Abstract
This paper explores the methodology used to assess the value of a Big Deal package while inter-institutional negotiations were ongoing. Analysis was performed primarily with quantitative factors, including usage, cost, cost per use, and faculty citations. After identifying the highest and lowest performers in these categories, librarians were able to eliminate them easily from further deliberation. Then weighted scoring was applied to moderate performing titles. Weighting identified additional titles that could be sorted, leaving a smaller pool for title by title deliberation performed by a team of librarians, and a final pool of ‘must have’ titles to be collated and presented to administrative stakeholders.
References
Blecic, D. D., Wiberley, S. E., Jr, Fiscella, J. B., Bahnmaier-Blaszczak, S., & Lowery, R. (2013). Deal or no deal? evaluating big deals and their journals. College & Research Libraries, 74(2), 178-193. https://doi.org/10.5860/crl-300
Chamberlain, S. (2022). Lessons learned from reevaluating big deals with unsub. Serials Review, 48(3-4), 234-237. https://doi.org/10.1080/00987913.2022.2132090
Dawson, D. (2015). A triangulation method to dismantling a disciplinary "big deal". Issues in Science and Technology Librarianship, (80). https://doi.org/10.5062/F4610X9H
Dikboom, M. (2016). Tackling big deals: The experience of maastricht university. Interlending & Document Supply, 44(3), 93-96. https://doi.org/10.1108/ILDS-02-2016-0008
Fisher, E. (2021, March 21). Elsevier Negotiations – March Update, UH Libraries News. https://web.archive.org/web/20240222111258/https://libraries.uh.edu/blog/2021/03/25/elsevier-negotiations-march-update/
Gagnon, S. (2019). Journal publishers' big deals: Are they worth it? Against the Grain, 29(2), 22. https://doi.org/10.7771/2380-176X.7747
Hoeppner, A. (July 12, 2018). Big deals and why I like them [Presentation Slides]. Showcase of Text, Archives, Research and Scholarship, https://stars.library.ucf.edu/ucfscholar/860
Ivanov, A. O., Johnson, C. A., & Cassady, S. (2020). Unbundling practice: The unbundling of big deal journal packages as an information practice. Journal of Documentation, 76(5), 1051-1067. https://doi.org/10.1108/JD-09-2019-0187
Johnson, C. A., & Cassady, S. (2018). How librarians make decisions: The interplay of subjective and quantitative factors in the cancellation of big deals. Collection and Curation, 39(1), 6-14. https://doi.org/10.1108/CC-05-2018-0013
Lemley, T., & Li, J. (2015). "Big deal" journal subscription packages: Are they worth the cost? Journal of Electronic Resources in Medical Libraries, 12(1), 1-10. https://doi.org/10.1080/15424065.2015.1001959
Nabe, J., & Fowler, D. C. (2015). Leaving the "big deal" ... five years later. The Serials Librarian, 69(1), 20-28. https://doi.org/10.1080/0361526X.2015.1048037
Rathmel, A., Currie, L., & Enoch, T. (2015). "Big deals" and squeaky wheels: Taking stock of your stats. The Serials Librarian, 68(1-4), 26-37. https://doi.org/10.1080/0361526X.2015.1013754
Shu, F., Mongeon, P., Haustein, S., Siler, K., Alperin, J. P., & Larivière, V. (2018). Is it such a big deal? on the cost of journal use in the digital era. College & Research Libraries, 79(6), 785-798. https://doi.org/10.5860/crl.79.6.785
SPARC. (2023). Big deal cancellation tracking. https://sparcopen.org/our-work/big-deal-cancellation-tracking/
This work is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution 4.0 International License.
Copyright (c) 2024 International Journal of Librarianship