2016 Charleston Library Conference

While many academic libraries with Demand-Driven Acquisitions (DDA) programs acquire ebooks based on actual patron usage, ebooks are also simultaneously acquired via firm orders. Ebook firm orders, primarily requested by subject experts or faculty library users, are largely processed manually, taking staff time and effort while also requiring separate processes for approval, processing, and tracking.

In this session, ebooks acquired by the Kent State University Libraries over a four-year period, using both approaches, are compared to see whether there are any differences between the two sets in terms of subject matter, publisher, publishing year, price, and post-purchase usage. Such analysis helps address some key questions about firm orders:
(1) How can the two ebook acquisition approaches be compared and evaluated?
(2) How does firm order ebook acquisitions translate into actual usage? Do firm orders receive the same level of usage compared to their DDA counterparts?
(3) Does the firm order method meet a unique need of library users that a DDA ebook program does not?
(4) What actions to take post-evaluation?

This session contributes to evidence-based ebook acquisition assessments and suggests possible ways how the two ebook acquisition approaches may be adjusted to better meet user needs.

This poster is co-authored by Kay Downey, Collection Management Librarian, University Libraries, Kent State University, who was unable to attend the conference.