Guidelines

Careful judgment is required in establishing new databases or e-journal subscriptions. Databases and e-journals represent an ongoing commitment of fiscal resources. Prices of these resources increase much more rapidly than the library's budget, resulting in less money for other resources. New subscription requests will be reviewed based on criteria outlined below.

Requests for new subscriptions may be submitted to the library liaison, the Resource Management Department, or through the form below.

The Library's Collection Development Committee meets regularly to review and discuss requests for e-journal and database subscriptions. Whenever feasible, trials are requested. Trials of databases and e-journals are scheduled for periods when they can be evaluated by students, faculty, and librarians.

The Director of Libraries makes the final decision on new e-journal / database subscriptions based on the Collection Development Committee's recommendation and feedback from trials (as relevant).

Criteria for Journals

When reviewing a journal subscriptions, the Collection Development Committee considers the following:

• Accessibility – the journal's commitment to providing accessible content based on current WCAG guidelines.
• Authentication - the subscription should be available both on-campus (through IP authentication) and off-campus (through Furman login credentials).
• Cost - the cost of the journal must be able to be supported by the library's allocation for materials in that subject.
• Dependability - the subscription provider should be stable and dependable with minimal system downtime.
• Format – if the journal is available in electronic format, the library will always purchase it in that format. If the journal is only available in print, the library may choose to acquire it, and house it in the General Collection.  
• Full text availability in Furman's resources - if a requested title is available in current full text databases, the scope of the coverage of the full text is assessed.
• Indexing of the title - journals must be indexed in at least one subscription database to which Furman has access.
• Justification - the requestor is encouraged to supply a justification for the subscription. We are particularly interested in knowing how this subscription will be used and by whom.

Criteria for Databases

When reviewing a database subscription, the Collection Development Committee considers the following:

• Accessibility – the database's commitment to providing accessible content based on current WCAG guidelines..
• Authentication - the subscription should be available both on-campus (through IP authentication) and off-campus (through Furman login credentials).
• Cost - the cost of the database must be sustainable to the library.
• Dependability - the subscription provider should be stable and dependable with minimal system downtime.
• Justification - the requestor is encouraged to supply a justification for the subscription. We are particularly interested in knowing how this subscription will be used and by whom.

The Collection Development Committee takes these various pieces of information, weighs them against each other, and makes a recommendation as to the purchase of the resource. The recommendation goes to the Director of Libraries for a final decision.

If you are interested in submitting a request for a journal or database subscription, please contact your library liaison, the Resource Management Department, or use the form below to submit a request.

Please use the Request Library Materials form to request materials. Note: requesting materials does not guarantee the library will purchase them