Harrington Stovall 11-4-2011

CONTEXTUALIZING AND INTERPRETING COST PER USE FOR ELECTRONIC JOURNALS

MATT HARRINGTON AND CONNIE STOVALL

WHAT TO EXPECT…

• Brief overview of theory and problem(s)

• Brief overview of VT’s Serials Decision Database

• Examples of contextualizing data

• Interpretation of data

• Our POV, recommendations, discussion

2

DATA AND VALUE

• Increasing use of statistical and financial data to aid

with serials decisions

• Increasing use of data to demonstrate value of library

resources to university administrators

• What does cost per use, average cost, or return on

investment tell us about a resource’s value

• What does the data mean and how can we make it

more meaningful?

3

DETERMINING VALUE

4

ECONOMISTS

5

David Ricardo

Karl Marx

Adam Smith

NOT AN ECONOMIST

6

Connie,

librarian

7

DETERMINING VALUE

• Classical economists

• Smith: “the toil and trouble of acquiring” a thing

• Marx (and Ricardo, more or less): duality in value

• Determined by use-value and exchange value

• Value as a social construct

VALUE OF INFORMATION

• Information as a different sort of commodity

• Cost-benefit analysis used increasingly

• Marks shift away from classical economics

• Intellectual/emotional value vs. practical value

• Use value and exchange value

• Contextualized cost per use

8

INTERPRETING COST PER USE

9

CALCULATING COST PER USE

10

SUBSCRIPTION COSTS

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$520.00

$540.00

$560.00

$580.00

$600.00

2008 2009 2010

Cost/Sub

Cost per subscription increased 7.45% from 2008 to 2010

2008 2009 2010

Cost per Title $551.93 $569.46 $593.07

USAGE ACROSS TIME

12

400000

420000

440000

460000

480000

500000

520000

540000

2008 Jan-Jun 2008 Jul-Dec 2009 Jan-Jun 2009 Jul-Dec 2010 Jan-Jun 2010 Jul-Dec

0

20000

40000

60000

80000

100000

120000

Ja

n 2

00

8

Feb

20

08

Ma

r 2

00

8

Ap

r 2

00

8

Ma

y 2

00

8

Ju

n 2

00

8

Ju

l 2

00

8

Au

g 2

00

8

Se

p 2

00

8

Oct 2

00

8

Nov 2

00

8

Dec 2

00

8

Ja

n 2

00

9

Feb

20

09

Ma

r 2

00

9

Ap

r 2

00

9

Ma

y 2

00

9

Ju

n 2

00

9

Ju

l 2

00

9

Au

g 2

00

9

Se

p 2

00

9

Oct 2

00

9

Nov 2

00

9

Dec 2

00

9

Ja

n 2

01

0

Feb

20

10

Ma

r 2

01

0

Ap

r 2

01

0

Ma

y 2

01

0

Ju

n 2

01

0

Ju

l 2

01

0

Au

g 2

01

0

Se

p 2

01

0

Oct 2

01

0

Nov 2

01

0

Dec 2

01

0

TOTALS, AVERAGES AND MEDIANS

2008 2009 2010

Total Cost/Use $2.57 $2.54 $2.60

Average Sub Cost/Use $23.96 $19.06 $21.31

Median Sub Cost/Use $4.19 $3.98 $3.84

13

$0.00

$5.00

$10.00

$15.00

$20.00

$25.00

$30.00

2008 2009 2010

Total Cost/Use

Average Cost/Use

Median Cost/Use

SUBJECTS

14

$0.00

$2.00

$4.00

$6.00

$8.00

$10.00

$12.00

B D E GC H HC HF HN HV JF L ML NX PB PR QCQH QP RA RD RK RT SF TC TK TP U

Total Cost/Use

$0.00

$500.00

$1,000.00

$1,500.00B D E

GC H

HC

HF

HN

HV

JF L

ML

NX

PB

PR

QC

QH

QP

RA

RD

RK

RT

SF

TC

TK

TP U

Total Cost/title

JOURNAL PACKAGE ANALYSIS

15

Package A4%

Package B27%

Package C3%

Package D10%

Package E7%

Remaining Serials Budget

49%

2009 Serials Budget

JOURNAL PACKAGE ANALYSIS

16

$0

$100

$200

$300

$400

$500

$600

$700

Package A

Package B

Package C

Package D

Package E

Cost/Title

$0.00

$1.00

$2.00

$3.00

$4.00

$5.00

$6.00

$7.00

$8.00

$9.00

Package A

Package B

Package C

Package D

Package E

Cost/Use

JOURNAL PACKAGE ANALYSIS

17

0%

10%

20%

30%

40%

50%

60%

70%

80%

90%

100%

Package A Package B Package C Package D Package E

High and Low Usage Counts

Usage is equal to or <10 10<Usage<100 Usage is equal to or >100

QUESTIONS, COMMENTS???

Matt Harrington [email protected]

Connie Stovall [email protected]

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