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Collection practices for nontraditional online resources among academic health sciences libraries
Mary Shultz1, Donna R Berryman2
1Director and Associate Professor, Savitt Medical Library, School of Medicine, University of Nevada, Reno, NV, mshultz@med.unr.edu, http://orcid.org/0000-0002-9236-4375.
Journal of the Medical Library Association : JMLA
|April 8, 2020
Summary
Academic health sciences libraries are increasingly licensing nontraditional online resources due to student demand. However, barriers like per-user licensing and lack of IP authentication hinder broader adoption of these valuable digital learning tools.
Area of Science:
- Health Sciences Librarianship
- Information Science
- Digital Collections
Background:
- Nontraditional online resources, developed by individuals and small organizations, are marketed directly to students.
- These resources are distinct from those offered by large, established publishers.
Purpose of the Study:
- To determine if academic health sciences libraries license nontraditional online resources.
- To survey current collection practices regarding these resources.
Main Methods:
- An online survey was distributed to relevant professional email lists.
- Follow-up phone interviews were conducted with volunteers.
Main Results:
- 36.2% of surveyed libraries currently license at least one nontraditional online resource.
- 77.6% of libraries receive requests for these resources.
- Key barriers include lack of IP authentication, per-user licensing fees, and unaffordable institutional pricing.
Conclusions:
- Developing evaluation criteria for nontraditional resources is crucial.
- Student demand is high, but financial and access models impede institutional licensing.
- Further examination of resource utility and library needs is warranted.