[Eril-l] cost per use

[Mandi Schwarz]

We use a very simple spreadsheet to calculate this. It has the following columns: Resource name; Cost; Payment notes; "Search" usage; "Search" usage CPU; "Item" usage; "Item" usage CPU; Stats notes; Report type; and Summary usage.

Payment notes include information such as calculations used to determine cost (typically in the case of a single payment for multiple resources). We gather the most reliable data we can for usage, and add it to the appropriate column; anomalies or special cases are noted in the Stats notes column (such as "Items = video playbacks"). Our usage is calendar year, but our cost is whatever the invoicing cycle for that specific product is, and includes hosting fees where appropriate. In cases where the payment time period is split mid-calendar year, we assign it to whichever year is most reflects (for example, a September 2014-August 2015 payment would be used for calculating 2015 CPU). Report type is useful for quickly identifying non-standard stat sources, and differentiating between BR1 and BR2. Summary usage is a formula that compares the "Searches" usage and the "Items" usage, and displays the highest number.

Early each calendar year, I gather all of this information so it is available for our new fiscal year (April - March). This year, there were 252 resources in the spreadsheet.

At the title level, we load JR1s into our ERMS (III's Sierra ERM) and that automatically calculates CPU for us.

Of course, CPU is not the only deciding factor during renewals, so the quality of this information works for our purposes. For context, we are a small research university with approximately 3400 FTE.

I hope this helps!
Mandi

From: Eril-l [mailto:eril-l-bounces at lists.eril-l.org] On Behalf Of Harker, Karen
Sent: Monday, October 03, 2016 9:38 AM
To: Terri Winchcombe; eril-l at lists.eril-l.org
Subject: Re: [Eril-l] cost per use

If you use a subscription agent for your journals, you may be able to get them to provide this info for you.

You don't need a database, per se.  Spreadsheets will work fine.  The hardest part will be gathering the data and defining the variables.  While there are only 2 parameters in a CPU calculation (cost and use), you must be clear on what is meant by each one - what exactly do you mean by cost?  What was paid?  For what time frame?  1 year? 1 month? Which years?  What about those years when the cost was extended to include more than one year?  Or more than one resource (like Big Deals)?  What is a "use"?  FTD? PDF only? PDF & HTML?  Abstract view? What about those resources that don't provide COUNTER stats?

The calculation itself is the easiest part - once you have defined the measures for each of the parameters and then gathered the data, just divide the Costs column by the Use column.  I highly recommend learning some advanced features of Excel to make it easier.  The three features that have helped me the most are:

*         Format as Table makes it quick to add columns & calculations to all the cells in each column

*         VLOOKUP() makes it easy to tie data from multiple worksheets into one [it works like a database]

*         Conditional formatting - color scales (from the 10th to the 90th percentile) make decision-making easier by highlighting the really good & really bad performers.



Karen R. Harker, MLS, MPH
Collection Assessment Librarian
University of North Texas Libraries
1155 Union Circle, #305190
Denton, Texas 76203-5017
940-565-2688
http://librariesareforuse.wordpress.com

From: Eril-l [mailto:eril-l-bounces at lists.eril-l.org] On Behalf Of Terri Winchcombe
Sent: Monday, October 03, 2016 10:24 AM
To: eril-l at lists.eril-l.org<mailto:eril-l at lists.eril-l.org>
Subject: [Eril-l] cost per use

Hi There,
I'm trying to calculate cost per use of our electronic serials.  So far I'm just putting the pieces together in excel.  I don't know much about access so I haven't attempted to create a database.  Do you have any advice for me?  Do you have spreadsheets or a database sample you could share with me?

Thanks in advance for your help.
Terri

Terri Winchcombe, CAPM
Manager, Acquisition Services
Patrick Power Library (SMU6500) | Saint Mary's University
923 Robie Street | Halifax, Nova Scotia | Canada  B3H 3C3

Voice 902 420-5535 | Fax 902 420-5561
terri.winchcombe at smu.ca<mailto:terri.winchcombe at smu.ca>

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