Criteria for Selecting Electronic Resources
CSB/SJU Libraries
September 2005
1. The intellectual content of the electronic resource must fit within established parameters of CSB/SJU Libraries' collection development policies, the judgment of the relevant subject bibliographers, and the CSB/SJU curriculum.
2. The Libraries will provide access to the resources that are most central to supporting the academic mission of the institution, including access to the key resources in each discipline for which a major or minor is offered, as well as interdisciplinary resources.
3. Whenever possible, access to the electronic resource must meet these goals:
a. Support remote users of library and information resources
b. Be available 24 hours a day, 7 days a week
c. Utilize a unified and intuitive interface
d. Be available for an unlimited number of simultaneous users.
e. Be operating system and browser independent
f. Support OpenURL and other common library protocols.
4. The cost of the resource must be sustainable by the electronic resources budget for the foreseeable future.
5. The technology and staff to deliver and support the resource is available at CSB/SJU Libraries.
6. The Libraries will participate in a consortial purchase for a resource when the agreement provides a price advantage over an individual subscription.
7. The Libraries will purchase available backfiles of an electronic resource if affordable and deemed justifiable for the collection.
8. Ideally the vendor (or some other reliable source) provides for archival access to the data.
9. Priority is to be assigned to not-for-profit and society publishers, recognizing our partnership with them in the system of academic and scholarly communication.
10. The Libraries will maintain the stability and consistency of electronic titles offered to the CSB/SJU community whenever possible.
11. The Libraries prefer Web delivery over CD-ROM unless the cost differential between the formats is significant enough to be a factor.
12. The Libraries will not support more than one version of a resource (such as electronic and print) unless there are overriding and compelling reasons for maintaining multiple formats.
13. The vendor should be stable and reliable, and offer technical support.
14. A change of vendors will be considered when a new vendor can deliver a superior search interface, enable greater and more reliable remote access, offer the same product at a significantly lower cost, or provide other key benefits over the current vendor.
15. In the renewal process, consideration will be given to
a. Usage reports
i. Usage will be compared to similar products
ii. If no similar products exist, a general "price per use" will provide basic data
on the value of the resource
b. Centrality of the resource to an academic discipline or the community in general
c. Uniqueness of the resource
d. Alternative scenarios and the effect upon the quality of library service if discontinued.