Articles on Demand: Library Perspectives ReadCube Access at the University of Utah Mark England Collection Development Librarian

ReadCube / ReadCube Access ReadCube is a content delivery platform launched in 2011 – A reference manager and enhanced PDF reader with built in discovery tools and single click article download – A web reader integrated into publisher websites ReadCube Access is a patron-driven article acquisition system assembled within the ReadCube platform – Available for 100+ journals available on nature.com

University of Utah and the Marriott Library Marriott Library serves a major research institution – 31,000 students, 2,000 faculty – 72 undergraduate majors and 90 fields of graduate study Journal budget around $2.6 million

We Need to Explore Options 80% Didn't Use ILL 20% Used ILL Do researchers use interlibrary loan to get articles ? Traditional collection management through journal subscriptions is unsustainable Access to journals is decreasing while demand is increasing Nearly 60% of users report they don’t use library when coping with a publishers paywall Only 20.6% of users request an interlibrary loan when faced with paywall

How Do People Cope with Pay Wall Barriers 2012 ReadCube survey: the single most common response was to use some form of file sharing to find the article 2011 Access to Scholarly Content survey: obtain article from a colleague 17.5% of the time, look for a version on the web 19% of the time 2010 study by Ken Masters: a single medical networking site was responsible for $1.4 million in illicit file sharing during a single year

ReadCube Removes Access Barriers Purchasing articles through ReadCube Access was intended to be easier than file sharing No intermediary Instantaneous delivery Library pays, so “free” to end-user Designed by researchers to fit into the researcher workflow

First Year Pilot Only 29 journals offered Promotion was limited to approximately 1,320 faculty, post-doctoral fellows, and graduate students Excluded medicine Trial was originally set to run for a semester but ran for a year ReadCube client required, user ID and password authentication No printing allowed

Second Year Experience Expanded to 37 journals Campus wide access from November 2013 to present date New pricing with printing available in both purchase tiers Third, unrestricted PDF purchase option added Relies on IP authentication with remote access through proxy Allows users to access content directly from the publisher’s website and client not required Cloud technology introduced to automatically synchronize content across devices and permit perpetual access ReadCube queries link resolver and doesn’t charge for content available from another source, e.g. EbscoHost database

ReadCube Access panel replaces PPV options on publisher website

Informed Management Purchase histories Tools to monitor users, journals, and options Statistics to analyze costs and use

You can select the journals and the purchase options you wish to offer

First Year Results Of 1,320 possible users, 102 registered to use ReadCube Access Title Subscription Cost ReadCube Uses ReadCube Costs ILL Uses ILL Costs (estimate) Nature Climate Change $4,98512$963$21 Nature Communications $3,52525$19527$900

Second Year Results Title Subscription Cost ReadCube Uses ReadCube Costs ILL Costs Pay-Per- View Nature Climate Change $5,23726$273$854$800 Nature Communications $5,921359$3,303$13,841$11, users made 812 purchases and spent $9,900 No one would pay $11,000 for a $6,000 journal but slide shows the comparable costs for same level of use.

Second Year Results TitleRentals Cloud Purchase Pdf PurchaseTotal Cost Nature Communications $3, Nature Reviews Gastro. & Hepatology0439$ Nature Reviews Neurology0135$ Nature Reviews Clinical Oncology0125$ Nature Reviews Endocrinology2022$ Nature Protocols7421$ Nature Reviews Rheumatology1214$ Nature Reviews Cardiology0014$ Nature Reviews Urology1511$ Nature Climate Change2195$272.84

What Library Learned Article PDA is sustainable for some journals ReadCube Access is highly cost effective ReadCube Access used much more than interlibrary loan Library achieved significant cost savings while meeting the needs of many users Program abuse does not exist We want more publishers and a greater range of content

User Feedback Users thrilled with the immediacy of ReadCube Access People don’t like digital rights management and will select unrestricted version if the option is available Accepted by most people as an alternative to subscription - emphasize affordability rather than convenience or cost-effectiveness Unmediated, patron-driven solution saves time and money Users want better discovery tools (additional databases)

Further Research Title Open Access Downloads (2013) Pay Wall Denials (2013) ReadCube Purchases Nature Communications6321, Nature Climate Change Reading first page and deciding against purchase? Resisting DRM? Need training on process?

Calculating the Best Option True level of use is hard to determine ILL is very expensive if usage is high enough for copyright fees Best value from PDA

Long Term Vision for ReadCube A cross-publisher PDA platform for journal articles Fully automated system reducing costs and complexity Articles License purchase License purchase

Summary ReadCube and ReadCube Access was developed in collaboration with libraries and publishers to improve access to scholarly literature for scientists Initial trials of ReadCube Access show it to be affordable, efficient and effective Demand-driven article acquisition can play an important role in the access to scholarly literature Demand-driven article acquisition can reverse the trend of library disintermediation and help limit the devaluation of libraries

Contact Details Mark England Collection Development Librarian Marriot Library University of Utah

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