Open AccessFinding alternatives when a major database is gone
Author(s) -
MLIS Estelle Hu
Publication year - 2016
Publication title -
journal of the medical library association
Language(s) - English
Resource type - Journals
SCImago Journal Rank - 1.102
H-Index - 58
eISSN - 1558-9439
pISSN - 1536-5050
DOI - 10.5195/jmla.2016.64
Subject(s) - resource (disambiguation) , computer science , world wide web , process (computing) , health science , library science , database , data science , medicine , medical education , computer network , operating system
Question: What to do when a major database ceases publication?Setting: An urban, academic health sciences library with four campuses serves a university health sciences system, a college of medicine, and five other health sciences colleges.Methods: Usage statistics of each e-book title in the resource were carefully analyzed. Purchase decisions were made based on the assessment of usage.Results: Sustainable resources were acquired from other vendors, with perpetual access for library users.Conclusion: This systematic process of finding alternative resources is an example of librarians’ persistence in acquiring perpetual electronic resources when a major resource is cancelled.