Federal Science eLibrary Pilot Project Final Report

Conclusions

The pilot demonstrated the benefits of expanded access to digital content at the desktop to users and pilot site libraries, and proved the readiness of NRC-CISTI's infostructure to reliably support and deliver a Federal Science eLibrary service.

Participants who returned surveys, overwhelmingly indicated that having access to a larger collection of electronic journals had a positive or very positive impact on their research activities and productivity.

More specifically, pilot site users and librarians cited the following areas where desktop access to e-journals had a clear and positive impact on their work:

• Pilot users reported that the Federal Science eLibrary significantly reduced the time they spent finding and verifying information, allowing them to concentrate on critical activities such as manuscript preparation, peer review activities, professional reading and other research and laboratory activities.
• Pilot site librarians felt that offering coordinated access to more electronic journals through a Federal Science eLibrary would free their time for other professional activities, allowing them to serve their clients better and better meet their expectations for e-content.
• Remote users found increased access to e-journals had a positive impact on their ability to stay current and find needed information while in the field.
• Users said permanent access to a Federal Science eLibrary was important as they found it a positive factor in how well and how quickly they could complete their work.

Pilot surveys and usage reports provided another measure of the pilot's success. They indicated that:

• The site was well used, averaging 609 PDF downloads/month. 71% of impact survey respondents used the tool several times or more per month and 40% of those respondents used the site regularly, either on a daily basis or several times a week.
• The site was of particular value to libraries with very limited access to e-journals. The heaviest Federal Science eLibrary pilot site usage was from the CANMET Energy Technology Centre-Devon, which has access to fewer e-journals than the other pilot sites.
• Users valued the pilot site. 79% of Impact Survey respondents stated access to the Federal Science eLibrary pilot site had positively impacted their research activities and productivity.
• 92% of the Needs Assessment Survey respondents felt the impact of increased access on their research activities and productivity was positive or very positive.

It is important to note that a fully implemented Federal Science eLibrary would include content far beyond what was available in this pilot, as well as a user group made up of more than 22,000 ⁹ scientists, policy analysts and decision makers across all federal departments. The impact of a fully implemented Federal Science eLibrary would be far-reaching: STM professionals would be equipped with better information resources with which to define and evaluate policy, make decisions, and support key activities in strategic research, environmental and health protection, regulatory activity, defense and emergency preparedness.

This would be the most significant research tool in the last 10 years.

Fisheries and Oceans Canada - Sidney - Usability feedback session

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⁹ The number of federal employees in the scientific and professional occupational category (Dec. 2001)