Database Selection: One Size Does Not Fit All

Authors

DeeAnn Allison, University of Nebraska-LincolnFollow
Beth McNeil, University of Nebraska-LincolnFollow
Signe Swanson, University of Nebraska - LincolnFollow

ORCID IDs

DeeAnn Allison

Date of this Version

1-15-2000

Comments

Published in College & Research Libraries 61:1 (January 2000), pp. 56-63. Copyright 2000 American Library Association. Used by permission.

Abstract

With increasing costs and decreasing budgets, it is important for librarians to make sound purchasing decisions for electronic resources. What factors are important to consider in making a decision? How can librarians balance these factors, which may appear to be contradictory, and also meet the expectations of administrators, staff, and users? This article describes a strategy for making delivery decisions that address local conditions, pricing, feature options, hardware costs, and network availability. Finally, a model is presented for evaluating the decision based on dollar requirements and local issues.