The periodicals core collection: a methodology for their identification. The case of the Institute of Nuclear Sciences, National Autonomous University of Mexico

Abstract

The metodology to identify and analyze the core collection of periodicals with a current suscription in the Information and Library Unit of the Institute of Nuclear Sciences of the National Autonomous University of Mexico (UNAM) is presented. The identification of this core collection was based from their use made by the academic community: “where they publish”, “references they cite” and “journals where they cite them”. The analysis considered several aspects such as: area of study, level or quartile, impact factor, subscription cost, type of access, as well as the UNAM departaments that subscribe to them. A period of 40 years was covered and the international journals indexed in the Web of Science were considered. The results identified more than 5 000 titles used by the academic community throughout its history. The core collection consists of 68 titles, representing 1.36% of the total, with an approximate cost of $ 287 832 USD. 45.58% of this collection was located in the first quartile of its corresponding area and 14.70% of the subscriptions have duplicates in other departments of UNAM.