Project Background
The BYU Harold B. Lee Library offers interlibrary loan
services to patrons. One part of the interlibrary loan services is the ability
for patrons to request digital copies of articles from journals (or other
publications) from other libraries (because the HBLL does not subscribe to the
journal/publication). These articles are protected by copyright laws, and
universities currently interpret these copyright laws as follows:
Within one calendar year, a
university may request up to five articles from one journal for free. Any
additional requests must be paid for, with the price depending on the journal
(some articles cost over $100 for a copy). This rule only applies to articles
published within the last 5 years; any articles older than five years can be requested
without limit or cost.
Project Solution
I developed a solution using Excel and VBA that will allow
the HBLL to make cost-efficient purchase decisions for journal subscriptions.
The code pulls in and cleans up a spreadsheet output of Interlibrary Loan
request data and provides useful aggregate statistics as well as journal-specific
patron statistics. The spreadsheet then has a user form that facilitates the
entering of pricing data and does the calculations to make cost-effective
purchase recommendations, based on the copyright law limitations and
requirements. It also provides the user with the name of the librarian who
would be responsible for purchasing the journal in question.
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