Increasing the discovery and use of e-resources in university

librariesBy Dr M Ishwara Bhat

LibrarianBirla Institute of Technology and Science

Pilani (Rajasthan)PIN 333031

Email : ibhat@bits-pilani.ac.in

An inconvenient truth : Use of e-resources is very much less than what we expect

• BITS example

• Duke University study

• OCLC Study on Perception of libraries

• Pew Internet and American Life Project

E-resources are expensive

IEEE download : Rs 95 per article

CRC & Springer e-book : $ 30 per book year

Average license fee for an e-journal (As per Indest prices 2009)

ASCE Journal : Rs 5852 per journal

Emerald : Rs 1939 per journal

ASME : Rs 6556 per journal

Elsevier (Engg) : Rs 4743 per journal

Prime reasons for low usage

• Low awareness of e-resources

• Too much information; ‘Googling’ effect

• Lack of good infrastructure

Good infrastructure• Campus LAN• Wi-Fi in the library• Bandwidth• Leased line• VPN• Quality of PC• Maintenace and upkeep• Helpline

Access control

• User ID/Password

• IP authentication

• Athens (UK)

Internal Marketing to staff

Good library website

• Make it simple to use• Provide a link from the university homepage• Make the e-resources visible• Provide subject guides• Provide facility for online registration• Promote the library website

Traditional methods of promotion

• List of journals on the library website/OPAC• Integrate e-book records into library OPAC• Subject guides on the library website• Banners, posters, brochures, bookmarks• Posters in the physical library• Book dummies in the stack area

• Library newsletters

• In house magazines brought out by student bodies

• Distribute research articles pulled out from online databases

• Encourage users to review databases

Face to face interactions

• Visits to departments• Subject training programs• As a part of Institute’s events• User meets• Competitions• Launches• Stalls and road shows• Training sessions, Workshops• Promotional workshops by vendors

Promotion through the web/Intranet

Emails – globalE-mails – targetedScreen messagesOnline tutorialsTable of contentsRSS FeedsWikisBlogsFacebook

Measuring the effectiveness of promotional programs

• Usage statistics

• Surveys

• Open Houses

• Feedback from the staff

• http://delicious.com/jaybhatt

• Thank You• Email : ibhat@bits-pilani.ac.in

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