JISC Collections

The processes and mechanisms of scholarly communication are changing rapidly. To ensure that our service continues to meet the needs of our members in this changing landscape, we run a large programme of projects and research.

• Exploring and developing effective and sustainable business models for e-resources

E-books for FE – Phase 3 (New November 2011)

BIS has awarded funding to licence new e-books for users studying vocational subjects such as hospitality, construction, engineering, land-based, creative and media, numeracy, law, plumbing and sport and leisure. The e-books will be made available under a patron driven acquisition model where only the titles that are highly used by the community will be acquired.

OAPEN-UK (in action)

OAPEN-UK is a collaborative research project gathering evidence to help stakeholders make informed decisions on the future of open access scholarly monograph publishing in the humanities and social sciences (HSS). Funded by JISC and the AHRC, OAPEN-UK will partner with publishers, research councils, authors, researchers and institutions in a practical, real time pilot that will gather a range of qualitative and quantitative data. The data will be evaluated to help stakeholders better understand the challenges and developments required to support open access scholarly monographs.

PublishOER (new November 2011)

This project will develop new ways of augmenting the open educational resources (OER) ‘pool’ with high quality published content by investigating new business models for embedding published works in OER. It is a partnership of organisations including Elsevier, JISC Collections, Rightscom (with links to all publishers) and education providers particularly the Royal Veterinary College.

Open Access fees Project (complete)

JISC Collections has undertaken a number of practical projects related to the emergence of gold open access as an alternative business model for scholarly journals. This work has been focused on the challenges associated with managing open access fees and the perceived transparency issues based on concerns expressed by librarians that they are potentially paying twice, via subscription and OA article processing charges. A  final report summarises the findings from the project.

E-textbook business models for HE (complete)

In 2009, JISC Collections commenced a new study to explore in more detail the e-textbook landscape in the UK and to work collaboratively with publishers and libraries to identify and pilot four potential e-textbook business models. The results and reports of this study are available to all. In addition to the reports, there are a number of case studies available from the university libraries that participated in the e-textbook trials which make excellent reading.

E-books for FE – Phase 2 (ongoing)

In the second phase of the e-books for FE project a new model is being explored. This model, called patron driven acquisition, is based on demand driving the purchase of e-books. Following a tender process and community consultation, 60 new e-books were made available to all FE colleges. The usage of these titles is monitored and publishers are paid on an agreed per page view basis. The maximum amount payable to a publisher is capped and once that cap is reached, the book is purchased. This ensures that only e-books that are actually being used are bought at a national level.

E-textbook business models for FE (complete)

The E-books for FE project provides colleges with over 3,000 free e-textbooks, but given the diversity of courses delivered in FE, it is necessary to explore how colleges can supplement this collection. Research was undertaken to look at the steps and business models that could help colleges towards wider acquisition and use of e-textbook. Read the migrating to e in FE report.

Examining the economics of bloc payments for e-journals (complete)

Better pricing and increased access to content can be achieved by institutions operating as a single bloc at a national or UK-wide level. However, bloc purchasing presents many challenges, for example, how should the total costs be shared between participating institutions? This project has researched the metrics and models for the redistribution of costs. Read the bloc payment methods for online journal agreements: models for the redistribution of costs report.

• Working collaboratively to widen and extend licensing and access management

Embedding access management for adult community learning and work based learning (new November 2011)

This project will work collaboratively with publishers, colleges and providers of Adult Community Learning (ACL) and Work Based Learning (WBL) to explore how best to implement and embed access management to support the secure use of e-resources.

Licensing e-books for adult community education and work based learning (new November 2011)

This project will take a case study approach and work with publisher to extend the licensing of a selection of vocational e-books to include students in Work Based Learning (WBL) and Adult Community Learning (ACL) or at University Technical Colleges (UTCs). The project will explore the challenges and provide a licensing template for use in the future.

Extending Access Management to Business and Community Engagement (complete)

This project created a toolkit of materials to help institutions engaged in business and community engagement provide access to e-resources for these groups of users.

• Examining the needs of libraries, students and researchers to inform resource development and licensing

E-textbooks on mobile devices (New November 2011)

This small pilot will licence course text e-books and enable them to be downloaded directly by students on specific courses from the VLE onto their mobile and e-book reading devices. The pilot is working with the University of Lincoln library and will explore the challenges of this model and the success of it from the student perspective.

JISC national e-books observatory project (complete)

The JISC national e-books observatory project undertook a wealth of research, analysing log data to learn about how users discover and navigate through e-books, exploring the attitudes of academics and students and assessing the impact of making course text e-books available via university libraries to thousands of students on print sales.

E-books for FE – Phase 1 (ongoing)

The e-books for FE project made available over 3,000 e-textbooks to UK FE colleges. The project continues to support the embedding of e-books in FE by providing tools, monitoring usage and negotiating discounts for new e-books available for subscription.

Service Provider Interface Study (complete)

This 2009 study looked at usability issues known as 'the discovery problem' within the UK HE / FE access management context. A lack of common approach to presenting user log-in areas has led to many different variations and a confusing experience for users. The results of the study have informed current JISC Collections, JISC and REFEDS activities and we are working with publishers and service providers to improve the usability of their interfaces.

Evaluating E-journal Archiving Solutions (complete)

This study explored the different initiatives and approaches that were emerging in 2008 to facilitate e-journal archiving. The final report of the study provides an overview of the archiving solutions available and the ‘pros and cons’ of each. The overview has been developed into a quick reference booklet for librarians - a practical guide to the solutions offered by 3 of the main long-term preservation schemes and an overview of the distinguishing features of each solution.

• Developing innovative tools and technology to support efficient collection management and procurement

KnowledgeBase Plus (in action)

Over the next year HEFCE will be investing in the creation of a shared UK academic knowledge base service as part of the Universities Modernisation Fund. JISC Collections has been appointed by HEFCE and JISC to take forward this project drawing on its own knowledge and experience and the work initiated by SCONUL to identify the resource management requirements of UK academic institutions. KB+ will provide a knowledge base of accurate and up to date resource management information, enhance interoperability of systems, minimise duplication and help institutions improve services and achieve a higher return on investment.

Entitlement Registry Project (in action)

This project is addressing the administrative challenge libraries face in keeping track of archival rights associated with the ‘Big Deals’. The project will scope the requirements, costs and workflows for building an authoritative record of entitlement to archival rights for UK institutions who participate in the NESLI2 agreements.

Electronic Licence Comparison and Analysis Tool: El-CAT (in action)

Managing the terms and conditions associated with different electronic resources continues to be a challenge for libraries. This project will provide a web interface to make it easier for libraries to find and compare licence agreements, and to communicate terms to end users. Machine readable licence expressions will also be made available to UK academic institutions to load into electronic resource management systems.

Academic Database Assessment Tool (ADAT) (ongoing)

ADAT aims to help libraries to make informed decisions about future subscriptions to bibliographic and full text databases. The tool allows you to compare journal title lists, database and e-book platforms as well as viewing database dashboards and database title list updates.

Journal Usage Statistics Portal (JUSP) (ongoing)

In 2009 Evidence Base and Mimas were commissioned to produce a technical design and prototype for a Usage Statistics Portal to assist and support libraries in the analysis of NESLi2 usage statistics and the management of their e-journals collections. The scoping study led to the development of the Journals Usage Statistics Portal a "one-stop shop" where libraries can view and download their own usage reports from NESLi2 publishers.

Pilot for Ensuring Continuity of Access via NESLi2: PECAN (complete)

Ensuring continuity of access to e-journal content is a key concern to libraries, in terms of both the need for long-term preservation and post-cancellation access. The PECAN project investigated the policy, procedures and infrastructure needed to provide institutions with guaranteed post-cancellation access to their NESLi2 e-journal holdings. The PECAN project produced a final report, the findings of which are being taken forward through the Post-Cancelation Entitlement Registry project.

Copyright Advice and Support Project for Electronic Resources (CASPER)

CASPER provides central support for the copyright clearance and management of the outputs of the JISC funded REPRODUCE project, which develops, and runs technology enhanced courses using reused and repurposed learning materials. The outputs of the project includes advice, guidance and tools to support the use and reuse of learning content including, template letters, the Copyright Risk Register Tool and best practice guides.