WORKSHOPS
The Library Link/MCB University Press workshop series is an innovative medium for dialogue between a publisher and its market. It combines face-to-face with virtual meetings, giving librarians the opportunity to inform the product and service development of MCB University Press.
IFLA 2000
Monday 14th August 2000
Topics for discussion are:
- Non-traditional forms of communication: is their future clear and bright?
- Publishers: who needs them? The future of publishing
- Marketing on Campus - how to ensure the best usage of electronic products
- Alternative Purchasing Options for E-publishing Models
DURING ALA MIDWINTER 2000
Friday 14th January 2000
The workshop resulted in a number of suggestions for publishers:
That:
- They be prepared to adopt the guidelines for archiving being developed by the RLG
- They facilitate access to full text from secondary indexes
- Secondary services which are also holders of full text, further develop full text coverage and depth
- Secondary index publishers add even more value by linking to other quality resources, as well as full text.
- They provide strategic and conceptual, as well as physical input, to the marketing effort on campus
- They provide examples of best practice use of their resources, which libraries can customise, e.g. tutorials
- They market to users direct, in collaboration with the library, as well as to librarians and library funders
- Marketing messages to end-users are tailored to the particular segment, and are benefits oriented, i.e. the benefits for students are not the same as for faculty (or for funders or librarians)
- Publishers continue to aggregate their journals into databases; and develop the functionality of those databases. Databases facilitate serendipity even more that journals do, as they cut across journals and disciplines.
In response MCB has:
- Commenced the development of its management abstracting service, ANBAR, for reciprocal linking to and from full text databases, including EMERALD Intelligence + Fulltext.
- Launched ManagementFirst.com, a portal which links the abstracting service - ANBAR - with other high quality online resources, and pay per view full text.
- Developed Quick Start Guides - a ‘how to use Emerald’ guide for end-users.
- Developed logos and information that can be downloaded for use in OPACs for electronic linking purposes.
- Developed a downloadable presentation for use in training faculty.
- Launched an e-mailing list for librarians and information professionals on all changes to the database covering technical and content issues.
DURING IFLA ‘99
Monday 23rd August 1999
The workshop resulted in a number of suggestions for publishers:
- that they partner with libraries to “train the trainer”, who will teach library users how to retrieve the very best electronic information
- that a consortium of publishers take responsibility for the permanent archive of electronic information resources
- that they tailor their offerings to specific situations, e.g. to support the requirements of developing countries
- that they provide libraries with a copy of a resource subscribed to, for archiving, if they choose to cancel.
In response MCB has:
- provided author workshops for more of the universities which are its consortia customers
- provided posters for libraries with step-by-step instructions on use of its resources
- tailors its consortia arrangements to the needs of each particular group of purchasing libraries. To this end, it is piloting a cross sectoral arrangement which provides access to its resources for public libraries in Scotland, where an academic library acts as “hub”
- allows for the provision of a copy of the data and software which makes it usable, for libraries which are consortia customers, if they choose to cancel any titles
DURING ALA MIDWINTER ‘99
Friday 29th January 1999
This workshop held in Philadelphia resulted in a number of suggestions as follows.
How publishers can help librarians do their jobs in the electronic age By helping librarians to market the information service per se in their organisations; and specific information resources to service users. Publishers should consider providing:
- clear and simple purchasing options
- clear and simple licences
- use of standardised platforms for ease of access now, and migration in the future
- posters/crib sheets for users of products and services
- promotion direct to potential users, via presentations at professional meetings
- helping librarians to prove the worth of information resources, and therefore their service in providing them, e.g. how researchers have put a resource to good use in their work for an organisation
Publishers should also take responsibility for providing a perpetual archive of their output. The complexity of electronic publishing output, changing technology, and therefore the expense which would be involved if each library took responsibility for a perpetual archive of its collections, mitigate against them undertaking this role in the electronic age. Ditto national libraries, or their equivalent. Until there is agreement on how this should be done, publishers should provide temporary solutions by archiving their:
- Content/data
- Search engine software
and providing access direct and/or via an acceptable 3rd party, e.g. an aggregator, or JSTOR. Publishers should also take steps to ensure that these archives are inviolable.
When a library cancels a subscription to an electronic resource, it would like a choice as to the medium of the copy it receives for access in perpetuity – would like the option of CD-ROM or download from the Publisher’s server, so they can organise works by subject.
How publishers can add value to information resources
Multimedia access
Catering for different learning styles among information resource users
A searchable subject gateway across publishers
Putting information into context, e.g. via recipes on how to get an introduction to a subject/further information on a subject; pathfinders.
Providing training for those who will be training the users of information resources
Customisation options
Online subject gateways should be managed by librarians, and should:
- Have a good front end
- Be as simple as possible
- Be divided into subsets for different levels of sophistication, both in terms of content and functionality, so as to cater for the needs of different types of user, e.g. researcher, lecturer, student, professional/practitioner. The first level should be a list of services.
Functionality should be a mix of:
- Author links
- Links to Web sites and publishers’ databases
- Links to OPACs
- Links from OPACs to resources themselves, or a means of accessing all resources All with the minimum of bureaucracy of access. They should also incorporate a user profile alert service.
Publishers can help librarians provide these services by:
- Linking electronic to paper
- Reference linking
- Making resources available to libraries through aggregators
In response MCB has:
- Taken responsibility for the provision of a perpetual archive of its publishing output
- Become sponsor of the UK LA Publicity & Public Relations Group annual Awards
- Harnessed the advantages of e-publishing to give libraries choices for Y2K in how to purchase the information resources of their choice (journal-level sub; database sub; consortia purchasing)
- Forged partnerships with major library consortia, based on its ICOLC-compliant licence
- Made presentations at professional meetings in all disciplines
- Launched reference linking
- Made resources available to libraries through more aggregators
DURING IFLA ‘98
Monday 17th August 1998
The workshop during IFLA ‘98 provided a number of suggestions on how publishers can help librarians:
- By providing librarians with the tools needed to teach and motivate patrons in the effective use of electronic products and services
- By providing usage statistics for electronic products
- By making their offerings accessible to segments of the market not catered for with one-size-fits-all packages.
- By working with librarians and other publishers to find a solution to the problem of perpetual archives.
- By development of the journal model in the new electronic environment.
- By making electronic ILL permissible for subscribers to single e-journals as well as members of consortia.
- By being flexible, and having a clear and concise licence and pricing policy for electronic products.
In response MCB:
- conducted consortia workshops for: librarians on how to get the best out of their MCB holdings; and academics on how to overcome the barriers to publication
- set up a system for providing usage statistics, and is working towards conformance to the November 1998 ICOLC guidelines in this regard
- piloted the personal online subscription. It is hoped that this will be successful and will be able to be rolled out to the whole portfolio, to meet the need of segments of our market which are not networked organisations
- arranged for the archiving of its own electronic publishing output, in perpetuity
- developed an electronic peer review system as an alternative to the traditional double blind method
- enhanced its database by the development of an online research register facility, currently available in selected subject areas
- launched the facility to hyperlink from article citations to the full text of those articles, subscription permitting
- established a clear, concise, and liberal network licence