Collection Development in the Era of Big Deals

(Article)

Canada
Journals
Libraries
Authors
Affiliations

Philippe Mongeon

Dalhousie University

Kyle Siler

Université de Montréal

Antoine Archambault

Université du Québec à Trois-Rivières

Cassidy Sugimoto

Indiana University Bloomington

Vincent Larivière

Université de Montréal

Published

March 2021

Doi

Citation

Mongeon, P., Siler, K., Archambault, A., Sugimoto, C., & Larivière, V. (2021). Collection Development in the Era of Big Deals. College & Research Libraries, 82(2), 219. https://doi.org/10.5860/crl.82.2.219

Abstract

Drawing on an original methodology using citations, downloads, and survey data, this paper analyzes journal usage patterns across 28 Canadian universities. Results show that usage levels vary across disciplines and that different academic platforms varied in their importance to different institutions, with for-profit platforms generally exhibiting lower usage. These results suggest economic inefficiencies exist in “big deal” academic journal subscriptions for universities, as most journals in such bundles are seldom or never used. We recommend that universities coordinate resource sharing and negotiate strategies with academic journal expenditures based on shared interests and usage trends.

Key figures

Distribution of Journals from the Five Major For-Profit Platforms, by Number of Universities Considering Them to Be Core Journals