We also do this to a considerable and increasing extent, and
it is not really satisfactory solution. For a working scientist,
a delay of 5 days between needing an article and getting it is absurdly long;
essentially limiting the service to those who
need an article very badly but not very fast. Even so, the UK is noted for
accomplishing this service very rapidly, as compared to the rest of the world
has managed.
If we succeed by electronic means in getting articles via document delivery
as quickly as those which we own in the conventional sense, what will happen?
First. the demand will increase--no one knows by how much, guesses range from
1.1 to 100 (at my institution, I think it might be 10).
Second, the publishers will surely charge royalties such that they do not earn
less money. I have heard proposed rates for a document-based system of $25 to
$35 per article.
If your library were to obtain 400,000 items at $30 each, the cost would be
$12 million.
Are you still sure this will fit within your budget constraints?
Bernard Naylor wrote:
>
> I suppose one thing that's wrong with the picture is that
> it makes no allowance for the supply of documents by
> inter-library loan/document supply - which currently
> usually means the supply of a photocopy of an article,
> typically within about five working days in the UK, and
> will be effected increasingly by electronic means in
> future, thereby significantly shortening supply times.
> This University Library supplied between 30,000 and 40,000
> documents last year by this method, notwithstanding
> financial constraints. Shouldn't this feature in your
> picture?
>
> ----------------------
> Bernard Naylor Email: bn_at_soton.ac.uk
> University Librarian Tel: 023 8059 2677
> University of Southampton Fax: 023 8059 5451
> Highfield
> Southampton, SO17 1BJ
--
David Goodman
Biology Librarian, and
Co-Chair, Electronic Journals Task Force
Princeton University Library
dgoodman_at_princeton.edu http://www.princeton.edu/~biolib/
phone: 609-258-3235 fax: 609-258-2627
Received on Mon Jan 24 2000 - 19:17:43 GMT