Characteristics and availability of journal literature used by biomedical researchers in South Africa

[摘要] ENGLISH ABSTRACT: The management of especially academic libraries need to justify the expenditure on staff,equipment and materials to the top management at universities which are in the throes ofeconomically stringent times. Document delivery is seen as one of the core functions anacademic information service performs and thus an appropriate target for objective assessmentThe present project focuses on the document delivery capability of the academic medical librariesin South Africa. A dual research protocol is employed. Firstly the characteristics of the journalliterature used by the South African biomedical researchers are analysed and described. Theavailability of these publications are subsequently investigated. The journal articles published in1989 by the target group provides the source data for the project. These articles, augmented bya representative sample of the references cited, are analysed according to establishedbibliometric criteria. The resulting description of characteristics is significant in its comparabilitywith similar international studies. Subsequently, an empirical document delivery test is conductedat all seven the academic medical libraries in South Africa to establish the availability quotient ofthe identified journal citations. A hypothetical national average is also calculated. A highavailability rate was found at all the test libraries. Academic libraries are at present forced tocancel journal subscriptions. It is crucially important that such cancellations should be handledon a rational basis thereby limiting the damage to what is collectively considered a national assetThis is only possible through national cooperation under the auspices of the CUP. This studywas intended as an indicator of the current state of availability of biomedical journal literature inSouth Africa. It is recommended that the same methodology be used for follow-up studies tocontrol these results and to monitor future availability trends.

[发布机构] Stellenbosch University