The UM Library has recently released a report for evaluating and developing its subscribed e-resources by using a cost-benefit analysis. The report examined systematically the usage situation of these e-resources from UM’s academic members and students, as well as how these resources support and contribute to the various subject areas of research at UM. The report was prepared under the guidance of Prof. Bing Shui, Associate Director of Research Services and Knowledge Transfer Office, instructed by Prof. Chunming Wang, Institute of Chinese Medical Sciences and Prof. Yisu Zhou, Faculty of Education, and written by Ms. Priscilla Pun and Ms. Cindy Kwok of the UM Library.
According to the report, the Library’s academic resources had played an active role in supporting and promoting the University teaching and research. The UM Library currently subscribes to a significant portion, i.e. 86.5%, of core journals included in Web of Science collection, which allows to fulfill the teaching and research needs of the academic members and students to a comparatively high degree. The report also analyzed the bibliographical references from the UM research papers published in the past 3 years and found out that 90% of those cited references was included in the e-resources collection of the UM Library. The report pointed out that the usage rates of the Library subscribed e-resources were relatively low although the Library subscribed to a large number of e-journals and databases. During the preparation period of the report, the Library had cancelled the subscriptions of the e-resources with extremely low usage. The Library will keep communicating with academic members to review and adjust the Library’s subscription list of e-resources. Meanwhile, the report suggested that the University have a relevant strategic plan for Library academic resources to cope with the uncertainties, such as the annual price increase of subscription fees for commercial journals and databases, in order to support its ongoing development of teaching and research.
|