IMPACT OF JOURNAL CANCELLATIONS ON INTERLIBRARY LOAN DEMAND Rachel Fleming, Serials Librarian, Western Carolina University Kristin Calvert, Electronic Resources Librarian, Western Carolina University North Carolina Serials Conference, March 15, 2013

Agenda State of Literature on the Impact of Journal Cancellation on Interlibrary Loan Demand WCU Budget Reduction and Serials Cancellation Factors influencing Interlibrary Loan Demand Interlibrary Loan Demand for Cancelled Titles – One Year Out Implications and Discussion

Literature Review Early Studies:  1980 University of North Dakota Study  As early as 1980, 100% of faculty in most departments were willing to rely on ILL for marginally important titles.  1995 University of Florida Study  Cut 1,377 “marginal” titles, determined by collection managers  Over next five quarters, 38 requests for 24 cancelled journals  5 of these titles had more than one request, total requests for cancelled titles represented 0.2% of total loan requests.  Caveats: no undergraduate ILL  Study concludes that the low level of requests validates the review criteria

Literature Review Early Studies (cont’d)  1996 Southern Illinois University – Carbondale Study  Cancelled 1241 titles in Spring 1990 based on: importance, price, inflation rate  Reviewed ILL January – June 1994  124 requests from 58 of the cancelled journals  30 titles with only one request  1999 Texas A&M Study  3095 titles cancelled  Reviewed titles with ≥ 5 requests May 1995 – June 1997  506 requests from 44 cancelled titles (1.4% of cancelled titles)  Based on subscription prices, ILL remained cost effective

Literature Review Recent Research

Literature Review Research Themes  Low number of requests validates our cancellations  Low number of requests indicates low “real” need for titles  Availability of titles through ILL  Cooperative cancellations (keeping a subscription in the state)  Cancellations result in collections that are more core (duplicated across institutions), with fewer unique subscriptions That was then…

WCU Background Budget Reduction of approximately $350,000 at WCU Cancellation of 799 subscriptions Reviewed subscriptions based on criteria:  Available through aggregator databases  Multiple formats  High cost-per-use  Low Use  Connection to Curricula  Database review (overlap)

Profile of Cancelled Subscriptions Electronic Journals Print Journals Total Available in databases to the current issue 22 3%287 36%309 39% Available in databases with an embargo period 27 3%64 8%91 11% Not otherwise available22 3%112 14%134 17% Standing Orders163 20% Microforms92 12% Databases10 1%

Factors Influencing ILL Demand Duplicate formats Cancelled titles with online availability Cancelled titles with low use Cancelled titles which had marginal connection to WCU curricula Additional Full-Text availability through NC Live Subscriptions

Concerns about ILL Demand Timeliness: High turnaround times for article requests cited as a concern during cancellation discussions Capacity: Small ILL department Limited student worker budget “Real” Demand How will ILL demand compare with current demand

Observed Demand Article requests increased 11% in 2012 Root cause uncertain  General fluctuations in demand  Serials cancellations  Implementation of EBSCO Discovery Service

Our Data ILLiad Web Reports >Borrowing reports >Journals received  Threshold set to 0 requests  For calendar years 2010, 2011, and Spreadsheet of collection review cancellations  Journal title  Format  Database/online availability Compared lists to match journal titles by hand

Our Data, cont. ILL total article borrowing in 2012  1,816 journal titles  2,089 total requests  Avg requests per journal ILL for Cancelled Journal Titles in 2012  626 journal cancellations  50 article requests from 29 journals (4.6% of cancellations)  22 journals retained some online access  Avg requests per journal

Demand for Cancelled Journals

Article Requests per Journal Community College Journal of Research and Practice (Taylor & Francis) Community College Journal of Research and Practice (Taylor & Francis)

Community College Journal of Research and Practice Taylor & Francis title cancelled because of online availability Journal subsequently removed from aggregator by the publisher Aggregator drops monitored, but not automatically picked back up  Resubscribed to this title at subject selector’s request Excluding this title: average requests per journal down from 1.74 to 1.5

Initial Conclusions Caution: long publisher grace period for e-journals after cancellation—some active until April. High demand for current articles most likely due to embargoed online access. Prevalence of single requests per journal suggests low “real” demand for individual journals. These requests do not account for the entire 11% increase in article borrowing in Some other factors in play. Can we be sure demand actually due to cancellation?

Historical Comparisons Reviewed requests for cancelled journals in the 2 year period prior to cancellation. Noted whether the number of requests had changed relative to previous years.

Further Comparisons High demand journals  Overall 9 most requested titles during  5 with fewer requests in 2012  4 with more requests in 2012  Conclusion: no predictive ILL trend (up or down), title-dependent Current Subscriptions  9 print & 9 online journals  Zero requests in 2012  Conclusion: ILL demand for subscribed titles neglible

Implications & Discussion Negligible impact on our ILL borrowing. Do we care about lending? What is the impact of lending rules for e-journals? Do we need last copy rules to preserve unique holdings? Is WCU’s experience similar to yours? Additional data from other institutions may be valuable.

Bibliography Chadwell, F. A. (2012). What's Next for Collection Management and Managers?: Assessing the Value of Collection Services. Collection Management, 37(2), doi: / Chrzastowski, T., & Schmidt, K. (1997) LAPT research award: The serials cancellation crisis: National trends in academic library serial collections. Library Acquisitions: Practice And Theory, doi: /S (97) Crump, M. J., & Freund, L. (1995). Serials cancellations and interlibrary loan: The link and what it reveals. Serials Review, 21(2), 29. doi: / (95) Thomas L., K., & Barbara G., P. (1996). Serial cuts and interlibrary loan: filling the gaps. Interlending & Document Supply, 24(1), 12. Warner, E. S. (1981). The Impact of Interlibrary Access to Periodicals on Subscription Continuation/ Cancellation Decision Making. Journal Of The American Society For Information Science, 32(2), Wilson, M., & Alexander, W. (1999). Automated Interlibrary Loan/Document Delivery Data Applications for Serials Collection Development. Serials Review, 25(4) doi: /S (99)00043-X