the London School of Economics and Political Science, London, England; the University of Pittsburgh University Library System, Pittsburgh, PA; and the Princeton University Library, Princeton, NJ. Staff members from these libraries helped our software architects and developers to understand the devil in the details — how packages work, how licenses and addenda fit together, how different library staff members are likely to use e-content information, and so on. Subsequently, they helped prioritize the features necessary for successful electronic resource management and provided lots of feedback on support for various workflows in Meridian. Thanks to the efforts of our development partners, Meridian provides flexible, yet comprehensive support for the myriad activities involved with e-content administration.

Elsevier’s User Centered Design (UCD) Group, a team of human-computer interaction experts, assisted interface development. Discussions between library development partners, the Endeavor team and the UCD group resulted in a Web interface prototype that illustrated workflows and functionality related to electronic materials. After creating this prototype, a series of usability tests was conducted at eight different libraries. At each library, electronic resource librarians, reference staff, ILL technicians and others were asked to complete common tasks associated with e-resources. For example, librarians used the prototype to troubleshoot a problem resource. Watching and listening as test participants worked through the task, the team noted areas in which the users struggled, asked questions, clicked on the wrong buttons, and so on. Changes were incorporated based on this feedback. The result is an intuitive interface providing support for all aspects of electronic resource management; it’s really easy to use, but contains the level of sophistication librarians have told us they need.

Endeavor’s user-focused approach to the development of Meridian, from initial research to interaction with development partners and usability testing, is evident in the finished product, which is now being tested and implemented at our partner libraries. We’re excited about our June 2005 commercial release — and the opportunity to help libraries conquer the challenges of electronic resource management!

1Carol Tenopir, Use and Users of Electronic Library Resources: An Overview and Analysis of Recent Research Studies (Washington, D.C.: Council on Library and Information Resources, 2003). www.clir.org/pubs/reports/pub120/contents.html

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The Growing Electronic Resource Management Puzzle and Endeavor's Meridian Solution

www.endinfosys.com/prods/meridian_whitepaper.pdf

During 2004, Endeavor commissioned market research into the value assigned by librarians to a variety of features when selecting an ERM. More than 150 librarians from 100 institutions around the world were asked to rate a list of features on a scale of 1-9, where 1 signified “not at all valuable” and 9 “extremely valuable.”

The following features received the highest ratings:

• Define authorized users of licensed content.
• Record terms and use restrictions.
• Record licensee and licensor information, including links to packages and resources.
• Link and import acquisitions data associated with the license.
• Record duration of license.
• Store provider records, including contact information.
• Record holdings and coverage data.
• Link or import existing MARC descriptive records.
• Import descriptive data in from other sources (Serials Solutions, TDNet, etc.).
• Define a package and indicate what resources are received as part of the package.
• Allow staff to track the status, problems reported with a resource, and resolution.
• Manage statistics and generate usage reports for all resources regardless of vendor.
• Produce reports based on locally defined criteria.

In response, Endeavor designed Meridian to address all of these critical functional needs. For more information, and to sign up for an online demonstration, visit www.endinfosys.com/meridian.