Thomson aims to gauge full impact

Information managers want a single tool that will enable them to measure article usage, impact factors, where their academics publish their articles and the journals they cite, according to Thomson Scientific. The scientific, technical and medical (STM) information publisher has joined forces with five universities to develop a new application Collection Development Manager, which will be available next year.

The web based tool will gather together all the journal usage data and place this data in context with institutional publishing and citation behaviour, providing a full view of the a journal's role within the institution. "Information professionals are growing to understand that they need a full picture of usage, " said Patricia Brennan, Collection Development Manager product development manager at Thomson Scientific.

Brennan said Collection Development Manager will be available in early 2005 as a subscription per-institution web service. The Collection Development Manager name is subject to possible change before the launch in 2006.

Thomson Scientific believe the application will enable information professionals to judge whether publisher usage reports provide a complete picture of journal usage and to judge the relationship between Impact Factor and the influence a journal has at their institution.

Collection Development Manager is being developed in conjunction with five universities including Dartmouth College, University of Chicago, University of Michigan, Drexel University and the University of Melbourne. Brennan said a number of British institutions were interested in co-operating but the timing did not suit either party.

Thomson Scientific provides information professionals with a number of journal usage measurement tools, including Essential Science Indicators, Journal Performance Indicators and the Journal Citation Reports.

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