Implementing patron-select models for book collections:
A case analysis at a university library in U.S.
At the Satellite Conference, Acquisitions and Collection
Development Section, University of the Virgin Island,
10th -11th August 2011
By Dr. Sha Li Zhang
Introduction
Advancement of technologies is rapidly changing the methods of delivering scholarly and
instructional contents to library users. With continually declined number of circulation for print
monographs, academic and research libraries in U.S. are looking for new ways in acquiring
monographic contents in order to meet the needs of their patrons.
Upon the waves of successfully using electronic platforms in replacing most print reference
materials (i.e., indexes and abstracts, statistical data, dictionaries, bibliographies, etc.) with
databases, and replacing many print journals with electronic ones, scholarly and instructional
monographs in an electronic format are now dominating our attention.
According to the data of expenditures on e-books from thirty-eight libraries in the Association of
Southeastern Research Libraries (ASERL), the largest regional research library consortium in the
United States, the expenditures on e-books from these libraries increased from $3,545,607 in
2006 to $7,363,788 in 2010 (Chart 1). The e-book collections grew from 5,452,850 to
13,524,730 at the same period (ASERL data, 2011).
Chart 1. ASERL Libraries’ expenditures on e-books
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In a recent publication by Primary Research Group, the participating libraries report the mean
spending of more than $90,000 per year on e-books. The spending is expected to increase about
16 percent in 2011 (PRG, 2010). Furthermore, in the Ithaka S+R Library Survey 2010, the
authors report that the library directors expect that in five years, the transition of a half of the
collection budget on print monographs to e-books will be completed (Long and Schonfeld, 2010).
In responding to the ever increased expectations from users, academic libraries in U.S. are
responding with new ways in selecting and purchasing monographs to be used and circulated.
Using patron-driven acquisitions (PDA) models on monographic collections has helped libraries
redefine their collection development policy to ensure the purchased materials are used. Thus
the cost efficiency can be realized. The case analysis in implementing a patron-driven
acquisitions project at the University of North Carolina in Greensboro (UNCG) Libraries in U.S.
is just one of such examples.
The institutional context
The University of North Carolina at Greensboro (UNCG), located in the southeast region in U.S.,
is one of the seventeen campuses of the University of North Carolina System, with more than
18,000 students and over 2,000 faculty and staff on this campus. In 2006, UNCG was classified
by the Carnegie Foundation for the Advancement of Teaching as a Research University with
“High Research Activity.” The designation is expected to help UNCG attract even more
outstanding faculty and graduate students, and to raise the university’s profile in North Carolina
and beyond. With this new classification, transitioning funding in recurring money was provided
to the university subsequently, including additional funding for library support.
The students at the UNCG campus are diverse in their cultural backgrounds, social-economic
status, learning styles, and residence choices. Among over 18,000 students, only 29 percent of
undergraduate students live on campus housing or other living facilities provided by the
University. Most of the students commute to and from the campus daily (UNCG Common data
Set, 2010-2011). Furthermore, the University offers numerous distance learning programs
through which the students are able to complete their academic degrees without coming to the
campus. Accessing library resources through electronic platforms via internet has become
necessity for students on campus and off campus.
The UNCG Libraries have been recognized by faculty, students, and communities as an
intellectual hub of the University. The Libraries have been a leader in the region to support
teaching, research, and life-long learning activities of the University and local communities
through enhanced access to library materials. By June 2011, the Libraries provided users with
more than 63,000 subscribed serials. Among these titles, less than 3,000 are counted as print
journals. The Libraries offer more than 600 databases which have replaced most print reference
materials. With shifting from checking out print materials within the library building to
accessing scholarly and instructional resources anytime and any places, the UNCG libraries
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have aggressively expanded and facilitated access to monographic materials through electronic
platforms.
A case analysis at the UNCG Libraries
In responding to the needs of faculty and students from various subject disciplines and from
different locations, the Libraries started exploring access to e-books in early 2008. Several
vendors provided patron-driven acquisitions (PDA) e-book platforms, including ebrary, ebook
library (EBL), and Myilibrary. Because the UNCG Libraries uses Coutts Information Services
for some of the print materials, the representatives from the company were naturally invited for a
demo at the Libraries. Based on Patron-Select Model offered by Coutts, the vendor offers
Myilibrary as an electronic platform to deliver e-book contents. The aggregated platform is
integrated with libraries’ OPAC for searches and views. The full MARC records are down-
loaded into libraries’ cataloging systems. The loaded records are integrated with other MARC
records so that users’ search to e-books on OPACs are seamless. When users view and download
an e-book title twice, the title is considered for a purchase. Libraries then are charged for a
payment on the title. After the demo, the librarians at the UNCG Libraries had good impressions
on Myilibrary for its ability of being able to search e-books through OPAC and on the Libraries’
web site respectively.
Back in early 2008, purchasing e-books was still a new phenomenon. One of the library liaisons
did a couple of informal pooling with students at the instructional classes on using e-books.
None of the students showed any favor on this new monographic format. Nonetheless, seeing
promising on the e-book platform such as Myilibrary encouraged the UNCG Libraries to explore
the potential benefits on this new format. In order to gaining needed experience and data, the
Department of Computer Science at UNCG was initially chosen to participate in the pilot project.
With uncertainty on how many titles would be chosen by users each year and on how much
would be spent on e-books for one department, the Libraries looked into the pilot project to
provide answers to these questions. Once the decision was made, several steps were taken to
implement this pilot project.
• Determine the budgetary amount -
Each year, the Libraries allocate $4,000 annually to the Department of Computer Science on
print monographs. Because of a short life-span on publications for the discipline, the department
liaison agrees to use the print monographic fund for the e-book pilot project. If expenditures on
the pilot project go over the original allocation, additional fund from collections budget would be
added. Therefore, the funding was not a major issue on this pilot project.
• Set up profiles -
The initial subject profile was set up based on Library of Congress class schedules. The non-
subject parameters on the profile focus on e-books published by university presses, with
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publication dates from 2008 to present, and $300 as a maximum ceiling price per item. Other
non-subject parameters specify countries of publications, languages, readership levels, sets and
series, and editions. These are the similar criteria on the profiles for e-books with that of print
materials.
• Review license agreement -
As it is with procurement of any other electronic products, prior implementing the Coutts’
Patron-Select model, a license agreement with the vendor was reviewed by a UNCG Counsel
who is responsible for examining all license agreements related to purchasing electronic
materials at the University. Fortunately, all major concerns were reviewed, negotiated, and
agreed upon quickly by both parties.
• General workflow -
Prior to down-loading MARC records according to the Libraries’ e-book profiles, the vendor
offers to check the Libraries’ online cataloging system to avoid duplications. In this way, the
MARC records for the duplicated titles on e-books would not be down-loaded into the libraries’
cataloging database. Since then the vendor has continued this practice on a monthly basis.
Each month, the profiled MARC records are down-loaded into the Libraries’ cataloging system
by one of staff at the Department of Cataloging. During the pilot period, the library liaisons
were informed on loaded MARC records for e-books. Subsequently, the liaisons have included
the option of e-books in their instructional classes, but did not use any of these e-books as
examples. In this way, any item that was viewed or down-loaded two times or more would be
real usages by users. Each month, the vendor sends the Libraries an invoice which lists the titles
being viewed and down-loaded for purchases. Because the Libraries have deposited collection
funds to cover the expenditures on e-books, the vendor automatically deducted the funds
according to the amount listed on each invoice.
The staff at the Department of Cataloging have accepted most of down-loaded MARC records
with little enhancement for purchased titles. They only overlay a handful of brief records with a
full record from OCLC if the vendor-provided MARC records deem incomplete. The full
MARC record displayed on OPAC also informs users on the format of e-books (see Chart 2).
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Chart 2. An e-book record on OPAC display
Title: Evaluation and testing in nursing education [electronic resource] /
Marilyn H. Oermann, Kathleen B. Gaberson.
Personal Author: Oermann, Marilyn H.
Holdings: Call Number Status Location Format
EBOOK World Wide Web Access Online
INTERNET Link: Available online.
Publisher: New York, NY: Springer Publishing Company, c2009.
Edition: 3rd ed.
A special code was added to the 910 field of the MARC records to indicate where the records
come from and down-loading dates. This process helps cataloging staff to generate reports when
it is time to delete non-purchased MARC records. Once a title is purchased, the wording in the
910 field is changed by cataloging staff to indicate that the Libraries own the title. This special
code enables staff in the Department of Acquisitions to collect data on e-book expenditures at the
end of fiscal year.
The Libraries have decided to delete MARC records from the cataloging system for non-
purchased titles after they are down-loaded for two years. In this way, the Libraries are able to
ensure that the most current e-books are being viewed and purchased.
• Expenditures for the pilot project -
During the pilot period from July 2008 to December 2009 on the subject of computer science,
the total expenditure on e-books was over $7,000, with 70 titles being viewed or downloaded
two times or more by users. As it shows in Chart 3, while there were no activities in some
months such as August, October, November, December in 2008, and October through December
in 2009, more e-books were selected by users in February (20 titles) and March (10 titles) 2009
respectively. Nonetheless, the total expenditures for e-books during this period were within a
range of the fund that we allocated to the discipline.
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Chart 3. Expenditures from July 2008 – December 2009
Description Invoice Amount Number of titles
July 2008 $ 125.40 1
September 2008 $ 119.93 2
January 2009 $ 607.06 6
February 2009 $ 2,496.87
20
March 2009 $ 784.57
10
April 2009 $ 289.11 4
May 2009 $ 530.58 9
July 2009 $ 287.90 5
August 2009 $ 1,456.72 6
September 2009
$ 503.94 7
Total $ 7,202.08 70
• Full-implementation of the model -
Based on the pilot project data, in January 2010, the Libraries expanded the PDA e-book project
to four additional disciplines in nursing, business, chemistry, and foreign languages. The
expansion of the project achieved the similar positive outcomes. Between January and
December 2010, a total expenditure on PDA e-books was $17,817, with 172 titles purchased.
In January 2011, the Libraries started using this model for all disciplines to select and purchase
electronic books. Due to expansion of subject areas, more MARC records are down-loaded.
Therefore, users have more options on e-books in their interesting areas. As of April 2011, a
total of expenditures on PDA e-books are $13,171, with 151 titles in 2011. Chart 4 shows
comparison on these two periods.
Chart 4. Comparison data on expenditures and titles purchased
Titles
Expenditures purchased Disciplines
Jan. - Dec. 2010 $17,817 172 5
Jan. - April 2011 $13,171 151 37
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Lessons learned
It has been almost three year since the Libraries explored PDA e-book platform. Several factors
contributed to positive outcomes on this project. The Libraries have an excellent team which
consists of the units of Collection Management, Acquisitions, Cataloging, IT, and Reference &
Instruction to work cohesively on various tasks: allocating funding, setting up profiles, down-
loading MARC records, tracking expenditures and payments, teaching students on using e-books,
etc. It also should be pointed out that the pilot project on computer science took a little bit longer
than it should be before the Libraries expanded this project to additional disciplines and
eventually opened up to all disciplines. Had the expansion went a little early, for instance, in
June instead of December 2010, more PDA e-books could be acquired. Another important
aspect is to keep the Libraries’ cataloging data in integrated library system (ILS) updated to
avoid duplications during record loading process.
Challenges ahead
In April 2011, Association for Collections & Technical Services, a division of the American
Library Association, hosted an e-forum on PDA models. The discussions, comments, and
experience shared throughout the forum in general reflected what the UNCG Libraries have been
through. The topics include workflows, vendor selection, budget allocation, profiles, etc. These
discussions re-affirmed the practices at the UNCG Libraries.
With more and more libraries starting to adopt the PDA models for e-book collections, the issue
on a consortium-wide PDA program was brought up for discussion during the e-forum. One of
the librarians commented:
“There are several challenges in providing content at this scale- finding diverse content to
meet the needs of different types of institutions; handling the workload associated with
record loads for a variety of institutions who have different staffing levels and skill sets;
and finding a model that would work with a variety of monograph budgets.” (McElroy,
April 13, 2011).
Furthermore, prior to implementing a consortium -wide PDA program, the issues such as
selecting a single approval vendor or multiple ones and selecting a single platform provider or
otherwise will need to be addressed. Nonetheless, with continually decreased collection budgets,
reduced staff, and increased user expectations, it is imperative to continue moving PDA models
to a large scale.
Conclusion
The UNCG Libraries explored the option of using PDA model for e-books. With a positive
outcome from a pilot project started in 2008, the Libraries expanded the PDA model to all
disciplines which consist of forty-five academic departments and programs. The expenditures
and the e-books selected by users have increased accordingly. It is imperative to continue
exploring the use of PDA models on a larger scale which will ultimately benefit users.
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References
Association of Southeastern Research Libraries (ASERL), Member Statistics, at
http://www.aserl.org accessed on June 2, 2011.
Library Use of EBooks 2011 Edition, Primary Research Group, 2010.
Long, M. P., and Schonfeld, R. C. (2010), Ithaka S+R Library Survey 2010: Insights from U.S.
Academic Library Directors.
McElroy, E., E-mail message on April 13, 2011, Oregon Health & Science University.
UNCG Common Data Set, 2010-2011, at http://ire.uncg.edu/pages/CDS/cds2010-UNCG.pdf
Accessed on June 3, 2011
Contact information
Sha Li Zhang, Ph. D.
Assistant Dean for Collections & Technical Services
University of North Carolina at Greensboro Libraries
P. O. Box 26170
Greensboro, North Carolina 27402
Phone: (336) 334-4705
Fax: (336) 334-5399
E-mail: [email protected]
Location: 320 College Ave, Greensboro, NC 27412
