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It is widely known the great extent of Internet and its role as a vehicle for the information and knowledge, for this reason web sites should be designed to be accessible to all people (Universal design). In Italy recent provisions of law (Law n. 4, January 8, 2004) focused the attention on problems related to web sites accessibility and especially to those belonging to public administrations. In 2003 our Library joined the CABI project (Campaign for Accessibility of Libraries on the Web) and becoming more sensitive to the accessibility problem tried to develop its web pages according to international standards (W3C, WAI, etc.). A representative sample of the Italian Biomedical Libraries Homepages was selected and carefully examined in order to assess their compliance to accessibility standards. Different validation software were used to ensure a greater reliability to the survey and to evaluate several accessibility aspects and the priority level reached by web sites under study. The results are really not very encouraging and draw a current scene in which the main feature is represented by the fact that the sample achieved a low rate of accordance to the rules of accessibility stated by International standards. This may be considered as a symptom of a lacking sense to the problem. On the other hand it seems to be much more spread the trend to update web pages content rather than allow easier and faster accessibility.

Electronic journals have become an important tool for scientists and medical practitioners over last few years. This paper reports the results of a survey undertaken at Biblioteca Centrale dell’Area Biomedica to determine the effects of e-journals availability on Document Delivery activities. Aim of the study was also to consider the cost-benefit aspects of the direct access to biomedical literature by library patrons. In 2003 our library gathered access to Elsevier ScienceDirect through CILEA mirror (about 1800 e-journals); we have also access by several years to the services of some others e-journals providers (Blackwell, Highwire, Ingenta, Ebsco, etc.). We have compared the data concerning DocDel Service during a six months period in 2003 with the statistical findings of a corresponding period in the year 2002 (http://pacs.unica.it/biblio/docdel2002.ppt). We have studied the number of potential users versus real users: the target population consisted of biomedical professors and researchers belonging to University of Cagliari. The results of the survey are shown in a series of tables and graphics. The statistical findings analysis indicate a considerable decrease (about 25%) of the number of documents requested and supplied by our DocDel Service. This also suggests that print journal usage decrease significantly with the introduction of online journals in favour of an increase in the number of articles directly retrieved by patrons. Due to higher availability of online documents, our patrons generally retrieve a number of documents greater than that usually requested to the library reducing drastically the working load of our DocDel Service staff.

The rise of the first e-journal is a much debated question, however it is placed around 1990. They originally started as products in textual format sent by e-mail by specialised newsgroups in the technical-scientific field and in the biomedical area. In 1992, the first e-journal appeared on the Web and in 1997 publishers began to issue them at first in the Postscript or PCI formats and then in the more practical PDF format [1]. Over last few years electronic journals have become an important tool for scientists and medical practitioners. About 95% of biomedical journals is now available both electronically and/or in print. Internet growth and spreading and the availability of full text e-journals have contributed to increase patron expectations of instant retrieval of documents. In the summer 2003, an agreement with CILEA has provided the Biblioteca Centrale dell’Area Biomedica of Cagliari with access to a wide range of journals in electronic format through Elsevier ScienceDirect. The Library need to consider several issues when making this service available: providing access (user registration and authentication), user training and education, promotion of the service, usage statistic evaluation. Several departments of the University of Cagliari were targeted for an early introduction to the service. The “potential users” of Elsevier ScienceDirect consisted of people relatively familiar with using online version of scientific journals and retrieving articles. They were researchers belonging to the fields of biological sciences, medicine and other research fields related to life sciences. Library management decided to conduct a six months survey (July/December 2003) to assess the extent of e-journals use and in particular to determine their effects on DocDel Service activities. Aim of the study was also to consider the cost–benefit aspects of the direct access to biomedical literature by library patrons. Our expectation was that we would have a decrease in user requests for journals articles via our DocDel Service. Up to that time, DocDel activities have been very expensive and time consuming for Library staff, taking away human resources from other Library activities. We have studied two typologies of data and compared them to the data of a corresponding period in the year 2002: 1.Data provided by monthly statistical CILEA reports to determine e-journals use by Library patrons and staff. 2.Data relating monthly supplied documents by our DocDel Service to evaluate its performance after CILEA agreement. The results of the study show that the total number of downloaded articles amounts to 17.759, with an average of 2959,83 downloaded fulltext per month. Users have responded positively to the offered service. They have appreciated the convenience of desktop availability of biomedical literature and the possibility of retrieving documents twenty-four hours a day by-passing librarian intermediation. This is confirmed by the fact that Library patrons have retrieved 16.662 (94%) of the total downloaded articles and Library staff has retrieved only 1.097 (6%) articles. These findings point out a well done promotion of the service and the good results of our user’s education efforts. To achieve this goal the Library organizes periodically training sessions on its services and how to use them, especially about the use of electronic resources. Comparing data concerning DocDel Service (July/December 2003) with statistical findings of a corresponding period in the year 2002, we experienced a decrease by 27,98% in the number of requested and supplied documents. The requests were mainly restricted to older materials. The survey demonstrates that the availability of electronic journals has modified the evolution of Library DocDel Service. As a matter of fact the exponential growing that marked DocDel from 1999 to 2002 make us expect for 2003 an increase by 16% in the request and supply of documents both in print and in electronic format. On the contrary, results show that the number of articles supplied has gone down by 21,69% compared to the expected value. The most significant benefits experienced during the study period were a reduction in DocDel Staff workload, a reduction of direct cost of documents (borrowing, lending, copying, etc.), an increased fill rate and user satisfaction. The main difficulties we faced with were to handle technical problems and to make end users realised that not all journals are available electronically. The findings let us make some considerations about end user behaviour. Due to higher availability of online documents, our patrons generally broaden the range of articles read and retrieve a number of documents greater than that usually requested to the Library. In 2004, on the basis of aforesaid data and with the financial support of the “Fondazione Banco di Sardegna”, the Biblioteca Centrale dell’Area Biomedica decided to improve e-journals range gathering access to some other publishers. Our expectation for 2004 is a further decrease in DocDel requests related to a wider availability of electronic resources. We are now studying the correlation between the most downloaded journals and the rank reached by the same journals in ISI Impact Factor.