This document discusses collaborating across universities in the UNC system to analyze e-journal usage data and costs. It proposes a system-wide annual survey where libraries share e-journal cost and usage information to help make renewal and cancellation decisions and negotiate prices. The data shows downloads per enrolled student varies widely between schools, from around 2 downloads per student to over 87 downloads per student. The data could help libraries better understand value from e-resources across different types of institutions.

1. Collaborating to Analyze
E-Journal Use Data
Patrick Carr
East Carolina University
Cross-institutional cost-per-use analyses of
journal subscriptions within the UNC System

2. Cost-per-use
• An e-journal’s subscription cost divided
by article downloads during the
subscription period
• A powerful tool for assessing return on
investment
• Must be contextualized with qualitative
data

3. What might we discover if
we compare e-resource use
data across institutions?

4. Appalachian State University
East Carolina University
Elizabeth City State University
Fayetteville State University
NC Agricultural and Technical
State University
North Carolina Central
University
NC State University
UNC Asheville
UNC Chapel Hill
UNC Charlotte
UNC Greensboro
UNC Pembroke
UNC Wilmington
Western Carolina University
Winston-Salem State
University
UNC system schools

5. UNC system-wide
annual e-journal survey
• A system-wide project to enhance ROI
by sharing e-journal cost and use data
• Data is analyzed by a working group of
UNC librarians
• Data is used to support renewal and
cancellation decisions and to negotiate
more favorable pricing

7. Downloads per
enrolled student
0
10
20
30
40
50
60
70
80
90
100
0.00
2.00
4.00
6.00
8.00
10.00
12.00
14.00
16.00
18.00
Average CPU by
school

8. School
Carnegie
Classification
2011-2012 Full-
text downloads
Student
Enrollment Fall
2011 DPES
North Carolina Central University Master's 18,776 7,587 2.47
UNC Pembroke Master's 18,233 5,477 3.33
Elizabeth City State University Baccalaureate 12,686 2,772 4.58
Fayetteville State University Master's 31,133 5,199 5.99
Winston-Salem State University Master's 35,414 5,765 6.14
UNC Wilmington Master's 105,980 12,321 8.60
Western Carolina University Master's 72,650 8,343 8.71
Appalachian State University Master's 145,872 16,654 8.76
UNC Charlotte Research 223,258 22,630 9.87
NC A&T State University Research 110,023 10,063 10.93
UNC Greensboro Research 214,738 16,855 12.74
UNC Asheville Baccalaureate 67,464 3,466 19.46
East Carolina University Research 484,984 24,588 19.72
NC State University Research 1,248,504 30,950 40.34
UNC - Chapel Hill Research 2,350,522 26,837 87.59
Schools by Carnegie Classification

9. Questions & Comments