157 SPEC Kit 352: Collection Assessment
WESTERN UNIVERSITY LIBRARIES
Serials Review Checklist
4
select e-books belonging to series, reference work or textbook collections, although print will be
available.
As a result, the DDA budget will remain in a more sustainable position with the additional of titles
from only 3 Springer collections
The decision not to purchase the full collection for 2016 will result in a savings of ~$150,000 in our central
serials budget. The cost to purchase the ‘Engineering’ and ‘Computer Science’ collections is
$52,833.45. Our net savings for serials will be ~$100,000. Going forward, individual title purchases will be
paid from monograph funds (either DDA or subject funds). The deadline for feedback is still March 4.
Special thanks to Shawn and Debbie from Taylor for finding additional savings and revising this
recommendation in short order.
Thanks,
Samuel (on behalf of CFRRSC)
February 24, 2016 (to IRSC)
Dear IRSC Colleagues,
This message contains important information about the cancellation of the Springer E-book package. The
deadline for responses is March 4, 2016.
CFRRSC has completed the analysis of the Springer E-book package and is making a recommendation to
cancel this product and buy back selected individual subject collections, based on the following evidence:
Springer usage statistics are flawed and inflated, as Springer only provides full text section
requests (BR2 data) and counts all title sections for each title downloaded (e.g. if a title is
downloaded once, and the title has 20 chapters, Springer counts this as 20 uses)
Springer usage statistics show that purchasing the ‘BioMedical and Life Sciences,’ ‘Engineering’
and ‘Medicine’ subject collections would result in a savings of 75k versus purchasing those used
titles via DDA
The projected cost of acquiring all other titles via DDA (87k) plus the 3 subject collections (76k)
would not be significantly higher than the total cost of the Springer E-book package (162k vs 161k,
respectively)
Considering the inflated usage statistics, the projected worst case scenario of relying on DDA
would only result in a similar cost to the total package cost, carrying the potential upside of
additional savings (due to the flawed/inflated Springer stats)
DDA can be disabled at any point in time
Ryerson took a calculated risk in 2014 and cancelled the Springer E-book package, saving 2/3 of
the package cost
The takeaway from this analysis is that, because acquiring e-books via DDA provides cost containment
flexibility, and other Universities are finding significant savings by opting out of the Springer deal, Western
would be waging very little risk to potentially realize great savings by making this cancellation. Users should
not be significantly impacted, as access to 2016 titles will still be available via aggregate DDA platforms (e.g.
EBL). Previously purchased Springer titles will still be available via the Springer platform and Scholars
Portal.
Attached are various cost scenarios in addition to pricing files provided by OCUL. Note that all pricing is
confidential to Western.
Please forward any questions or concerns to cfrrsc@uwo.ca, and indicate if you support this
recommendation to irsc@uwo.ca by March 4, 2016.
Thanks,
Samuel (on behalf of CFRRSC)
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