Evidence Based Library and Information Practice (Journal)
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Print Books are Cheaper than E-Books for Academic Libraries
No full textA Review of:
Bailey, T. P., Scott, A. L., & Best, R. D. (2015). Cost differentials between e-books and print in academic libraries. College & Research Libraries, 76(1), 6-18. doi: 10.5860/crl.76.1.2
Abstract
Objective – To determine the difference in cost (if any) between print and e-book titles for an academic library.
Design – Case study.
Setting – Library system of a small, regional university in the southern United States of America.
Subjects – 264 titles requested by faculty (out of 462 total requests) that were available in both print and electronic format.
Method – Using Baker & Taylor’s Title Source 3 (now Title Source 360), the researchers compared pricing between the print version (paperback preferred) and electronic version (single user only) of titles requested by faculty during the Fall 2012 semester.
Main Results – As a whole, print titles had a mean price of 73.50 (a $19.17 difference). Only 44 of the 264 e-book titles were less expensive than their print equivalents. When broken down by LC classification, e-books were generally more expensive than print across all subjects except for religion and philosophy (BJ-BY) and the social sciences (H-HV). Average prices for both print and electronic were cheaper for university press publications versus non-university press publications. (This was true for both arithmetic and weighted means.) Humanities books were the least expensive (mean cost/print title), but the average e-book cost was slightly higher than the social sciences. Science books were most expensive (average) both in print and electronic.
Conclusion – On average, print books are cheaper than e-books for academic libraries
Enhancing Access to E-books
No full textAbstract
Objective – The objective of the study was to determine if summary notes or table of contents notes in catalogue records are associated with the usage of e-books in a large university library.
Methods – A retrospective cohort study, analyzing titles from three major collections of e-books was employed. Titles were categorized based on the inclusion of the MARC 505 note (table of contents) or MARC 520 note (summary) in the catalogue record. The usage was based on standardized reports from 2012-2013. The measures of usage were the number of titles used and the number of sections downloaded. Statistical methods used in the analysis included correlations and odd ratios (ORs). The usage measures were stratified by publication year and subject to adjust for the effects of these factors on usage.
Results – The analysis indicates that these enhancements to the catalogue record increase usage significantly and notably. The probability of an e-book with one of the catalogue record enhancements being used (as indicated by the OR) was over 80% greater than for titles lacking the enhancements, and nearly twice as high for titles with both features. The differences were greatest among the oldest and the most recently published e-books, and those in science and technology. The differences were least among the e-books published between 1998 and 2007 and those in the humanities and social sciences.
Conclusion – Libraries can make their collections more accessible to users by enhancing bibliographic records with summary and table of contents notes, and by advocating for their inclusion in vendor-supplied records
The Contributions of MEDLINE, Other Bibliographic Databases and Various Search Techniques to NICE Public Health Guidance
No full textAbstract
Objective – To make recommendations for the National Institute for Health and Care Excellence (NICE) on the factors to consider when choosing databases and search techniques when producing systematic reviews to support public health guidance development.
Methods – Retrospective analysis of how the publications included in systematic reviews commissioned by NICE on obesity, spatial planning, and tuberculosis were retrieved. The
included publications were checked to see if they were found from searching MEDLINE, another database or through other search techniques.
Results – MEDLINE contributed 24.2% of the publications included in the obesity review, none of the publications in the spatial planning review and 72% of those in the tuberculosis review. Other databases accounted for 9.1% of included publications in obesity, 20% in spatial planning and 4% in tuberculosis. Non-database methods provided 42.4% of the included publications in the obesity review, compared to 5% in the spatial planning review and 24% in the tuberculosis review. It was not possible to establish retrospectively how 24.2% of the publications in the obesity review and 75% in the spatial planning review were found.
Conclusions – Topic-specific databases and non-database search techniques were useful for tailoring the resources to the review questions. The value of MEDLINE in these reviews was affected by the degree of overlap with clinical topics, the domain of public health, and the need to find grey literature. The factors that NICE considers when planning a systematic search are the multidisciplinary nature of public health and the different types of evidence required
Evidence Based Practice Using Formative Assessment in Library Research Support
No full textAbstract
Objective – The purpose of this study was to develop and review the effectiveness of a new evidence-based approach for teaching library research support.
Methods – Formative assessment, through two variations of the One Minute Paper model, is used to poll the experiences of university researchers in library research support sessions. Prior to a session, Polling One Minute Papers (POMPs) assess what researchers know about topics that will be covered in the session. After a session, Reflective One Minute Papers (ROMPs) review whether university researchers achieved the intended learning outcomes of the session. POMPs were used for 16 sessions and ROMPs were used for a subset of 11 of these sessions. Examples of responses from the POMPs and ROMPs were presented to describe and analyse the effectiveness of this approach for library support of research.
Results – POMP and ROMP responses were remarkably informative given their simplicity and the little effort required on the part of the instructing librarian or researchers. The completion rate of POMPs was 72.7%. They gave researchers the opportunity to self-assess their current level of knowledge or skills about the topic to be covered in the upcoming session. The librarian could then tailor the session content to this level of knowledge. POMP responses were shared as part of the session content, enabling researchers to benchmark themselves against their peers. Completion rate of ROMPs was 20.9%, with the level of reflection in the individual researchers’ responses varying from shallow to insightful. Deeper responses stated how the researchers would use what they learned or pose new questions which emerged from their learning.
Conclusion – Polling One Minute Papers (POMPs) and Reflective One Minute Papers (ROMPs) are an effective and efficient approach for guiding the learning of researchers and closing the feedback loop for librarians. These tools extend the opportunity for librarians to engage with researchers and, through tailoring of session content, assist to maximise the benefit of library research support sessions for both librarians and researchers. Sharing of POMP and ROMP responses can assist librarians to coordinate the teaching of the researchers that they support. At an institutional level, evidence in POMPs and ROMPs can be used to demonstrate the value that the library has contributed to improving awareness and performance of its researchers
Assessing the Library’s Influence on Freshman and Senior Level Outcomes with User Surveys
No full textAbstract
Objectives – This study seeks to identify areas where relationships exist between a student’s library usage and student outcomes at Bellarmine University, a private master’s level institution. The study has two primary aims. The first is to see if an operationally oriented user survey can be used to provide evidence of the library’s support for institutionally important student outcomes. The second is to develop a regression model that provides a big picture with multiple variables to determine if library factors are still significant in student outcomes when controlling for significant demographic factors.
Methods – The library regularly conducts student user surveys, and this study examines the results of the first three surveys, from 2007, 2008 and 2010. These surveys include individually identifiable data on why students come to the library and how often they use it in person and online. Researchers aggregated student responses into class-based cohorts and used regression analysis to analyze the extent and significance of the relationships, if any, that exist between student use of the library and student outcomes such as retention, graduation and cumulative GPA. The study takes into consideration known significant student demographic factors such as American Collect Testing (ACT) composite score, full- or part-time status, and their session GPA.
Results – The study identifies specific library services and resources that have significant correlations with the selected student learning measures and outcomes. For freshman students, the ability to access the library online influences both retention and graduation. In looking at freshman learning outcomes represented by GPA, the results again indicate that the library has a positive influence on a student’s GPA. The library’s influence appears through two factors that highlight the library as a place: providing a place to study alone and as a place that has specialized equipment available to students. The library influences seniors’ cumulative GPA differently than for freshmen, primarily through the library’s role as an information resource. The variable check out books had a positive impact on senior’s GPA.
Conclusions – This study indicates that the library does have an influence on student outcomes, whether learning outcomes, represented by cumulative GPA, or more typical student success outcomes, represented by second-year retention and graduation. This is true even when controlling for certain demographics, including the student’s ACT score, whether the student is part-time or full-time, and their session GPA. The factors that influence an individual student’s outcome change depending on the point in time in the undergraduate experience. These statistical analyses provide significant evidence for the value the library provides in support of institutionally important student outcome goals
Graduate Students Reference Open Access Content in Literature Review Assignments
No full textA Review of:
Allen, E. J., & Weber, R. A. (2014). The library and the web: Graduate students’ selection of open access journals for empirical literature searches. Journal of Web Librarianship, 8(3), 243-262. http://dx.doi.org/10.1080/19322909.2014.927745
Abstract
Objective – This study seeks to understand to what degree education graduate students cite open access, peer-reviewed journals in their coursework and whether patterns of open access referencing change over time.
Design – Longitudinal reference list analysis.
Setting – Public university in the United States of America.
Subjects – Reference lists collected from final literature review papers in a graduate-level education class (n = 382).
Methods – The authors collected reference lists from final literature review papers in a graduate-level education class for a nine-year time frame from the 2005 to 2013 academic years. The authors analyzed 2,594 reference entries from the 382 reference lists in the sample.
The authors organized reference entries into spreadsheets for analysis, creating one spreadsheet per class section and sorting references by type (e.g., book, journal article, website, etc.) and source. The authors also created a cumulative list of journal titles that they analyzed for open access status and how often the journals appeared in the sample. Other information collected about each journal included "ISSNs, national origin, journal sponsorship, frequency and years of student usage, presence of empirical research, [and] peer review status" (p. 249). Finally, the authors organized open access journals into the following four categories based on their access method:
• Category A "OA Platform and Publisher"
• Category B "Publisher Only"
• Category C "Delay or Hybrid from Host or Publisher"
• Category D "Subscription Based, but Self Archived" (p. 249)
Main Results – A total of 594 unique journals appeared in reference lists over the study period, and 11.5% (n=68) of the total were open access journals. Of the open access journals, 96% (n=65) included original research articles, and the majority (n=51) fell into Category A "OA Platform and Publisher." Nine, six, and two journal titles fell into categories B, C, and D, respectively. The authors found no pattern or change in the use of open access titles during the nine-year study period. Open access journals appeared in reference lists an average of 14 times per year with the highest usage observed in 2009.
Conclusion – The results show that graduate students in the sample used a range of open access journals. The presence of open access resources in reference lists signals that students may use both library subscription databases and open web search tools to complete their literature review assignments. The authors suggest potential reasons why open access use did not grow during the study period, including a possible mismatch between student research interests and the topics present in open access titles, the lack of discussion about open access publishing during library instruction, or student satisfaction with the resources provided through library-sponsored subscriptions. Librarians are encouraged to include high-quality open access resources within their catalogues or other electronic resources to increase open access discoverability and to include popular open web search tools as a means to retrieve open access materials during information literacy instruction