The cost per use as an evaluation criterion for the renewal of electronic journals: the case of the Library System of the University of Puerto Rico, Río Piedras Campus

Abstract

The Library System of the University of Puerto Rico, Río Piedras Campus is the academic and administrative body responsible for managing the budget for the acquisition of information resources for the 20 libraries and collections that comprise it. In 2019, the Library System‘s budget received a 49% cut in the funds destined for the acquisition of databases and serials. Given this difficult scenario, it was necessary to study new alternatives for the evaluation and selection of bibliographic resources to be renewed without affecting the amount and quality of the information provided to our users. As part of these alternatives, new parameters were adapted to a previously used methodology that combined the use and cost of individual subscription electronic titles from six different academic publishers to identify those titles with low use and high cost. These titles would then go through an evaluation process by the chief librarians of the impacted libraries and collections to complete the decision making process regarding their renewal or cancellation. A total of 243 of a sample of 718 electronic single titles subscriptions were canceled generating approximate savings of $574,000.00 destined to reduce the impact of these budget cuts.