Primary Research Group Publishes New Study on Serials Management: Prevailing & Best Practices in Electronic & Print Serials Management. Price: $80

"The report examines management of both electronic and print serials and includes discussions of the following issues: selection and management of serials agents, including the negotiation of payment; allocation of the serials budget by department; resolution of access issues with publishers; use of consortiums in journal licensing; invoice reconciliation and payment; periodicals binding, claims, check-in, and management; serials department staff size and range of responsibilities; serials management software; use of open access archives and university depositories; policies on gift subscriptions, free trials, and academic exchanges of publications; use of electronic serials/catalog linking technology; acquisition of usage statistics; cooperative arrangements with other local libraries; and other issues in serials management."

The study looked at eleven libraries: The University of Ohio, Villanova University, the Colorado School of Mines, Carleton College, Northwestern University, Baylor University, Princeton University, the University of Pennsylvania, The University of San Francisco, Embry-Riddle Aeronautical University, and the University of Nebraska Medical Center.

Here are some of the findings:

Subscription Agents:
There was little agreement between libraries on the number of agents, contracts, price, and performance. In general larger libraries seemed less satisfied with their agents while smaller libraries seemed more satisfied. Because contracts are not as standardized as originally thought, negotiating skills are important for achieving the best prices in results.

Spending Trends:
The increase in journal prices, the decline in print, increase in electronic access, and increasingly tight budgets place libraries in a unique environment requiring "a great deal of explanation and diplomacy." Communication is the key. Those librarians who have effectively communicated nature of the situation to their users and their institutions are also the librarians who seem to be dealing best with the situation.
The change from print to electronic will continue and one of the main issues is for librarians and users willingness to go without the print. The willingness tends to vary by field and institution type.

Serials Budget:
"Strict formulas for allocating the library budget across departments seem to have been abandoned by most study participants. Historic tradition is probably the biggest determinant of future levels of support for specific academic fields, and most skirmishing appears to take place over funding levels for new or emerging disciplines. Librarians appear to have fewer problems when they have more control over budget allocations than when they have less control, and those that have given up such control tend to want to regain it. "

Electronic Serials Management Software:
Most libraries in the study have purchased or are planning to purchase a electronic serials manager. Compatibility issues are a major concern.

Staffing and Departmental Organization:
Libraries are trying to deal with the rapid emergence of electronic journals. Librarians time is quickly consumed as they work with purchasing, isntalling, tracking, policing, text linking, and access instruction (particularly within database collections). Some libraries have seperated the electronic side of things from the print side of things while other libraries feel that is an artificial separation leading to the duplication of services.
(krafty librarian note: I have worked at a library that once separated the electronic journals and print journal duties among two librarians. The reason that this happened was that it was an evolution from the early days of electronic journals. In the beginning there were only a few electronic journals and it was decided that the web geek (me) would work with them since I did everything web related. Eventually as more and more serials went electronic, I grew to become an accidental serials librarian.)

Gift Subscriptions and Academic Exchanges:
These are now playing less and less of a role and are viewed as "not worth the trouble."

Subscription Agents Handling Electronic Journal Subscriptions:
There is no consensus on whether to use subscription agents to manage electronic journals. Many libraries seem to prefer saving money and manage their own electronic subscriptions, although the general view is that the agents are getting better at managing them.
(krafty librarian note: In our case, we managed our subscriptions because we had been doing it since the very beginning (when subscription agents weren't doing it at all) and we found that we with careful notes and excel file we had a better handle on what we had electronically and the licensing terms, restrictions, policies, cost, and usage, better than the subscription agents. I remember when one agent told us all of the Clinics of North America were available online to institutions when they were in fact only available online to personal subscribers. (They are available now to institutions.) This mistake caused us lots of time and could have cost us lots of money.)