Is There a Role for Agents in the Age of E-Journals and Consortia? Cary Bruce EBSCO Information Services June 2004

Is There a Role for Agents in the Age of E-Journals

and Consortia?

Cary BruceEBSCO Information Services

June 2004

2

Some Current Theories

Handling of E-Journals is easier than handling print therefore no external support is needed.

Agents do not add value in the electronic world. Their focus is on print.

It is less expensive to buy electronic directly from the publisher because we save the service charge and get a publisher discount. Also publishers will not allow agents to handle the transaction.

3

Managing e-journals:challenges for the library

4

Provide Support

EvaluateMonitor

Trial useTrial use

Assess need/budget

Assess need/budget

License terms

License terms

Administer

E-resource life cycleLibraries

OrderOrder

PayPayPricePrice

EvaluateEvaluate

Provide Access

Acquire

5

Provide Support

EvaluateMonitor

IP AddressesIP Addresses

RegisterRegister

Proxy ServersProxy Servers

Administer

CatalogCatalog

Portals/Access lists


Campus authentication


URL maintenance

URL maintenance

Provide Access

Acquire


6

ClaimingClaiming

User IDsUser IDs

Admin module information


Provide Support

EvaluateMonitor

Preferences (store)

Preferences (store)

Holdings listsHoldings lists

Access restrictions

Access restrictions

View rights for use

View rights for use

Administer

Provide Access

Acquire


7

Provide Support

EvaluateMonitor

Problem logProblem log

Hardware needs

Hardware needs

Software needs

Software needs

Contact infoContact info

Troubleshoot/ triage


Administer

Provide Access

Acquire


8

Provide Support

EvaluateMonitor


Usage statsUsage stats

Downtime analysis

Downtime analysis

Review problemsReview

problems

User feedback

User feedback

Administer

Provide Access

Acquire


9

ClaimingClaiming

User IDsUser IDs



Preferences (store)

Preferences (store)


Access restrictions

Access restrictions

View rights for use

View rights for use

Provide Support

EvaluateMonitor


Hardware needs

Hardware needs

Software needs

Software needs





Downtime analysis

Downtime analysis


problems

User feedback

User feedback

Administer

Trial useTrial use

Assess need/budget

Assess need/budget

License terms

License terms OrderOrder

PayPayPricePrice

EvaluateEvaluate IP AddressesIP Addresses

RegisterRegister


CatalogCatalog


Portals/Access listsCampus

authenticationCampus

authentication

URL maintenance

URL maintenance

Provide Access

Acquire


10

ClaimingClaiming

User IDsUser IDs



Preferences (store)

Preferences (store)


Access restrictions

Access restrictions

View rights for use

View rights for use

Provide Support

EvaluateMonitor


Hardware needs

Hardware needs

Software needs

Software needs





Downtime analysis

Downtime analysis


problems

User feedback

User feedback

Administer

New processes introduced

Trial useTrial use

Assess need/budget

Assess need/budget

License terms


PayPayPricePrice


RegisterRegister


CatalogCatalog





URL maintenance

URL maintenance

Acquire

Provide Access


11

Provide Support

EvaluateMonitor

Title listsTitle lists

Administer

Provide Access

E-resource life cyclePublishers


Fulfillment reports

Fulfillment reports

Offer trialOffer trial

Marketing/ Sales

Marketing/ Sales

License terms

License terms

Order handling

Order handling

InvoicesInvoices

PricingPricing

Acquire

Hosting siteHosting site




Metasearch/ Z39.50

Metasearch/ Z39.50

Durable URL Support

Durable URL Support

RegistrationRegistration

Subscription upgrades


ClaimingClaiming

User IDsUser IDs

IP ChangesIP Changes

Title Lists for packages


Enforce License terms


Title ChangesTitle Changes

Subscriptionproblems


Hardware problemsHardware problems

Software problemsSoftware problems

Customer Service

Customer Service

Technical Support

Technical Support

12

What is the Role of the Agent?

• Offer subscription services and supporting products that benefit both libraries and publishers

• Do this more efficiently than either can do on their own

• Be compensated by both parties for the value we add

13

What value do Agents bring?

1) “Traditional” agent services that also apply to the e-journal world

2) New “e-agent services” that help customers acquire and manage e-resources

3) E-resource management products, linking services and databases

14

Traditional Services that apply to the E-journal World

• Pre-payment of order – cash flow issue• Order consolidation• Proof of payment maintenance• Line item invoicing• Fund accounting• ILS feeds for invoicing• EDI• Consolidated Renewals• Reporting• Customer Service Representative / Tech Support

15

New E-Agent Services

Special handling for online orders

• Dedicated e-journal processing teams• Rapid processing of online orders and registration

assistance• Gathering of PID/SID numbers from publishers• Email notification to customers of PID/SID &

registration requirements• Notify publishers of IP address changes• Automatic registration for select publishers• Assistance with subscrition upgrades and format

changes

16


With order through Agent, library benefits from

• Automatic update of E-Journal gateway• Automatic update of online Title List (A-to-Z service)• Automatic update of Link Resolver• Automatic update of OPAC – MARC records• Automatic update of Smart Links

17

E-JournalGateway

E-JournalGateway

Link resolver

Link resolver

OPACOPAC

A-to-ZList

A-to-ZList

Publishersite

PublishersitePublisher

sitePublisher

sitePublishersite


sitePublisher

site

A&Idatabase

A&IdatabaseA&I

databaseA&I

databaseA&Idatabase

A&Idatabase

Full textdatabaseFull textdatabaseFull text

databaseFull textdatabaseFull text

databaseFull textdatabase

1

CUSTOMER

1. Place order

2. Get SID/PID

3. Register

4. Add to gateway

5. Add to A-to-Z list

6. Add to link resolver

7. Catalog

8. Add to Locals at A&I

9. Add to Locals at FT

CUSTOMER

1. Place order

2. Get SID/PID

3. Register

4. Add to gateway

5. Add to A-to-Z list

6. Add to link resolver

7. Catalog

8. Add to Locals at A&I

9. Add to Locals at FT

8

9

3

24

5

6

7

99

88

AdministratorAdministrator

Without AgentWithout AgentProcessing of e-journals without an Agent

18

EBSCOhostEJS

EBSCOhostEJS

LinkSourceLinkSource

OPACOPAC

EBSCO A-to-Z

EBSCO A-to-Z

Publishersite


sitePublisher

sitePublishersite

Publishersite

A&Idatabase

A&IdatabaseA&I

databaseA&I

databaseEBSCOhost A&I

EBSCOhost A&I


databaseFull textdatabaseEBSCOhost

Full textEBSCOhost

Full text

Order processing

AdministratorAdministrator

CUSTOMER

1. Place order

2. Get PID/SID

3. Register

4. Export titles from EJS & update holdings

Agent

• Order

• Add to EJS

• Add to SmartLinks

• Add to A-to-Z list

• Add to LinkSource

• MARC updates for OPAC

CUSTOMER

1. Place order

2. Get PID/SID

3. Register

4. Export titles from EJS & update holdings

Agent

• Order

• Add to EJS

• Add to SmartLinks

• Add to A-to-Z list

• Add to LinkSource

• MARC updates for OPAC

With Agent (Worst Case publisher)

With Agent (Worst Case publisher)

SmartLinks

44

44

Publishersite

Publishersite

23

1

How an Agent helps the librarian improve processing of e-journals

19


Publisher Package Purchases

Assistance with information, pricing, negotiation and ordering for individual institutions and consortia

Holdings Analysis

Publishers require a report of holdings in order to consider making an offer for their subscription package. The agent is uniquely suited to provide this information quickly and accurately -- and is generally a trusted source for the publisher.

20


E-journal Auditing• Are you getting what you paid for? (delayed, ceased,

titles sold)• Are you getting what you want? (tracking package title

changes)

Customized Reports To evaluate the benefits of subscribing to a publisher

package or through a consortium.• Reports showing savings for discounted print• Reports showing savings with annual price caps• Other customized reports

21


Summary inventory of e-access information• Where can the title be accessed? • What does the publisher need in order to provide

access?

One-stop customer service• What happens if you can’t get access? Who do you

call?• How many publisher contacts do you have to

maintain?

22

E-Resource Access Management Products

• E-Journal Gateways• A-to-Z or Title lists• Full text databases• Bibliographic databases• Link Resolvers (OpenURL)• Smart Linking

23

E-JournalGateway

E-JournalGateway

Link resolver

Link resolver

OPACOPAC

A-to-ZList

A-to-ZList

Publishersite


sitePublisher

sitePublishersite


sitePublisher

site

A&Idatabase

A&IdatabaseA&I

databaseA&I

databaseA&Idatabase

A&Idatabase


databaseFull textdatabaseFull text

databaseFull textdatabase

Library e-Services

User

Document Delivery

Document DeliveryDocument

DeliveryDocument DeliveryDocument

DeliveryDocument Delivery

24

Value provided by products

E-Journal Management• Registration tracking• Admin Alerts• Content, access coverage and embargos• Complete collection management• URL management• Article and journal level linking support• Knowledgebase management for link resolvers

E-Journal Access• Locator tools for both journals and articles• TOC browsing• Cross-publisher searching of e-journal holdings• Easy incorporation with metasearch systems

25

Value provided by products

Linking• Increase in usage efficiency through interconnectivity of

resources• Streamlining of collection management• Cost reduction due to decrease of interlibrary lending and

document delivery services

Usage Statistics• Journal and article level usage• Link-out activity• Basis for collection management, purchase evaluation, budget

allocation and user training

General• Platform harmonization and reduction of access complexity• Independence from publisher platforms• Reduction of IT costs through hosted solutions and continuous

product development

26

ClaimingClaiming

User IDsUser IDs



Preferences (store)

Preferences (store)


Access restrictions

Access restrictions

View rights for use

View rights for use

Provide Support

EvaluateMonitor


Hardware needs

Hardware needs

Software needs

Software needs





Downtime analysis

Downtime analysis


problems

User feedback

User feedback

Administer

Trial useTrial use

Assess need/budget

Assess need/budget

License terms


PayPayPricePrice


RegisterRegister

Proxy SupportProxy Support

CatalogCatalog

PortalsAccess lists

PortalsAccess lists

AuthenticationAuthentication

URL maintenance

URL maintenance

Acquire

Provide Access


essess

op

ess op

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ejs

ejs

ejs

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ejsaz

usejs

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27

Provide Support

EvaluateMonitor

Title listsTitle lists

Administer

Provide Access

E-resource life cyclePublishers


Fulfillment reports

Fulfillment reports

Offer trialOffer trial

Marketing/ Sales

Marketing/ Sales

License terms

License terms

Order handling

Order handling

InvoicesInvoices

PricingPricing

Acquire

Hosting siteHosting site




Metasearch/ Z39.50

Metasearch/ Z39.50

Durable URL Support

Durable URL Support

RegistrationRegistration



ClaimingClaiming

User IDsUser IDs

IP ChangesIP Changes





Title ChangesTitle Changes



Hardware problemsHardware problems

Software problemsSoftware problems

Customer Service

Customer Service

Technical Support

Technical Support

essess

essop

ps

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ps

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28

Is the total cost of a subscription really decreasing without an Agent?

• Increased number of tasks and complexity creates need for new and more skilled staff

• Cost of purchase vs. total cost of owning and managing a subscription– loss of economies of scale– Shift of work from publisher/agent to librarian– Still need for comprehensive title information

• Library traditional budgets decrease or shift away from library after intial e-resource experimentation phase – loss of budget control

29

Other things to consider in buying direct from publishers

• Central buying entities are comparable to small agents without systems and service infrastructure – the additional cost will impact libraries in the mid-term

• Most discounts provided to librarians are also provided to agents

• Despite what the publisher sales reps might say: publishers will allow agents to handle e-journal transactions if libraries wish to do so

30

A new paradigm is developing

• Focus and alignment of interests in License Negotiation

• Cost effective and systems based transaction handling and administration

• Keeps Library in control of its purchasing

E-License Negotiators(Consortia or Library)

Information ServicesAgents+

31

CUSTOMERFOCUSED CONTENTDRIVEN

for more information contact [email protected]

Documents

Is There a Role for Agents in the Age of E-Journals and Consortia? Cary Bruce EBSCO Information Services June 2004