Collections and Cataloging

OA Usage comprised 4% the total usage.  This is an increase of 1.2%.

To stretch our budget and make every dollar count, our policy is to base e-resources collection decisions upon usage data.  We ascribe to the concept of "use it or lose it."

Since our general collection development model follows a "just in time" protocol - licensing databases based on student and faculty research needs/requests - subscribing to costly electronic resources just in case they prove useful in the future is no longer a viable model.  Furthermore, we prefer to license resources for perpetual access wherever possible so that we only pay once, rather than spend an ever-increasing amount each year.  Subscription resources must provide a suitable return on investment (ROI) with a cost per use of at least $50, though we prefer that the cost per use remains under $20.

With low performing resources, we consider whether it fills a gap in our holdings for a specific subject area or discipline.  But, ultimately,  even these unique resources may be considered for cancellation if they remain low performing for several years post-pandemic.

In the past year, these databases have the lowest usage in our e-resources portfolio:

If these are resources that you value, let your usage patterns show it!