developing a patron-driven acquisition service at the university of denver

ALCTS Acquisitions Managers and Vendors Interest Group

July 12, 2009

Michael Levine-ClarkCollections Librarian, University of Denver

Kim AndersonChief Bibliographer, Blackwell

Developing a Patron-Driven Acquisition Service at

The University of Denver

Why Patron Driven?

• No dead ends for patrons seeking information• Adds a just-in-time element to Collection

Development• Reduces item cost per use• Integrates print and digital Collection

Development

University of Denver Data

• 1999-May 2008– 208,248 titles (21,921 a year)– 47.77% unused (99,480)

• FY 2008– Approx $1 million spent on monographs• 47.77% = $477,700

– 23,097 forms generated in FY 2008• 4,687 titles ordered from forms

The Universe of Titles

• 170,663 books published in the U.S. in 2008*• 53,869 books treated on approval by Blackwell

in FY 2008 (North America)

*Library and Book Trade Almanac 2009, p. 506 (preliminary data).

Demand-Driven Purchase

• E-Books• Humanities forms– No fiction, reprints, or textbooks– Discovery through the catalog– Dollar limits by patron type

• POD

The User Experience

• Discovery (OPAC)– Print and/or ebook(s)

• Request (OPAC)– Fast, seamless

• Ordering– Alternative Sources– Rush (or not?)

Profile Creation

• Develop a separate profile area for Patron- Driven activity

• Incorporate all existing forms subprofiles• Block fiction, textbooks, reprints, sets• Librarian selectors continue to receive their

existing electronic forms notifications• Approval book profile remains in place and

active

Record Workflow

• Patron Driven profile generates title matches• Blackwell creates a weekly file for FTP• DU loads the MaRC tagged records with

profiling metadata to their OPAC• Patron can discover titles ‘available to order’

and create a request for print or ebook

Order Workflow

• Patron identifies the title and creates a request for e-book or print book by clicking a ‘buy’ button

• Acquisitions reviews requests and sources the order with e-book vendor, Blackwell, or another print supplier

• Patron is notified of title availability

A New Approach to Pricing

• Annual subscription fee for record creation• Small transaction fee for each title ordered

Measuring Success with Patrons

• Did the patron find titles to request?– What was the ratio of requests to title records

loaded in the OPAC?• Did the patron find the request function

understandable and easy to use?• Was the title provided when the patron

needed it – What is “just in time?”

Measuring Success in the Library

• Did patrons create requests?• How did circulation of patron-requested titles

compare to other titles added in the same time period?

• How do patron-selected titles compare to librarian-selected titles?

• What was the impact on acquisitions workflow?

• Is this workflow scalable?