Taylor & Francis would like to present on the challenges librarians face in helping their users to understand and realize the value of the increasing quantity of content that is freely available to read, including open access journals, repositories, blogs and wikis. On helping users to navigate this content, librarians often have no ‘ownership’ in the traditional sense of library acquisition and often no usage statistics by which to gauge relevance. The basis of this presentation would be a white paper, currently in progress, that investigates the issues and challenges that libraries have in realizing the value of the content that they do not purchase. The hypothesis of the research is that users are increasingly overwhelmed with content and find it difficult to navigate effectively through what is available and then apply it in their research, studies or teaching. We want to start a debate on next generation publishing activities to start solving some problems by, for example, providing content in more navigable, flexible, digestible formats. As a publisher, we want to provide help and support for librarians in the challenges that they face navigating non-purchased content. Elyse Profera Associate Library Marketing Manager, Taylor & Francis Group Elyse joined Taylor & Francis Group as Associate Library Marketing Manager in July 2012. She is currently responsible for managing all library marketing activities for North and South America. Prior to this, Elyse worked for Synygy, Inc., the largest provider of sales performance management software and services, as its Marketing Manager, Vertical Markets, and Swets, a leading information services company, as its Marketing Communications Manager. Elyse received her MA in Public Relations from Rowan University, and BA from Saint Joseph’s University. She has been published in Serials Review and Information Today. Meg Walker

1. 1
A White Paper by Taylor & Francis:
Facilitating Access to
Free Online Resources:
Challenges and Opportunities
For the Library Community

2. 2
Agenda
• Research Method & Objectives
• Key Themes Discovered
• Research Results
• Summary and Conclusions

3. 3
Explosion of the Digital World

4. 4
Research Rationale
• Explore issues relating to discoverability of free
content
• Identify the challenges librarians face in
facilitating access to free online resources
• Help librarians in their quest for facilitating
discovery

5. 5
Research Methodology
• Questionnaire distributed at Charleston in 2012
• US focus group held at ALA Midwinter Conference
2013
• Focus group held in London
• Tele-depth interviews
• Online Survey
• Desk research

6. 6
Research Objectives
• Define the types of non-purchased content
• Understand how librarians help users to recognize
quality and relevance in non-purchased resources
• Identify any perceived problems with using non-
purchased content
• Demonstrate how librarians demonstrate the value
of non-purchased resources
• Explore next generation publishing

7. 7
Key Themes
• The growth and value of free content
• Resource challenges for librarians
• Identification and selection of content
• The role of the library
• Information literacy
• User needs and expectations
• The role of publishers
Our research explored these key themes:

8. 8
The Growth and Value of
Free Content
“At some point the
volume and importance
of free online content will
be greater than
subscription content.”

9. 9
• 19,500 articles published in 2000
• 191,850 articles published by 2009
• 3,340 repositories today
• Podcasts, videos, presentations
The Growth and Value of
Free Content

10. 10
Determining the Importance of Different
Types of Content
53%
54%
33%
38%
20%
12%
10%
7%
39%
36%
50%
41%
53%
47%
18%
21%
6%
7%
14%
14%
16%
28%
33%
38%
6%
9%
12%
26%
26%
12%
8%
0% 10% 20% 30% 40% 50% 60% 70% 80% 90% 100%
Free online content adds value to the research process
Librarians are ideally placed to become specialists in
assessing the value of free resources
It would benefit institutions to invest more resources
in surfacing free online content
Free online content is likely to become at least as
important to our users as paid - for content in the
future
Users appreciate the work of the library in selecting
and buying quality paid - for resources
User - generated content (e.g. discussion forums and
social media) will become more important for all
subject areas in scholarly communication
Paid - for content is of greatest value to the research
process
Academic authors prefer their work to be protected by
licences, rather than freely available
Strongly agree Agree Neutral Disagree Strongly disagree

11. 11
“How much effort should we expend
on stuff we don’t own? Can we rely on
it?”
Resource Challenges for Librarians

12. 12
How much cataloguing time is taken up
with facilitating discovery of free e-resources
as opposed to paid-for resources?
34%
50%
12%
3%
1%
1%
0% 10% 20% 30% 40% 50% 60%
None
10% or less
11 - 30%
31-50%
51-80%
Over 80%

13. 13
Identification and Selection of Content
“If we catalogue a freely available journal and it doesn’t
work, then we’re held accountable for it.”

14. 14
47%
37%
34%
36%
15%
11%
9%
11%
9%
10%
16%
19%
21%
18%
14%
13%
13%
9%
11%
7%
14%
14%
15%
16%
17%
15%
15%
15%
14%
13%
10%
8%
11%
11%
14%
20%
12%
14%
18%
16%
5%
7%
7%
6%
11%
11%
14%
14%
11%
15%
3%
8%
5%
7%
12%
12%
14%
16%
14%
15%
7%
6%
7%
7%
8%
8%
6%
5%
6%
7%
8%
9%
4%
3%
5%
4%
4%
4%
3%
4%
6%
4%
3%
4%
0% 10% 20% 30% 40% 50% 60% 70% 80% 90% 100%
OA books / monographs
Institutional repositories
Subject repositories
Open data
Mobile apps
Podcasts and videos
Other social media
Blogs
Forums and discussion groups
Wikis
10 9 8 7 6 5 4 3 2 1
Which of the following types of Open Access
journals and other types of free online content
are most useful?

15. 15
43%
27%
30%
27%
24%
15%
20%
13%
19%
24%
22%
16%
19%
19%
22%
16%
19%
10%
16%
19%
15%
23%
18%
19%
13%
21%
18%
6%
12%
8%
13%
12%
14%
13%
12%
12%
5%
5%
7%
6%
7%
8%
10%
9%
9%
3%
5%
9%
7%
8%
10%
14%
11%
13%
4%
5%
4%
5%
5%
4%
4%
3%
4%5%
5%
7%
0% 10% 20% 30% 40% 50% 60% 70% 80% 90% 100%
Relevance to your course / research
programme
Reputation of list / index (e.g. DOAJ)
Faculty requests
Reputation of publisher
Expected permanence of content
Reputation of author
Free of any re - use restrictions
Relevance to current affairs
Student requests
10 9 8 7 6 5 4 3 2 1
What has the most influence on motivating you to
make free e-content discoverable?

16. 16
The Role of the Library
“Our main challenge is human
resources for selection decisions”

17. 17
13% 62%
14%
12%
7%
6%
24%
71%
52%
46%
64%
13%
34%
46%
28%
0% 10% 20% 30% 40% 50% 60% 70% 80% 90% 100%
Librarians
Faculty members
Service / Technology Providers
Publishers
Users
All Majority Some None
How much responsibility does each of the
following have for facilitating discovery of free
e-content in your institution?

18. 18
52%
45%
23%
0%
10%
20%
30%
40%
50%
60%
70%
Collaborate with teaching / research
staff to provide information science
service
Offer training courses Provide guidance via posters /
leaflets
Information Literacy - How do librarians help researchers to recognize
the quality and relevance of free online resources at their library?

19. 19
63%
53%
48%
42%
8%
0%
10%
20%
30%
40%
50%
60%
70%
Link to free content
from your library's
website
Promote use of Google
or Google Scholar
Index free content in
your library's catalogue
Incorporate free
content in federated /
discovery search tools
Create social media
archives
How do you currently make free online content
visible to users?

20. 20
Information Literacy
‘Google has made searching easy but discernment difficult’

21. 21
Libraries are considered to be “hard to use” and “inconvenient” when compared
to search engines such as Google. (ACRL Research and Planning Committee:
“2012 Top Trends in Academic Libraries”, June 2012)
How are librarians planning to improve their discoverability services to support
users when discovering free content?
Managing User Needs and Expectations

22. 22
Managing User Needs and Expectations
88%
83%
74%
71%
61%
52%
49%
49%
48%
44%
40%
38%
38%
7%
13%
12%
12%
26%
35%
32%
18%
42%
35%
32%
35%
13%
5%
3%
14%
17%
13%
13%
19%
33%
9%
22%
28%
27%
49%
0% 10% 20% 30% 40% 50% 60% 70% 80% 90% 100%
Off - campus access
Promotion of library services and training
Use of social media by library staff
Online support for users
Usage data analysis
More training for users
Mobile services
Inter or Intra library repository
Improved user interface for library website
Research into user needs / requirements
User experience research to guide service…
Improved cataloguing systems
Peripheral services e.g. cafe
Implemented Planned No plans for implementation

23. 23
The Role of Publishers

24. 24
The Role of Publishers - What can publishers can do to help you
improve discoverability and usefulness of free online content?
28%
27%
23%
22%
18%
11%
15%
16%
16%
14%
14%
12%
14%
14%
11%
18%
17%
16%
4%
7%
9%
6%
9%
12%
6%
5%
7%
10%
6%
5%
6%
8%
10% 7%
6%
4%
5%
4%
7%
6%
8%
6%
8%
5%
17%
16%
14%
16%
11%
9%
0% 10% 20% 30% 40% 50% 60% 70% 80% 90% 100%
Improve integration with link resolvers
Ensure free content is adequately archived
Provide a website that easily identifies free
content
Improve metadata relating to access and
licencing
Ensure free content is easy to reference
Provide better guidelines / communication
10 9 8 7 6 5 4 3 2 1

25. 25
 Split views on the role that publishers should take in
helping solve some problems raised by discoverability.
 Collaboration
 Quality filter of publishers
The Role of Publishers

26. 26
Conclusion:
Free Online Resources
o Add value to the research process and are likely to become as
important as paid-for content in the future
o There is value in a range of free online resources, ranging from the
traditional (e.g. Open Access journals) through to user-generated
content such as blogs, podcasts, videos and wikis
o Influencing factors included: relevance (curriculum, program),
reputation (publisher, the list or index)

27. 27
 Staff time, growing volume of material, unknown permanence, and
difficulties relating to quality-assessment;
 Lack of metadata
 Efficiency - Helping users to minimise time spent searching and more
time finding
 Linking from library websites to selected free resources means there
is no measurements to gauge relevance
 How does a library discoverability service compete with Google
Challenges for librarians

28. 28
 More investment in surfacing free online content;
 Promote librarians as facilitators of discoverability
 Develop methodologies and systems for evaluation purposes
 Further personalisation of the library service
Recommendations for Librarians

29. 29
 Inclusion of high-quality free publications in key indexing resources;
 Library discoverability systems need to become faster and easier to
use
 More collaboration for development of standardised bibliographic
metadata
 Develop trusted repositories of links and content
Recommendations for Intermediaries
(Aggregators and Technology Partners)

30. 30
 Open Access metadata standards
 Ensure permanence of access and reliable archiving
 Support funder mandates such as RCUK to ensure that publicly
funded research is freely available
 Improve integration on link resolvers
 Provide usage statistics for free content
 Support initiatives such as NISO
Recommendations for Publishers

31. 31
Taylor & Francis
Current situation and short term developments
 A commitment to supporting Open Access
 Link resolver data improvements
 Working with the industry to roll out new standards
 CrossRef
 CrossMark
 FundRef
 Orcid
 Developing our platform and services
 Our platform
 Free vodcasts and podcasts
 Blogs & discussion for a
 Social media

32. 32
Taylor & Francis
Longer term projects & considerations
 Kbart Phase 2
 A review of our role with regard to supplementary and related data
 Alt-metrics
 “Kudos” pilot project
 Repository feeds

33. 33
Useful links
SURVEY link:
http://www.tandf.co.uk/libsite/pdf/TF-
whitepaper-free-resources.pdf
Find out about key updates relating to the
White Paper on Twitter @LibraryLantern