Electronic information and document delivery: final report on the pilot trial of the Uncover database
| Published date | 01 February 1996 |
| Pages | 43-48 |
| Date | 01 February 1996 |
| DOI | https://doi.org/10.1108/eb040606 |
| Author | Penny Dade |
| Subject Matter | Information & knowledge management |
Electronic information
and document
delivery: final report
on the pilot trial of the
Uncover database
by Penny Dade, Academic Librarian/
Document Supply Librarian, University
of Hertfordshire
The University of Hertfordshire's decision to
move, "from a holdings strategy to an access
strategy"
(Review of Library and Media
Services 21-22, May 1992), for its research
and academic
staff,
led to a one year trial of
the Uncover service. Preliminary feedback
and results were provided in Vine 98, March
1995,
pp.40-42, so the final report on the trial
is a timely addition to this issue.
Usage
The one year trial of the Uncover database for
electronic document delivery to research and
academic staff at the University of Hertfordshire
ran from
1
August 1994 to 31 July 1995.
The initial take up of document delivery was slow,
due mainly to poor initial publicity; launching at the
wrong time of the academic year; staff members'
apparent reluctance to order documents electroni-
cally (perhaps they could not believe that they were
free because they appeared expensive on the
screen); and the project's duration of only one year.
Usage did pick up during the second half of the
year, but when the trial was completed it was not
rated a success.
During the year, 46 individuals from all of the
University's Schools of Study used the electronic
document delivery service, though many more
accessed the Uncover database for information
only. Unfortunately, it is impossible to ascertain
how many people logged on to Uncover just to
search for citations as against those requesting
documents. Staff of the Business School requested
the most articles (68), followed closely by those of
the School of Art and Design (65) and the School
of Health and Human Sciences (59). The lowest
use was from the School of Natural Sciences (7)
followed by the School of Engineering (12). (Figure
1)
A total of 273 articles were ordered during the
year, of which 40 were subsequently cancelled,
leaving 233 articles supplied to 46 users. The
majority (66%) of articles were ordered from
VINE 103
— 43
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