From: "Oosman, Aalia" <[log in to unmask]>
Date: Fri, 14 Jun 2013 09:50:26 +0100

Taylor & Francis launch a new White Paper on facilitating discovery of
free-to-view online content.

The increasing amount of free-to-view online content poses a
significant challenge for today’s librarian in facilitating discovery.
Potentially such free resources could be of great value for education
purposes- teaching, learning and research -but how do librarians
determine the value of all these online resources when ‘free’ doesn’t
necessarily mean easy to find?

Taylor & Francis recently conducted research via focus groups,
tel-interviews and a survey (eliciting over 500 responses) to explore
librarians’ opinions on the availability and usefulness of free online
resources – the results of which are now being released in the form of
a White Paper.

Key themes

Our research identified what librarians think about the following
issues in relation to facilitating discovery:

•       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
•       The role of the Publisher

Research Headlines

•       92% of librarians agree that free online resources are ‘very important’
•
     Librarians feel they are well-placed to provide expertise in free
content selection and discovery

•       84% of respondents said that 10% or less of their time was
currently devoted to indexing free online content

•       Key challenges for librarians relating to making free
resources more discoverable within their institutions are: volume
growth, unknown permanence, and difficulties relating to quality
assessment;

•       The most important criteria for selection of free online
access was relevance of that content to the institution’s activities
but brand and reputation factors were also key.

•       Librarians are already investing in understanding their user
community needs and in developing their catalogue interfaces
accordingly.

The White Paper identifies that the role of librarians relating to
facilitating discovery of free online content falls into 2 key areas:

o       Evaluating and selecting resources following a clear methodology

o       Providing guidelines and training
It seems there is a changing perception of librarians from ‘purchaser
of content’ to ‘facilitators of discovery’.

Taylor & Francis commissioned this research as they wanted to
understand   the challenges that librarians face in facilitating
access to free-to-view online resources, alongside the paid resources
they are more traditionally used to managing. As a publisher of both
types of content, we want to provide help and support for librarians
in the new challenges that they face in their evolving roles.

Dr David Green, Global Journals Publishing Director, comments, “While
we understand that the questions we posed encompassed a world of
free-to-view material beyond the traditional book and journal content
that is normally associated with the offerings of major scientific,
scholarly and professional publishers, , we nevertheless are acutely
aware that there are key roles that we need to perform and a whole
range of new services and products that we should look to develop. All
key stakeholders in the information and research communication worlds
are aware that ‘free’ does not mean cost-free.  However,
free-to-access and free-to-view, with free content availability in
models such as ‘freemium offerings’, are among the paths towards
global access that we are all now embracing and experimenting with.”

Gillian Howcroft, e-Products Director, adds  “Permanence, quality and
discoverability are valued services we already provide, but  there  is
always more to be done.   Taylor & Francis is supporting all the
current Open Access mandates and working with authors, institutions,
funders and policy makers to ensure we develop robust, transparent and
trusted services for all involved.  In terms of current initiatives,
we are exploring what more we can do in relation to discoverability
and metadata, particularly in open journals, but in subscribed
journals too.”

For those who want to take a look at the White Paper, this is
available under a Creative Commons Attribution licence:
www.tandf.co.uk/libsite/pdf/TF-whitepaper-free-resources.pdf

Follow us on Twitter @librarylantern to receive the latest commentary
on the White Paper and to sign up to our webinars. Visit our newsroom
at: http://www.tandfonline.com/page/press-releases

For more information, please contact:
Aalia Oosman, Library & Communication Manager
Taylor & Francis Group Journals
email: [log in to unmask]