Managing Digital Resources in Libraries

Citation

Myhill, M. (2005), "Managing Digital Resources in Libraries", Program: electronic library and information systems, Vol. 39 No. 4, pp. 386-387. https://doi.org/10.1108/00330330510628033

This collection of 14 essays and papers seeks to explore some of the management issues and practical solutions employed when dealing with digital resources in libraries. The scope is international although there is a strong leaning towards developments in North America. Of course, detailed experiences of user licence requirements and legal issues such as copyright and interpretation of “fair dealing” vary significantly around the world. Logically, the collection begins with a description of legal issues from an American perspective. The description of the third circuit and seventh circuit of the US legal system may appear too detailed for non‐American readers, but the context of explaining the legal consequences of the rulings is well worth the intellectual trudge because the message is clear – the e‐resource market is generally commercially‐driven; costs and rights issues are subject to what the market will bear rather than being provided on a cost‐recovery basis. There is a suggestion that information professionals should seek (on good legal grounds) to buy rather than rent electronic information from publishers. Another point about libraries not returning entire journal print runs if a print subscription lapses is especially well made in direct comparison with the normal e‐journal consequences of cancellation.

One paper describes a mythical institution and its struggle against the Houyhnhnmists to maintain a core subscription for NEIGH in the light of increasingly‐restrictive publisher‐induced licence “modifications”. Even from a UK perspective the real culprits are obvious and the link to Gulliver's travels is also a helpful analogy. Another paper explores the significance of the Open Archives Initiative (OAI) which is usefully considered alongside Suber's remarks (on page 48):

The Internet has given scholars and librarians an unprecedented opportunity to save money and advance their interests at the same time. We should simply seize it. What are we waiting for?

The rest of the volume meanders through many day‐to‐day aspects such as the acquisition and cataloguing issues relating to e‐resources, full‐text content finding and even storage difficulties concerning chip‐sized e‐books on library shelves. The collection achieves this through individual descriptions of a number of institutional responses to these matters; despite the current publication date (2005) many refer to situations in 2003 and more recent developments have already taken the management of e‐resources into another generation. Discussion now might include systems such as the comprehensive Electronic Resource Management module developed by Innovative Interfaces Inc. and similar products in development by other integrated library system vendors; the sections concerning TDNet and Serials Solutions are now slightly dated by more recent software releases.

Whatever the case, this is a useful book which considers many of the aspects which challenge information specialists in the age of electronic information provision and it is worth a read if only to gain an international perspective. It may also encourage those responsible for resource acquisition to read individual licence requirements more carefully – even those that are nationally negotiated.