Database Licensing - How Much is Too Much?

Jen Maney -- School Library Journal, 4/1/2009

Thanks to Stephens’s ability to create a relaxed, open, and frank atmosphere, the workshop led to some great discussion and a lot of questions. Since libraries all over the country are reevaluating budgets, and electronic resources comprise a large chunk of those, I thought I’d follow up with him to explore the topic more. 

JM: In our discussion, things like content, scope, credibility, and ease and extent of access came up as some of the reasons that databases are valuable for libraries. What do you see as the strengths of subscription databases?

MS: The deep content springs to mind first and the fact that there is information in leased databases not available on the free Web. All of the things you listed above are important—especially for research uses by K–12 students, undergrads, master’s students, and doctoral students, too.

JM: You know this one is coming…. What about the weaknesses?

MS: Here’s where the breakdown occurs. In our discussion that day, I guided the group through some OCLC and PEW reports that painted a very different picture for public libraries offering access. The Perceptions report noted 30 percent of respondents did not know what “electronic information resources” are and that 84 percent of folks start their research with search engines. They do not surf to their library’s Web page and look for a link to “Online Databases” or “Electronic Reference.” It’s a scary thing but true.

Also, the lack of consistent mechanism for statistics and other reports make the databases a nightmare to evaluate and manage. As librarians we get more excited about the great stuff available and spend the money to build these electronic collections when our users are looking for just-in-time, at-the-point-of-need answers.

The barriers of logins, PINs, etc… also take away from what users want: a seamless experience.

JM: One of the questions posed in our workshop was, “Are databases self-service?” I think about the time we spend training librarians to use them, and then training the public and students to use them (repeatedly!). What do you think? Are they self-service? 

MS: To some degree, yes, if the user has some savvy or prior training. I love the fact that Perceptions found that college students discover and use the library and its resources and that PEW found that adults in their twenties are actively using libraries as well. These folks are probably the ones accessing the offerings, while other adults, 30 and up, are not aware of what’s available or simply use other easier to access methods. 

JM: From your discussions with library staff around the country, what have you found to be the general consensus … are databases worth the price we pay?

MS: To be honest, the group in Phoenix was the first formal discussion of the use and cost of databases I’d facilitated. It really opened my eyes when I pulled together that data and created those talking points that launched our discussion. I will say in my talks for the last few years, I’ve highlighted those studies and I can always tell who the database librarians are by the way the react to those stats that indicate that a part of our user populations has no idea we pay big money for these resources.