A Study On The Selection Criteria Of Digital Resources For Libraries

The collection is the foundation on which a library’s function is performed and its service benefit realized. Within the context of the digital environment, the format and the media of the information resources, users’needs, and the operation patterns of libraries are undergoing changes. Traditional selection criteria of print resources are no longer suitable for the selection of digital resources. Developing a study on selection criteria of digital resources will be beneficial not only to the promotion of a scientific and standard selection process, but also to the maximization of the allocation of library resources. Further more, it will improve the effectiveness and efficiency of the development of digital resources collection. Therefore, it will eventually support and guarantee libraries to innovate their service models, expand their development space and realize their sustainable development. Researches on the selection criteria of digital resources have been the concern of library circles both at home and abroad. However, it is still under studying as how to develop a selection criteria system which not only reflects users’needs, but also is representative and practical. The dissertation proposes that the key to achieve this goal is to be oriented by end-users’needs, developing a selection criteria system of digital resources according to scientific procedures and methods, and making clear the operational methods. By means of various research approaches, including surveys, interviews, focus groups, case studies, statistical analysis and so on, the study emphasizes on putting forward some selection criteria through comprehensively reviewing literatures and collection development policy proposed by different libraries; and then optimizing the selection criteria system through questionnaire survey. In order to demonstrate the practical and applicable features of the proposed selection criteria system, the study applies it to evaluate four databases in Wuhan University Library, and puts forward a series of measures, which would increase the effectiveness of the proposed selection criteria in practice.Chapter One is a literature review. The study analyzes the status quo of the current researches about the selection criteria of digital resources, both at home and abroad. It points out that there have been achievements, but there are still some disadvantages, such as unreasonable selection and determination methods of the selection criteria, lack of analyses and discussions on the explanation of selection criteria, seldom explaining the methods of collecting statistic data and the practicability of the criteria, and so on so forth. All of these result in the incapability of selection criteria while being applied in practice. There have been too many theories instead of practical application in addition to neglect of the needs of users, and so forth. The study points out that it is necessary to set up and apply to a selection criteria system of digital resources in practice from the perspective of end-users’demands. In this way, the longstanding problem of the disconnection condition between users’needs and digital resources collection development will be solved and services will be provided in accordance with users’demand.Chapter Two contains discussions on the rational perspective of digital resources selection and the current selection criteria. The study elaborates the historical development of collection acquisition, and sums up that the value orientation of digital resources selection is the end-users’needs. And then it identifies the changing needs and expectations of the users by analyzing related researches. The study also states that it is necessary for libraries to recognize the status quo of the needs and concerns of end-users by employing evidence-based methods such as surveys, interviews, focus groups studies and usage statistics analysis and so on. And then the study analyzes the dialectical relationship between meeting user needs and the libraries’real situation, further clarifying guiding idea which should be abided by when seting up and applying the selection criteria in practice. After that, the study figures out the differences between the selection of digital resources and traditional print resources, which focus on objects, selection criteria, acquisition procedure, and people involved in selection decisions. Concluding from the analysis on the characteristics and inadequacies of the selection criteria proposed by the collection development policies of domestic and foreign libraries, the study argues that it is urgent to reconstruct the selection criteria system of digital resources. Chapter Three designs the dimensions of the selection criteria system of digital resources. The study makes content analysis to summarize 60 groups of selection criteria of digital resources proposed in collection development policies, as well as relevant research papers, both domestic and abroad. And then combined with the current situation of digital resources collection in Chinese libraries, the study divides the selection criteria system of digital resources into six dimensions:information quality, use and usage of digital resources, services provided by vendors, the relevancy among library, end-users and digital resources, resource cost and risk. Among these, information quality, use and usage of digital resources and services provided by vendors are dimensions of the selection criteria system proposed from the micro perspective, which focus on the characteristics of the digital resource itself. The relevancy among library, end-users and digital resources, resource cost and risk are dimensions from a more macroscopic point of view, taking into account mainly the external factors. Based on discussing the connotation and denotation of various dimensions, the study proposes the initial collection of selection criteria of digital resources, thus completes the primary selection process.Chapter Four uses a questionnaire survey of experts to establish a selection criteria system of digital resources for libraries. The questionnaire uses five-item Likert Scale to measure the perception of experts about the importance and applicability of the selection criteria of digital resources. Taking the perception of experts about the importance of the selection criteria of digital resources as the observable variables, the study uses factor analysis to extract the criteria which are of the strongest correlation degree, and are able to explain the measuring purpose of the original selection criteria system. On this basis, the criteria which get scores about applicability higher than 4 are chosen and finally a selection criteria system covering six dimensions and 31 criteria is established, which is the result of the optimization of the initial selection criteria collection. The study sets up the selection criteria system on the basis of opinions of experts from different libraries. It is of universal application value and can be applied to libraries of different types and sizes. This validates the hypothesis that, "even though there are different opinions about the selection criteria of digital resources among different people, but expecting and establishing a representative and applicable selection criteria system of digital resources for libraries is possible.’Chapter Five consists of experimental analysis. The study chooses Wuhan University Library as its experimental unit. Through investigating of users’and librarians’perception regarding the importance degree of each criterion, the respective weights of each criterion is decided through the Analytic Hierarchy Process. And then the author applies it to evaluate four full-text databases. Findings of the study indicate that there is a significant cognitive difference among different groups on perception about the importance of each criterion. Therefore, when assigning weights to the selection criteria, it is important to consult the opinions of a wide cross-section of people, especially the views of different users. By means of this, the emphasis of digital resources selection characterized by the weights of criteria can reflect more comprehensively the users’requirements. Furthermore, when applying the selection criteria system to evaluate or select databases, it is also necessary to figure out users’perception about the databases through surveys, which can provide the basis for decision-making. The study’s findings also illustrate the feasibility of the selection criteria system of digital resources for libraries and the methods of operation.Chapter Six discusses strategies of the application of the selection criteria system of digital resources in libraries. The study points out that in order to enhance the effectiveness and efficiency of applying the selection criteria system to digital resources acquisition, firstly, libraries should strengthen the "user-centric" concept, develop a needs-based approach to allocate library resources; identify, understand and respond to end-users’needs and priorities on a regular basis; invite users to participate in the selection of digital resources. Secondly, libraries should formulate a digital resources collection development policy in time, providing general guidance for the selection of digital resources. Thirdly, libraries should introduce Total Quality Management, and take Electronic Resources Management System as a quality management tool, thus improving the efficiency of the selection of digital resources, and reduce the cost when applying the selection criteria system of digital resources. At last, when acquiring and licensing digital resources, libraries should draw on principles, guidelines and model license proposed by library consortiums or organizations; set up the copyright librarian positions, thus properly solving the license agreement problems.Chapter Seven summarizes the research of the dissertation, and points out the limitations of the study, and puts forward some research prospects in the future.38 diagrams,41 tables and 9 appendices are included.