This paper aims to provide an update to Tom Sanville’s 2007 overview of OhioLINK, a renowned US academic library consortium, and describe the current state of activity and…
Abstract
Purpose
This paper aims to provide an update to Tom Sanville’s 2007 overview of OhioLINK, a renowned US academic library consortium, and describe the current state of activity and services.
Design/methodology/approach
The approach used is descriptive.
Findings
OhioLINK’s main collaborative services include document delivery, resource sharing and the establishment of digital libraries, including electronic journals, electronic books and open-access materials such as electronic theses and dissertations. This update to Tom Sanville’s 2007 overview of OhioLINK issues and developments describes the current state of collaborative library services and resource sharing a decade later, including the challenges of hosted institutional repositories and the implications of shifting from shared print to e-book collections at the network level.
Originality/value
OhioLINK trends provide a snapshot of changing activity and sustainability in library resource sharing at network scale across many different types of academic libraries.
Details
Keywords
If you've been keeping up with what's going on in the world of electronic networking, you're probably aware that both the library and the publishing communities are becoming more…
The current practices of journal acquisition are grounded in the legacy of a print‐bound world in which each library is an island of access for its own patrons. But with…
Abstract
The current practices of journal acquisition are grounded in the legacy of a print‐bound world in which each library is an island of access for its own patrons. But with electronic desktop delivery of information, the increased ease of access allows far greater information use than previously possible. The extent of this additional use is still an open question, but based on the OhioLINK experience thus far, it appears that improved ease of access has demonstrated the high elasticity in information usage. Libraries and consortia must seek to enable this desirable outcome by adopting purchase models that provide for expanded journal access. The first 18 months of operation of the OhioLINK Electronic Journal Center (EJC) is an exemplary illustration of the dramatic benefits of expanded access. Patrons have executed over 535,000 article downloads. On average each Ohio university uses three times more titles than they previously held in print, and over 50 per cent of downloaded articles were not available in print on each campus. Small and two‐year colleges are also beneficiaries through first‐time access to scholarly journals. As the evolution to broad scale electronic access continues, libraries and consortia must take advantage of the opportunities illustrated by the EJC that fashion a sustainable economic model of information purchase that maximizes information use.
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OhioLINK, a consortium of Ohio academic libraries in both the public and the private sector ranging from major research institutions to community colleges, is one of the nation's…
Abstract
OhioLINK, a consortium of Ohio academic libraries in both the public and the private sector ranging from major research institutions to community colleges, is one of the nation's first major attempts to create a virtual, statewide library system. More than just linking the holdings of participating libraries within the context of a 48‐hour delivery system for books and journal articles, OhioLINK provides the platform as well for the statewide delivery of commercial and other databases, Gopher Internet access, and experimentation with the development and testing of new information tools. OhioLINK also represents an intriguing and creative approach to state funding and automated system design. In terms of bold imagination and cooperative power, OhioLINK follows in the footsteps of that other major Ohio institution, OCLC.
The aim of the paper is to describe the development of OhioLINK – a world famous US consortium – and the issues that it currently faces as well as its responses.
Abstract
Purpose
The aim of the paper is to describe the development of OhioLINK – a world famous US consortium – and the issues that it currently faces as well as its responses.
Design/methodology/approach
The paper employs a descriptive approach.
Findings
The paper suggests that information use simply breeds more information use, and OhioLINK contributes to its users' educational activities through access to and use of the documents and information resources which it supplies. It provides a set of priorities and initiatives for consideration
Originality/value
The paper provides valuable insights into the workings of a leading resource sharing consortium of libraries.
Details
Keywords
WordPerfect has a very powerful macro capability. Macros are special files that you can create that will allow you to use either a few keystrokes, or even a single one to…
Abstract
WordPerfect has a very powerful macro capability. Macros are special files that you can create that will allow you to use either a few keystrokes, or even a single one to automatically perform a number of keystrokes. Macros are valuable because they provide the ability to perform repetitive tasks with the least amount of effort and to customize WordPerfect to your individual needs. Macros can be used in a variety of ways. They can automatically type often used words, phrases or even paragraphs that you might need to insert in documents frequently. More importantly they can be used to automate a series of commands that you do on a day‐to‐day basis.
David Nicholas, Paul Huntington, Hamid R. Jamali and Carol Tenopir
This article presents the early findings of an exploratory deep log analysis of journal usage on OhioLINK, conducted as part of the MaxData project funded by the US Institute of…
Abstract
Purpose
This article presents the early findings of an exploratory deep log analysis of journal usage on OhioLINK, conducted as part of the MaxData project funded by the US Institute of Museum and Library Services. OhioLINK, the original “big deal”, provides a single digital platform of nearly 6,000 full‐text journal for more than 600,000 people in the state of Ohio. The purpose of the paper is not only to present findings from the deep log analysis of journal usage on OhioLINK, but, arguably more importantly, to try test a new method of analysing online information user behaviour – deep log analysis.
Design/methodology/approach
The raw server logs were obtained for the period June 2004 to December 2004. For this exploratory study one month (October) of the on‐campus usage logs and seven months of the off‐campus transaction logs were analysed.
Findings
During this period approximately 1,215,000 items were viewed on campus in October 2004 and 1,894,000 items viewed off campus between June and December 2004. The paper presents a number of usage analyses including: number of journals used, titles of journals used, use over time, a returnee analysis and a special analysis of subject, date and method of access.
Practical implications
The research findings help libraries evaluate the efficiency of big deal and one‐stop shopping for scholarly journals and also investigate their users' information seeking behaviours.
Originality/value
The research is a part of efforts to test the applications of a new methodology, deep log analysis, for use and user studies. It also represents the most substantial independent analysis of, possibly, the most important and significant of the journal big deals ever conducted.
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HARDWARE: AN ONGOING COST. Libraries are accustomed to using forty year old typewriters. They are used to keeping furniture so long that it turns antique before they can get rid…
Abstract
HARDWARE: AN ONGOING COST. Libraries are accustomed to using forty year old typewriters. They are used to keeping furniture so long that it turns antique before they can get rid of it. Library vehicles are legion for having been run into the ground. Why replace a vehicle when you can replace the engine instead? ‘Amortization,’ if it is used at all, means what happens to a thirty‐year mortgage thirty years later, except libraries use this same schedule for every piece of equipment in the building. The goal for the building, of course, is to get it on the National Register for Historic Places. A look through the Register will show you how remarkably successful we have been in achieving this goal.
The purpose of this paper is to provide an overview of resource‐sharing trends in the USA and internationally.
Abstract
Purpose
The purpose of this paper is to provide an overview of resource‐sharing trends in the USA and internationally.
Design/methodology/approach
The article uses personal experience and views supported with background literature.
Findings
The article highlights recent developments in resource‐sharing standards, updated resource‐sharing statistics, describes new initiatives, and explores the implications of recent corporate mergers and product withdrawals.
Originality/value
The article provides a high level, and personal view of selected trends in North American resource sharing.