Building an Electronic Resource Collection: A Practical Guide

Citation

Barker, P. (2005), "Building an Electronic Resource Collection: A Practical Guide", The Electronic Library, Vol. 23 No. 1, pp. 142-143. https://doi.org/10.1108/02640470510582817

The role of electronic resources in libraries is becoming increasingly important. A range of different types of digital artefact is now available for use in the creation of collections of electronic resource materials – for example, digital archives and indexes, electronic books, e‐journals, image collections, news‐feed services, numerical data sets, and so on. This book considers some of the different sorts of artefact that are currently available and how they can be used to build an electronic resource collection. Essentially, this publication is an updated version of an earlier book that was first published some two years ago in 2002. The new imprint contains five basic chapters, a short glossary and a select bibliography. According to the authors, the main aim of the book “is to present collection managers, new to the field of electronic resources, with an overview of the problems and products they will encounter”.

The opening chapter in the book looks at some of the “preliminary issues” involved in creating an electronic collection. It serves both to define the term “electronic resource” and make a comparison of traditional and electronic collections; it then outlines a fairly general collection development policy. In the second chapter, the authors identify “what is on offer” to collectors by reviewing the “electronic resources landscape”. This involves identifying and discussing the types of product that are available (in electronic form) for purchase or subscription. Six main types of product are considered: abstracting and indexing services, numerical collections and textbases, e‐journals, e‐books, multimedia products and news services. The various technical issues associated with using these different products are also described and discussed.

Particular examples of electronic resources (e‐books and e‐journals) are discussed in greater depth in chapter 3. Here, the authors define the nature and characteristics of each of these two types of product; they also explain how each one is used. Some of the other important issues that are discussed in this part of the book include standards and delivery mechanisms. This chapter also contains a useful discussion of “linkage services” – that is, the ability for users to link directly from bibliographic citations to the full‐text of the associated articles.

Chapter 4 is the largest chapter. It discusses the many issues involved in assessing and acquiring electronic resources. Within this chapter the authors add considerably more detail to the general collection policy/strategy that was previously introduced in chapter 1. A very useful assessment facility is presented in this chapter: the “evaluation checklist”. This tool could be used for assessing the relative merits, utility and suitability of a particular electronic resource for use in a given situation. The important issue of licensing electronic products is also discussed in some detail in this chapter. Within the “umbrella” of licensing the authors also discuss the various advantages and disadvantages of different pricing structures.

Once a digital resource has been evaluated and purchased, the next main task that has to be considered is how the product will be delivered to its users. This is the remit of chapter 5. Within this final chapter of the book the authors consider cataloguing, archiving and advertising newly acquired electronic resources. Monitoring of digital resources is also considered; this is necessary so that decisions can be made relating to service continuation or cancellation. Most organisations will undoubtedly use their electronic collections in order to support research, teaching and learning activities. Bearing this in mind, this chapter also contains a useful section on the incorporation of electronic resources into virtual learning environments/learning management systems.

Overall, I thought this book was very useful in that it provides a fairly comprehensive and concise description and discussion of the important issues associated with the creation and maintenance of an electronic resource collection. Undoubtedly, for those who are interested in this important area, or wish to become involved in it, this book offers an excellent introduction to what is involved.