Usage evaluation of electronic resources in academic and research libraries in Ghana
| Published date | 02 July 2018 |
| Pages | 316-331 |
| DOI | https://doi.org/10.1108/GKMC-11-2017-0097 |
| Date | 02 July 2018 |
| Author | Evelyn O. Apronti Tetteh |
| Subject Matter | Library & information science,Information behaviour & retrieval,Information in society,Information literacy,Library & information services |
Usage evaluation of electronic
resources in academic and
research libraries in Ghana
Evelyn O. Apronti Tetteh
Library, Methodist University College, Ghana
Abstract
Purpose –This paper aims to investigate the usage of electronic resources within the Consortium of
Academic and Research Libraries in Ghana (CARLIGH) in order to support subscription and budget
decisions.This has become necessary because of the difficulty faced by institutions in payingsubscription fee
as a result ofthe continuous increase in subscription fee,financial constraints and high exchange rates.
Design/methodology/approach –The study is a quantitative research of electronic resource use
covering six years. Full-textdownload statistics of ten most used electronic resources accessedby an average
of 33 institutionswere sampled from 27 databases and analysed to investigatelevel of usage. Six out of the ten
electronic resources were analysed to evaluate cost per use over four years. Samplingwas purposive. Data
analysis and presentationwere conducted using a descriptive method of analysisof simple frequency count,
mean and percentages,while Microsoft Excel was used to organise data into tables and graphs.
Findings –Findingsrevealed an improved usage of CARLIGH-facilitatedelectronic resources. However, the
rate of improvement declined by the year. Also,October and November recorded high usage, while January
and May-Augustrecorded low patronage. Finally, using a meanas a benchmark, it was ascertained that costs
per use/articlewas less than $0.98.
Research limitations/implications –Because of limited dataevaluated, the research results may lack
generalisation;hence, there is a need for further research.
Originality/value –This study will be useful in supporting librarians’decisions on continuous
subscription,budget justification and promotion.
Keywords Databases, Electronic journals, Usage statistics, Cost per use,
Electronic resource management, Full-text downloads
Paper type Research paper
Introduction
Information and communication technology (ICT) has impacted how information is
organised, preserved, accessed and disseminated. One of the products of this revolution is
electronic information resources (e-resources). According to Tripathi and Jeevan (2013)
quoting Lee and Boyle (2004), e-resources“is any cohesive publication in digital form that is
being marketed”,or“any electronic product that delivers a collection of data, be it text,
numerical, graphical or time based, as a commercially available resource”which includes
“full text databases, electronic journals, image collections, multimedia products, collections
of numerical data”. Indeed, e-resource is a broad term that describes information resources
such as journals/serials, books and indexes among others that are packaged and accessed
electronically. For the sake of this research, e-resource refers to online journals. It has also
been used inter changeablywith the term database.
Since its emergence, electronic resources have become more and more relevant to the
library and information industry (Cooper, 2017). Tripathi and Jeevan (2013) reported that
96.1 per cent of journals published in science, technology and medicine and 86.5 per cent of
GKMC
67,4/5
316
Received16 November 2017
Revised21 January 2018
3 March2018
Accepted10 March 2018
GlobalKnowledge, Memory and
Communication
Vol.67 No. 4/5, 2018
pp. 316-331
© Emerald Publishing Limited
2514-9342
DOI 10.1108/GKMC-11-2017-0097
The current issue and full text archive of this journal is available on Emerald Insight at:
www.emeraldinsight.com/2514-9342.htm
journals published in the arts, humanities and social sciences can be accessed online.
Unfortunately, the cost of e-resource subscription keeps increasing consistently; Carrico
(2011) attested that 70-90 per cent of academic libraries’budget is devoted to e-resources.
Coupled with poor economic conditions in most countries and high foreign exchange rates,
most libraries are faced with budget cuts (Tripathi and Jeevan,2013). This is confirmed by
Asamoah-Hassan (2014)that libraries in developing countries have difficulty subscribing to
e-resources because of financial constraints. In view of this, it has become necessary to
investigate the extent to which the Consortium of Academic and Research Libraries in
Ghana (CARLIGH)-facilitated e-resources are being used and to ascertain cost per use/
article. The outcome of this study will be useful in supporting librarians’decisions on
continuous subscription,budget justification and promotion.
CARLIGH has been in existence since August 2004, starting with 7 members which
increased to 39 in 2015 and currentlyto 48. Membership includes public universities, private
universities and research institutions (ICOLC, 2018). The Consortium has been working
towards its objectives, chief of which is to facilitate resource sharing among member
institutions (Asamoah-Hassan, 2014). In view of this, the Consortium with support from
international institutionssuch as the International Network for the Availability of Scientific
Publications (INASP), Electronic Information for Libraries (eIFL) and International
Federation of Library Associations and Institutions (IFLA) successfully negotiated for
electronic journals (Asamoah-Hassan, 2014). Initially, the resources were funded by INASP
until later that the Consortium started paying for some of the resources. Currently, the
Consortium collaborates with INASP and eIFL to provide about 16,549 online journals,
which are constituted into 29 databases (INASP, 2015). At a conference held to
commemorate the tenth anniversary of the Consortium, some research papers were
presented on the achievements of the Consortium. However,none of these papers evaluated
the usage of the e-resources subscribed by the Consortium. This is a gap which this study
intends to fill.
This study is limited to the 10 most used databases out of an averageof 29 databases per
year over the period of 6 years –2010-2015. Also,the cost per use/article is ascertained using
6 out of 11 paid-for databases and covering the past four years of use; that is, 2012, 2013,
2014 and 2015. This period is selected because of the possibility of higher use after
overcoming challenges and limitations predisposed to earlier period of use. The statistics is
limited to only full-textdownloads; a metric which best reflects users’interest in an article as
viewing a page does not necessarily mean using it. To emphasise on the relevance of this
study, many studies on the management and cost of e-resources, usage evaluation of
e-resources and usage statisticshave been reviewed.
Access and management of electronic resources
Managing the provision and use of electronic information resources has become necessary
because of the high investments made toward its provision, as well as its contribution to
education and global knowledge. According to Hosburgh (2014), librarians can manage e-
resources by using the Techniques for Electronic Resource Management, a guide designed
to manage the selection, subscription, renewal and cancellation processes. The guide
recommends that for a successful selection, librarians should among other things consider
the demand for and the purpose of the journals requested,determine the compatibility of the
resource’s platform to the existingintegrated library system of the library and evaluate the
content of the package. Again, librarians should critically examine the contract terms and
ensure that the licensing agreement is favourableto them before they subscribe. Marketing
and training have been recommended for the promotion of e-resources. Furthermore,
Electronic
resources
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