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University libraries provide access to thousands of online journals and other content, spending millions of dollars annually on these electronic resources. Providing access to these online resources is costly, and it is difficult both to analyze the value of this content to the institution and to discern those journals that comparatively provide more value. In this research, we examine 1,510 journals from a large research university library, representing more than 40% of the university's annual subscription cost for electronic resources at the time of the study. We utilize a web analytics approach for the creation of a linear regression model to predict usage among these journals. We categorize metrics into two classes: global (journal focused) and local (institution dependent). Using 275 journals for our training set, our analysis shows that a combination of global and local metrics creates the strongest model for predicting full-text downloads. Our linear regression model has an accuracy of more than 80% in predicting downloads for the 1,235 journals in our test set. The implications of the findings are that university libraries that use local metrics have better insight into the value of a journal and therefore more efficient cost content management. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Objective To determine what value health sciences students place on leisure reading, whether they prefer to read online or in print, what the principal barriers are to their reading and whether they wish to have a leisure reading collection at their health sciences library. Methods In October 2010, a link to a survey was sent to all 1800 students in health sciences professional programmes at the author's institution. Results Two hundred and thirteen students (11.8%) responded. Most felt that leisure reading had helped in their development as health professionals and increased their empathy. They listed many benefits of reading, such as improved understanding of minority groups, reduced stress, and improved thinking and communication skills. The majority preferred to read books and magazines in print, while the largest number preferred reading newspapers in print as well. Lack of time, fatigue and the expense of purchasing reading materials were the greatest barriers to reading. A majority of students were in favour of having a leisure reading collection set up at their library. Conclusions Leisure reading was valued by the respondents, who felt it provided personal and professional benefits. However, many indicated that circumstances made it difficult to participate in leisure reading. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This paper synthesizes the findings from the qualitative portions of two studies (conducted in 2005 and 2008) that assessed the activities and attitudes of faculty members in several US universities, regarding their interactions with scholarly materials, and their scholarly reading patterns. The systematic interpretation of their comments and descriptions of their own experiences and opinions offers an image of scholars who enthusiastically embrace the electronic information environment, in spite of some frustrations with its imperfections. Their use of e-journals, Internet resources, and email communication has become indispensable to their scholarly activities, and has profoundly changed the way they interact with information, create new knowledge, and relate to their university library. For these faculty members, e-journals have supplanted the print format, because of their convenience, flexibility of work location, advantages for interdisciplinary access, and ease of storage. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

A "new model" academic chemistry library is proposed at the University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign (UIUC) in which primary access to journals is electronic, replacing traditional print access, binding, and shelving. Print journals will continue to be purchased and archived unbound in a remote storage facility following unbound display and access for twelve months. The new model, initially proposed by administrative chemistry faculty, was assessed in a feasibility study which looked at the stability, quantity, and quality of electronic journals; it also included a survey of chemistry faculty, a review of internal management data, and an analysis of use of chemistry journals, both print and electronic. The feasibility study found support for the model in every area, but with a few caution flags and speed bumps predicted along the way. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]