Evaluation Criteria
The criteria here are mainly derived from the librarians' discussions occurring in January 2001 as part of the FY01 journal review. Librarians are encouraged to consider these broad categories of criteria. The questions listed in each category provide some guidance in applying the criterion in question. The list of questions is not intended to be exhaustive. In some cases particular questions may be inapplicable, less important, or less relevant.
Availability from Other Sources
- How many times is the library buying the same or similar materials? Print, electronic, microforms, etc. Is the level of duplication on campus justified by significant added value?
- Does the serial duplicate other coverage in the field?
- Is the serial unique in meeting a recognized need?
- Are other copies available elsewhere? Available through Ingenta? ILL/document delivery? Other area libraries?
- If the serial is available in both print and electronic formats, can cancellation of one format result in subscription savings? How will users be affected by relying on one format only? Does the publisher meet our criteria for subscribing to e-only?
- Has SPARC published an Alternative?
Identification in Other Review Projects
- Was this serial identified as lesser priority previously?
Use, User Groups
- How relevant is the serial to programs on campus (including new programs)? Does the serial support research/teaching/curriculum?
- How broadly does the publication affect our primary user population? What is the size of the user population and how important is the resource to their work?
- How profoundly would the serials' absence affect the work of the user community?
- What is the use of the serial?
- How will the cancellation affect the collection as a whole? Do not allow gaping holes to appear (balance).
- What is the faculty's assessment of the serial? Faculty comments? Suggestions?
- What is the language of the publication? Is it appropriate to the user group?
Quality
- What is the overall quality of the serial? Have quality and coverage declined? Have there been changes in the editorial board? Publisher?
- How does the quality relate to the cost? Are there other products that offer better value to the collections at a more reasonable cost?
- How unique is the serial in meeting a recognized need?
- Is the serial peer reviewed? Who does the reviewing? What is the quality of the peer review?
- Is the serial indexed by an indexing service? If not, is it more than three years old? If so, is it easy to find citations?
- What is the journal's ranking in Journal Citation Reports? (ISI impact index?)
- Are any faculty on the editorial board? Do UM faculty regularly publish in the journal?
Publisher
- Who is the publisher? What is the publisher's reputation? Credibility? What are the publisher's policies toward issues such as copyright?
Value with respect to price
- What is the value of the serial to the collections relative to the price of the serial? Are more needed resources available at a lower cost?
- What is its pricing history? Have there been any excessive price increases over the past three years? Is it among the higher priced titles for a particular discipline? How does that price relate to the value offered by the publication?
- What does the cost per use data reveal?
