Bensman SJ. Part 3 - Urquhart's law: Probability and the management of scientific and technical journal collections - The law's final formulation and implications for library systems" Science & Technology Libraries 26(2). p.33-69, 2005.

[Eugene Garfield]

FULL TEXT AVAILABLE AT :

http://garfield.library.upenn.edu/bensman/urquhartlaw3.pdf

also available parts 1 and 2
http://garfield.library.upenn.edu/bensman/urquhartlaw1.pdf
http://garfield.library.upenn.edu/bensman/urquhartlaw2.pdf

Full text posted with the permission of The Haworth Press
(http://www.haworthpress.com/) -  publisher of scholarly and professional
books and journals.Copyright 2005 by The Haworth Press, Inc. All rights
reserved.

E-mail : S.J. Bensman : notsjb at lsu.edu

TITLE: Urquhart's law: Probability and the management of scientific and
       technical journal collections - Part 3.
       The law's final formulation and implications for library systems

AUTHOR: Bensman, SJ

SOURCE: SCIENCE & TECHNOLOGY LIBRARIES 26 (2). 2005. p.33-69
        HAWORTH PRESS INC, BINGHAMTON


ABSTRACT:
This is the last part of an analysis of the law
formulated by Donald J. Urquhart in respect to the use of scientific and
technical (sci/tech) journals through either interlibrary loan or central
document delivery. The first part discussed the genesis of this law as well
as its statistical bases; the second dealt with the implications of the law
for the development and management of the sci/tech journal collection of a
central document delivery library. Part 3 concentrates on its consequences
for all the libraries of a given library system. There is analyzed in this
part the controversy over the validity of this law that Caused Urquhart to
formulate it in an explicit manner. Part 3 discusses Studies at various
libraries that have corroborated this law, postulating that this law forces
a probabilistic re-conceptualization of the functioning, of the sci/tech
journal system. Throughout this part, there are noted the consequences of
the law for such matters as sci/tech journal sales, resource sharing,
document delivery, interlibrary loan, and the transition from individually
held paper copies of journals to shared electronic databases.

AUTHOR ADDRESS: SJ Bensman, Louisiana State Univ, LSU Lib, Baton Rouge, LA
                70803 USA