Seriously? A Series of Tips on Setting Up a Research Library (Part 1)

“It is a curious fact that people are never so trivial as when they take themselves seriously.” -- Oscar Wilde (Irish Poet, Novelist, Dramatist and Critic, 1854-1900)

 

Individual researchers create their own personal libraries of technical literature. This can work well for small research organizations with just three or four researchers. Larger organizations need a more formal structure to support their research efforts.

 

This is the first in a series of posts designed to help you create a resource base which can help your researchers make more productive use of their valuable time.

 

We’ll begin by focusing on commercial databases.  To be honest, the first step should involve strategic planning, but since most people like to cut to the chase, the chase is where we’ll begin. The tedious stuff will come later.

 

Hundreds of databases are available on the Web. But no matter how big your budget, you won’t be able to afford to subscribe to all of them.

 

• So the first step is to get an idea of what is available.
• Step two is to prioritize them in terms of the research goals of your organization.
• The third step is to contact customer representatives from each of the top ten on your list.
• Step four is to negotiate contracts with database vendors.
• The fifth step is to make your researchers aware of the subscribed resources, and to encourage them to use the databases.
• The final step is to monitor usage statistics to determine: (a) whether to continue to subscribe to a given database and; (b) if you choose to continue the subscription, what can be done to increase use of the resource.

 

Each of these steps will be the subject of a dedicated post.

Find more useful tips at: www.jeansteinhardtconsulting.com