Cost- benefit analysis of databases in Mohaghegh Ardabili University in 2009

To analyze the cost-benefit of databases of Mohaghegh Ardabili University in 2009.
It is an applied and survey research. Statistical population is databases ScienceDirect, Taylor and Francis, and Sage. Statistical reports provided by the server were used to collect the required data. And, the two methods namely use frequency and cost-benefit analysis, as two scientific methods in evaluating electronic resources, have been used.
Findings: The frequency of the rate of use on the basis of indexes including the number of downloading the papers with HTML and PDF formats and abstracts in different databases were of significant differences, so that among the three databases, ScienceDirect and Taylor and Francis had the lowest rate of use.
Due to the costs provided for subscribing the databases, the three databases “ScienceDirect”, “Sage” and “Taylor and Francis” had been the cheapest, relatively expensive, and the most expensive databases, respectively.