Introduction to E-Resource Management

E-metrics for Library and Information Professionals: How to Use Data for Managing and Evaluating Electronic Resource Collections
By Andrew C. White and Eric Djiva Kamal

List Price: $75.00
250 pages
Neal-Schuman Publishers Facet Publishing (2005)
1-55570-514-6

Book Description: Is your library getting every dollar’s-worth out of that thousand-dollar database? Should you re-subscribe to that pricey e-journal? Are your indexes serving your users? Collection development and acquisitions librarians are facing new tough questions. Unfortunately—until now—these were tough and, for many, unanswerable questions. White and Kamal show how to utilize e-metrics to measure library performance and value in the digital age. Learn how to effectively use the electronic data captured from various network activities to manage library collections, budgets, and services. Using e-metric, the authors identify expensive and underused digital resources, visualize virtual patron behavior patterns, and construct new collection development strategies. Real-world examples demonstrate how to develop a locally-established library e-metric system and apply it with vendor usage statistics to critical collection management and financial decisions. Practical tips and detailed analysis illustrate the important application of e-metrics to help you better serve your users and run an effective library.

Reviewed in Ariadne, Issue 46, Feb. 8, 2006, by Elizabeth McHugh, Electronic Resources Manager, UHI Millennium Institute who wrote:

The book suggests that to reach a real understanding of how digital and virtual library collections are used and who is using them, generating data on a local level as well as employing vendor-generated data which conforms, or otherwise, to emerging standards, is important for libraries. ... The book is useful for people new to the field of e-resource management. It is not a complete step-by-step "how-to-do-it" manual, which may be a slight concern for the novice. However, it encourages e-resource managers to think why locally produced data is relevant for their libraries (rather than just relying on vendor data), what data could be extracted, and also provides scenarios on how this could be achieved from a technology and personnel standpoint. While this may seem 'old hat' for experienced e-resource managers, this book could nonetheless serve as a useful aide-mémoire.