Annual Subscrption Resources Review

Each year the University Library conducts a review of the entire suite of our subscription resources – full text databases, e-book collections, research portals and individual journal subscriptions both print and electronic – to determine the ongoing suitability of the existing resource and what resources we should be adding to the collections in order to better support our teaching and research activities. As a result of last year’s review a significant number of new resources were added to the collections.

The Library is inviting all staff and students to contribute to the exercise by suggesting resources they want to see available in their local library or in the shared electronic collections. We have created a webpage to enable you to recommend subscriptions and to comment on recommendations made by others. There is a link to this page on the right hand side of the Library homepage or you can find the webpage here. Your contributions can take three forms:

1. Comments about the value of existing resources. As a rule we don't cancel resources unless they are superseded but it is useful to know what you like or don't like about the existing resources.

2. Suggestions for new resources. If you are going to suggest a new resource you need to provide the name of resource, why you think it is useful and who it would be useful to. The Library can investigate the product with the vendor and will arrange trials as needed. Details of trials will be posted to our blog and to the person who requested the resource. Pricing will be obtained by the Library

3. Comments about existing suggestions and trials. As noted above you can track the suggestions being made and comment upon them on the webpage of the review The website is an open forum but comments will be moderated as necessary.

The review will run until 31st May 2011. All suggestions received by the end of the review will be considered by the Library's E-Resource Management Working Group who will make a recommendation to the Library Management Committee about which resources we will be seeking to add in 2013. Final decisions depend on the availability of funds to support the subscriptions we wish to make available.

The Library will communicate with you via this blog as new resources become available. You can subscribe to the blog for email updates about Library services.