The Importance of Modern Archives

What is the ideal scenario for a librarian when it comes to purchasing an online serial? I think it usually comes down to three major factors; Is the access IP authenticated? Is the access unlimited? Does the subscription include access to the complete archive?

With Exact Editions, librarians can rest assured that we will always meet the first two requirements. However, as much as we always strive to meet the third, occasionally there are barriers which restrict our ability to offer the complete archive. The reasoning varies from case to case, sometimes it is financial, sometimes it is licensing, and sometimes it is exclusivity. Whatever the cause, all is not lost.

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The Modern Archive of TLS includes every issue as it is released

In those cases where we are unable to acquire the complete archive, we still aim to provide what we are now calling the ‘Modern Archive’. This remains a very rich and attractive proposition for libraries, namely because of the fact the archives on the platform are always rolling, and therefore expanding. The best recent example of this is The Times Literary Supplement, which joined the platform only last week. We are in the fortunate position of being the sole institutional provider of the archives from 2012 — Present. As expected we immediately received a storm of interest from universities around the world; the modern archive of TLS is a much-desired resource (especially with the promise of a new issue every week) and will supplement current library holdings.

Library holdings bring me to the next point, the problem of ‘fixed’ archives. This happens when online providers will only secure a deal for certain years of an archive, e.g. 1980–2015. Now this will obviously be a powerful resource with 35 years of content, however, students will be missing out on recent and future issues, which are often very important as they are culturally current. Exact Editions has always leaned away from these ‘landlocked’ archives, instead opting to always offer institutions an archive which is going to grow and bring the latest content.

“Can I check: does it mirror exactly the latest printed content of the TLS, so that guaranteed access to the current issue is provided?” — Interested librarian

This question we received from a potential institutional subscriber illustrates my point exactly. Librarians are always keen to secure content which is at the forefront of its field. When archives are growing organically they are pushing the user and their research with them into the future — not just providing retrospective glimpses of what once was there.

Any comments or suggestions? Please feel free to get in touch via info@exacteditions.com

How to Present Digital Magazines

Part of the joy of reading magazines, as opposed to books and journals, are the inventive cover designs and enthralling double spread images contained within the pages. The physical appeal of magazines, combined with engaging topical content, is perhaps why many readers and institutions are so proud of their large and growing collections of archived issues. But what about those collections which are missing a few issues? Or those archives which have outlived several generations of readers? It can be a laborious process hunting down a print copy of a magazine issue which hasn’t been printed for 30 years.

Luckily for these readers, the aesthetics of the print version can naturally move on to the digital platform, particularly with the technological development of better screens which now elucidate every minuscule detail of the original. Not only that, but archives can now be preserved ad finitum with no risk of decay or misplacement. This means that a wide audience of readers can experience these archives in their entirety, whereas in the past those old issues may have been confined to dust-gathering shelves in library vaults. Because of digital preservation, these archived issues can be given a new lease of life, finding new readers many decades after they were first published. In an academic sense, the availability of archives opens up new windows of opportunity for researchers by facilitating quick, easy and reliable access to previously rare resources.

A key question for digital providers must be — how do we present these resources to the world? One neat approach is to use a Stacking Interface to organise the archive by decade and year. This system encourages the reader to observe the development of the cover design (an essential feature of any successful magazine) through the years. The Stacking Technology also offers users an elegant and intuitive interface for browsing through older issues, especially when combined with an intelligent search feature. For example, a reader may wish to search Geographical for coverage of deforestation in Brazil, but only in 1994, and the Stacking Technology will automatically narrow the search results. This technology transcends devices and is available on Web, iOS and Android platforms. The power this offers to academics goes without saying; fast, efficient research in a friendly format.

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Geographical Archive — Stacking Technology

What does this mean for digital magazine providers? As more and more magazines recognise the value and importance of their archive, it is likely there will be continual drive towards digitisation. Print publishers will be searching for the best way to present their backfile to the world. The Stacking Interface has already found many supporters in both publishing and academic circles as it offers a dynamic combination of utility and style. Stacks are a great way of organising deep and informative archives, and because of the periodical nature of magazines they will only continue to become more impressive.

Exact Editions attends UKSG Meeting

Last week, Exact Editions had the pleasure of attending UKSG’s all-day event entitled ‘Introduction to E-resources Today’. We approached the event with the intention of learning more about the work of librarians so that we could further address the challenges they face and make their lives a little easier where possible.

First Seminar

To start the day, we listened to Mitchell Dunkley’s presentation, ‘Managing Journal Content in the Online World’. This was a well-constructed talk which explained the processes used by De Montfort University to organise their online resources. We were pleased to learn that the university had an e-first strategy where possible, and this depended on numerous factors, such as; cost vs. budget, academic relevancy, content format, accessibility and licensing. Naturally, this was very useful as we could learn what librarians search for when selecting journals.

A few points of the talk were of particular interest to Exact Editions. Firstly, that the university witnesses annual price increases for most journals, despite having a fixed budget, meaning that resources must be sacrificed each year. These cancellations will tend to be decided based on usage, which speaks volumes for the need to integrate resources in library discovery systems. Regarding price increases, the ethos of Exact Editions has always been to provide libraries with excellent resources at a fair price, reflected by the fact that prices have remained largely fixed for the last four years. We consider ourselves forerunners in the provision of sustainable electronic resources intended to facilitate learning rather than squeeze libraries for profit.

Secondly, and related to this, Mitchell emphasised that student experience is at the heart of service delivery. The aim of the library should be the maximise the usage and impact of the information resources available to students. According to Mitchell, ease of access is absolutely paramount in the selection process. Specifically mentioned was the need for seamless access across multiple devices as libraries are experiencing a rise in the variety of devices used by students. This was music to our ears as Exact Editions have invested lots of time and effort into ensuring that content is easily available across all devices. We believe that the more complicated a system is, the less likely students are to use it, so we try to keep it simple.

Second Seminar

Holly Purcell from IOP Publishing gave the second seminar, ‘The Business of E-Resources Publishing’. This was a little less relevant for Exact Editions, however, it offered an interesting insight into the world of scientific publishing. One aspect of the presentation which was of note was IOP’s strategy to provide librarians with bespoke campaigns for internal marketing.

This involves creating promotional material on behalf of the library such as infographics and posters, as well as designing social media posts and HTML email templates for internal circulation. These efforts resulted in more usage, higher renewal rates and positive feedback, and Exact Editions will certainly be looking into offering a similar service.

Third Seminar

After lunch (which was delicious), Anna Sansome from UCL spoke about ‘Managing E-Book Content’. Again, this is not really an area of expertise for Exact Editions, although we do work with a few specialised book publishers to offer complete collections to institutions. However, there was a segment of the seminar dedicated to the reasons for converting print resources to electronic when possible, which also applies to magazines. These included; convenience, time-saving, space-saving, accessibility and search functionality. This led on to a discussion of the best models for purchasing electronic resources, which Anna stated was unlimited access with no limit to concurrent users or number of users per year.

Exact Editions have consistently placed emphasis on search technology, and all archives on the site are fully-searchable by keyword. Our tech team is also developing an exciting new feature which will be with you later in 2018… Regarding the best purchasing model, we have always preferred to offer subscribing institutions unlimited access to resources, the reason being that we want universities to use our resources to their utmost potential.

Fourth Seminar

The fourth, and final, talk of the day was concerning ‘Intermediaries and their Services’ by Richard Bramwell from EBSCO. As a content provider, Exact Editions work closely with several intermediaries in the purchasing process and management of subscriptions on behalf of universities. This was an interesting talk which stressed the challenges currently facing intermediaries, as well as the solutions that are being implemented.

Richard talked about the numerous factors which are squeezing the industry such as; pressure on library budgets, the sustainability of open access publishing and global economic fluctuations. He stated that EBSCO is having to adapt to the library market in order to continue providing excellent service to their 50,000 customers around the world. We agree that it is a fast-paced environment, which is why we strive to stay abreast of technological developments and movements within the industry.

It is important, as a content provider, to understand the role intermediaries play in the library market, as they often have many available services. Exact Editions works closely with several companies to facilitate the purchasing of and discoverability of resources. However, we also understand that we must be independent and flexible, and conduct a lot of business directly with institutions, as well as being constantly on the search for innovative technological solutions to the challenges libraries face. We welcome any suggestions or feedback, to chat with us please email institutions@exacteditions.com

Overall

In whole, the day offered much food for thought for the Exact Editions team. UKSG did a fantastic job of organising the event and encouraging discussion between librarians, intermediaries and publishers, whose professions can sometimes seem very separate despite inhabiting the same eco-system.

Follow UKSG on Twitter: https://twitter.com/UKSG
Follow Exact Editions on Twitter: https://twitter.com/exacteditions

Exact Editions 2017 — It’s a Wrap!

First set

With a new year on the horizon, now is the perfect time to kick back, relax and bunker down for winter. But before you do that, it’s worth thinking about how much you’ve achieved this year and what you can do better next year.

Exact Editions can look back at 2017 fondly as a record-breaking number of libraries around the world are now accessing magazines and their archives using the platform. We have been exceptionally busy from January to December; acquiring a plethora of new and diverse titles (which we’re showing off in this post), developing extensive archives, adding useful technical features; and, of course, starting this new blog stream for librarians!

Second set

As you can see, there has been an increased focus on engagement with our users and improving the user experience. For example, check out our blog detailing the best ways to make the most of your Exact Editions subscription: The Holy Grail.

third set

Some of our 2017 highlights:

  • Perpetual Access — Several more magazines are now available to purchase with Perpetual Access. Exact Editions offer a uniquely comprehensive product for libraries, with purchases including the complete archive of the magazine as well as all future issues.
    The full list of participating publishers can be found here: https://institutions.exacteditions.com/showcases/perpetual
  • Library Board — This year, Exact Editions have enlisted the wisdom of several leading librarians and industry experts, who will be consulted on a bi-annual basis to offer thoughts on two or three important topics.
    You can read the introductory blog post here.
  • K-Bart — With improved metadata offerings, Exact Editions are continuously working to ensure that our content is becoming increasingly straightforward to find within library management systems. We’re doing whatever we can to make your lives just that little bit easier!

fourth set

So, what’s in the pipeline for 2018?

  • MARC Records — MARC Records are available for all our titles and can be requested from the start of 2018. This should improve Exact Editions’ catalogue compatibility and discoverability, which in turn should raise usage statistics and content visibility.
  • COUNTER Compliant Usage Statistics — Speaking of usage, another primary goal of 2018 will be to make our stats available on COUNTER. We are aware this is a favoured platform for librarians, and we are keen to migrate our statistics over to COUNTER so that we can offer as much transparency as possible.
  • Library Q&A thread — We will be conducting brief interviews with librarians to talk about periodicals, the growth of digital resources and what they hope for in the future. Would you like to participate? Get in touch with us to give your opinions on the industry.
  • RA21 — Exact Editions very recently attended a conference about the RA21 project, which aims to optimise institutional access to online resources, with a particular focus on remote usage. We will continue to keep updated with potential alternatives to IP-authentication in 2018 and will post any news on our blog.
    Read more about RA21 here: https://ra21.org/index.php/what-is-ra21/
  • Content Acquisition — As always there will be a strong drive for new content on the site across a variety of subjects. If there’s a particular magazine you’d like to see on the platform in 2018, why not recommend it to us via: institutions@exacteditions.com.

We’ll be back in 2018 with regular updates.

From everyone at Exact Editions, we wish you a very Merry Christmas and a Happy New Year.

fifth set

World War II Military History Magazine

Today marks the release of World War II Military History as an app, which is available here in Apple’s App Store. It’s a brand new product for the digital publishing scene, and a brand new model in iTunes – the serialisation of books in app form.

Osprey Publishing has been creating books for military history enthusiasts since 1968, and it’s now one of the most successful examples of niche publishing around. The combination of Osprey’s rich archive of historical material and Apple’s recurring subscription will make a dynamic duo.

Cover

Tank

Content from across the Osprey archive has been optimised for the iPad to provide subscribers with monthly installments. This will create a community of readers in a way that wouldn’t have been possible with a one-off title, and using the built-in sharing features (via Twitter, Facebook and email) they’ll be able to communicate and learn interactively.

Exact Editions is excited to have been given the opportunity to inject new life into Osprey’s expertly curated archive. Working together we can deliver a product that users will truly appreciate and enjoy. As the issues build up, this collection will grow into a formidable resource for students and military history devotees. With 2423 titles on offer from Osprey, curators will be spoilt for choice on content.

The iPad/iPhone is the perfect platform to showcase strategical maps, detailed diagrams, photographs and illustrations – allowing readers to zoom right in, flip through the pages on the scroller or jump between related pages with ease.

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Monthly or quarterly subscriptions are available in the App Store now, at £2.99 or £7.99.

Could this be the first of many book series which lend themselves to installments in magazine form? Only time will tell.

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