This very useful case study describes a model for patron-driven ebook acquisition at California State University–Fullerton’s Pollak Library. The model includes the following pieces:
- Selected an ebook vendor (Ebook Library, or EBL).
- Created a profile of subject areas for the materials the library wanted to acquire.
- Incorporated all the ebook titles from the profiled subject areas into the OPAC (initially almost 26,000 titles; at time of writing almost 44,000 titles).
- Allowed patrons to peruse any ebook. If the perusal lasted longer than 5 minutes, the system triggered a short term loan (STL) and EBL charged the library (about 10 percent of the ebook purchase price; varied by publisher).
- Once an item experienced STL four times, the item was automatically purchased (unless it was over $250, in which case authorization by library staff was required).
- During STL and after purchase: "A user can read the book online or download it (using Adobe Digital Editions), print 20% of the text, and copy and paste 5% of it" (p. 18).
- Found they had to modify the catalog records to align the subject headings with the LOC heading they were already using. This increased the cost of the program, but cataloging was still substantially cheaper than for a standard print book acquisition.
- Reviewing data for first eight months of the program, the authors provide details on expenditures, patron usage (number of books, time spent with book), and use by subject area.
- The authors conclude the the typical cost of acquisition is probably cheaper than for print materials when one factors in cataloging.
- The patron-driven component of the acquisition model means that the acquisitions were actually used, which is never a guarantee with traditional acquisition models.
"Adding tens of thousands of records to the local catalog for little cost and allowing patrons to select only what they want or need has significantly increased the value of the collection. Moreover, the overall transaction cost is far lower than obtaining the items via interlibrary loan or purchasing them outright, and we know the items are being used" (p. 20).My thoughts
This model looks very intriguing. Does Follett offer an option like this? Or Mackey? Once students are accustomed to ebooks, this would be a great way to build the collection. It's instantaneous, even quicker than my current method of ordering from Amazon. It's seamless in that students don't have to worry about whether the book is currently available; if they want it, it appears to them as if it were already in the library.
There's no mention of how multiple copies work. If a book has been downloaded, can only one patron access it at a time? Probably. If the library has purchased an ebook and it's checked out, do four additional STLs trigger purchase of a second copy?
No comments:
Post a Comment