Summary of responses to my recent query regarding ARTstor subscriptions ("Are you subscribing to ARTstor and if not, why not?").
Disclaimer: Now I see why I am not a statistician. Let me just say that this is not meant to be a scientific survey, but merely a summary of responses. The wording of my question encouraged those NOT subscribing to reply with reasons, so the results are skewed that way. The original query was posted to ARLIS-L, VRA-L, and AICAD-L (Association of Independent Colleges of Art and Design), so I am posting my summary to these lists as well.
I would like to thank all of the respondents. Even during this slow time of year, and with my query coming right during ALA and prime vacation season, I received responses from 35 institutions. Many of you gave thorough and impassioned arguments for not subscribing. Several said that they would like to subscribe but could not or would not for certain reasons. Many of these factors can potentially be addressed by ARTstor in the months and years to come. It is my hope that further efforts such as this to bring these issues to the attention of ARTstor may continue the dialogue begun by the Mellon people and the testing sites, many of whom have provided valuable feedback.
Executive Summary: The vast majority of negative respondents mentioned price as the primary factor. The other issues that could conceivably be ameliorated by ARTstor are software incompatibility, and concerns about content and quality of images and metadata. The international rights issue ruled out all of our Canadian friends.
The on-campus issues external to ARTstor include inadequate classroom infrastructure, lack of administrative support or user demand, and lingering discomfort with licensing rather than owning content.
A point that is now moot is the lateness of the pricing announcement in the budgetary process.
Several respondents mentioned that they want ARTstor to succeed and hope to eventually subscribe but, like we at Parsons School of Design, are taking a wait and see attitude. Concerns not already mentioned include inadequate level of user demand and unproven long-term sustainability of ARTstor. Conversely, some did not want to see ARTstor succeed, but rather advocated resource sharing among institutions.
A few institutions mentioned that they used the ARTstor question to raise the issue of digital image delivery on their campuses, or to further inform an already existing discussion.
In short, I found this to provide fascinating insight into the decision-making process concerning a resource that, for better or worse, has or will affect many of us in profound ways. My thanks again to the respondents. Below are the raw numbers.
35 institutions of varying sizes and types responded.
23 NO
7 MAYBE
5 YES
Reasons given for subscribing (or considering subscribing), in order of frequency:
6 Price
2 Inclusion of AMICO
2 Faculty/student demand
1 Support ARTstor/Mellon efforts
1 No current database or presentation software on campus
1 Build political capital w/other divisions
1 Content
Reasons given for not subscribing, in order of frequency:
17 Price
7 Inadequate infrastructure (primarily no smart classrooms)
6 Incompatibility w/other software
6 "Wait and see" regarding quality, sustainability
3 Too late in budget cycle
3 Inadequate quality (images and metadata)
3 International (Canadian) problems
3 Discomfort w/licensing rather than owning
3 Lack of institutional administrative support
3 Inadequate user demand
2 Inadequate content
2 No consortial pricing
2 Favor resource sharing amongst institutions
1 ARTstor must prove fiscally sound
Andrew P. Gessner
Director, Gimbel Library
Parsons School of Design
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212-229-8915
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