Managing Periodicals Subscriptions: Improving Cost-Effectiveness

THIS paper has two main objectives. In line with the general objectives of the seminar, I will try to convey the everyday reality of how the BMA Library manages and exploits its serials collection (and for that matter the every-year reality of how we decide what to subscribe to and what to forgo). Secondly, there are some general conclusions to be drawn from the BMA Library's experience of managing our serials budgets conclusions which may point to some significant shifts in the nature of scholarly publishing. The views expressed are entirely my own and do not necessarily represent those of the BMA, or BMJ. Some of these points are far from optimistic, fiom a publisher's point of view, but they are not intended as a complaint on behalf of my sectional interest. Having spent two-thirds of my working life in publishing or marketing (at the British Library, Geac Computers and at the library automation journal VINE), I am familiar with the problems of product planning, revenue, profitability and so on. Although now working in mainstream librarianship, the problems are still very much the same when faced with a >30% annual growth in demand for services and a shrinking grant, marketing and product management experience seem starkly apposite. complete account will be published shortly', so only the bare outline need be given. For a five month period during 1989 and 1990, a detailed Bibliometric Study was made of every enquiry, loan, photocopy or other use of a document or other information source within the library. Using a standard transaction form the progress of every enquiry was tracked in complete detail including the category of user, the nature of the request, how the answer was located, how and in what form it was conveyed, how long the process took, what proportion of enquiries met with referral or outright failure. The resulting mass of raw data was keyed into a PC database system and has provided a virtually unlimited fund of practical statistical information. The conclusions of our Bibliometric Study have already been used as the basis for a complete reorganisation of library stock and for a large number of adjustments to services. As will be explained below in more detail, they will be used during 1991 for a fundamental review of our journals subscription list.