Simplifying serials sourcing : A case study in decision support for managing electronic journals access

Purpose – To describe work by the Library and Information Statistics Unit (LISU) based at Loughborough University to support decision making by managers in academic information and library services in the UK in the realm of providing access to scholarly information through serials. Design/methodology/approach – A model was built against which to assess a series of propositions, or “deals”, from different publishers for electronic journals collections through the National Electronic Site Licence Initiative (NESLI). NESLI represented a fusion of the quantitative analysis of empirical data with the subjective assessment of a range of serials management factors and drew on the expertise and experience of LISU's team. Findings – The results informed negotiations between NESLI and publishers and revealed useful insights into the cooperative acquisition of electronic journals. Particularly noteworthy is the inherent difficulty in purchasing electronic journals cooperatively, as the larger institutions involved usually were able to make the most of the various deals offered by publishers. Originality/Value – Illustrates that assessing the value of separate deals is a complex matter involving not only fees, but institutional subject interests, existing serials holdings, user preferences, and available technology.