Is There a Role for Agents in the Age of E-Journals and Consortia? Cary Bruce EBSCO 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 Evaluate Monitor Trial use Assess need/budget License terms Administer E-resource life cycle Libraries Order Pay Price Evaluate Provide Access Acquire

5 Provide Support Evaluate Monitor IP Addresses Register Proxy Servers Administer Catalog Portals/Access lists Campus authentication URL maintenance Provide Access Acquire E-resource life cycle Libraries

6 Claiming User IDs Admin module information Provide Support Evaluate Monitor Preferences (store) Holdings lists Access restrictions View rights for use Administer Provide Access Acquire E-resource life cycle Libraries

7 Provide Support Evaluate Monitor Problem log Hardware needs Software needs Contact info Troubleshoot/ triage Administer Provide Access Acquire E-resource life cycle Libraries

8 Provide Support Evaluate Monitor Problem log Usage stats Downtime analysis Review problems User feedback Administer Provide Access Acquire E-resource life cycle Libraries

9 Claiming User IDs Admin module information Preferences (store) Holdings lists Access restrictions View rights for use Provide Support Evaluate Monitor Problem log Hardware needs Software needs Contact info Troubleshoot/ triage Usage stats Downtime analysis Review problems User feedback Administer Trial use Assess need/budget License terms Order Pay Price Evaluate IP Addresses Register Proxy Servers Catalog Portals/Access lists Campus authentication URL maintenance Provide Access Acquire E-resource life cycle Libraries

10 Claiming User IDs Admin module information Preferences (store) Holdings lists Access restrictions View rights for use Provide Support Evaluate Monitor Problem log Hardware needs Software needs Contact info Troubleshoot/ triage Usage stats Downtime analysis Review problems User feedback Administer New processes introduced Trial use Assess need/budget License terms Order Pay Price Evaluate IP Addresses Register Proxy Servers Catalog Portals/Acces s lists Campus authentication URL maintenance Acquire Provide Access E-resource life cycle Libraries

11 Provide Support Evaluate Monitor Title lists Administer Provide Access E-resource life cycle Publishers Usage stats Fulfillment reports Offer trial Marketing/ Sales License terms Order handling Invoices Pricing Acquire Hosting site IP Addresses Campus authentication Metasearch/ Z39.50 Durable URL Support Registration Subscription upgrades Claiming User IDs IP Changes Title Lists for packages Enforce License terms Title Changes Subscription problems Subscription problems Hardware problems Software problems Customer Service 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 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 New E-Agent Services 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-Journal Gateway E-Journal Gateway Link resolver Link resolver OPAC A-to-Z List A-to-Z List Publisher site Publisher site Publisher site Publisher site Publisher site Publisher site Publisher site Publisher site A&I database A&I database A&I database A&I database A&I database A&I database Full text database Full text database Full text database Full text database Full text database Full text database 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 Administrator Without Agent Processing of e-journals without an Agent

18 EBSCOhost EJS EBSCOhost EJS LinkSource OPAC EBSCO A-to-Z Publisher site Publisher site Publisher site Publisher site Publisher site Publisher site A&I database A&I database A&I database A&I database EBSCOhost A&I Full text database Full text database Full text database Full text database EBSCOhost Full text Order processing Administrator 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 ) SmartLinks Publisher site Publisher site How an Agent helps the librarian improve processing of e-journals

19 New E-Agent Services 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 New E-Agent Services 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 New E-Agent Services 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-Journal Gateway E-Journal Gateway Link resolver Link resolver OPAC A-to-Z List A-to-Z List Publisher site Publisher site Publisher site Publisher site Publisher site Publisher site Publisher site Publisher site A&I database A&I database A&I database A&I database A&I database A&I database Full text database Full text database Full text database Full text database Full text database Full text database Library e-Services User Document 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 Claiming User IDs Admin module information Preferences (store) Holdings lists Access restrictions View rights for use Provide Support Evaluate Monitor Problem log Hardware needs Software needs Contact info Troubleshoot/ triage Usage stats Downtime analysis Review problems User feedback Administer Trial use Assess need/budget License terms Order Pay Price Evaluate IP Addresses Register Proxy Support Catalog Portals Access lists Portals Access lists Authentication URL maintenance Acquire Provide Access E-resource life cycle Libraries ess op essop psejs az ejs az us ejs az ess cspsejs cs ls ejs ls

27 Provide Support Evaluate Monitor Title lists Administer Provide Access E-resource life cycle Publishers Usage stats Fulfillment reports Offer trial Marketing/ Sales License terms Order handling Invoices Pricing Acquire Hosting site IP Addresses Campus authentication Metasearch/ Z39.50 Durable URL Support Registration Subscription upgrades Claiming User IDs IP Changes Title Lists for packages Enforce License terms Title Changes Subscription problems Subscription problems Hardware problems Software problems Customer Service Technical Support ess op ps cs mpejs ps ejs az ejs az ps cs az cs op cs us cs us cs us cs mp ejs az ess

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 Services Agents +

31 CUSTOMERFOCUSED CONTENTDRIVEN for more information contact