Abstract It is important for academic librarians to demonstrate that they are trusted stewards of public money when purchasing e-book products; however, prior studies seldom examine the rationality in librarians' decision-making processes. Interviews including 20 librarians from 19 different institutions were conducted to collect data about their decision-making processes when purchasing e-book products. Institutional theory was used as a framework to analyze interview data. Librarians' perceptions of the environment where their decision process occurred were described as full of uncertainty, with the e-book market viewed as non-competitive with limited alternative products. Seven strategies the interviewees adopted to justify their purchase decisions were then identified, including experimentation, incorporating users' input, reliance on written documents, learning from past experiences, learning from other libraries, group decision, and aggressive negotiation. Decision-making processes were a mixture of institutional and rational actions. Factors affecting rationality in librarians' e-book purchase decisions could be applied to other types of decision-making in library settings, allowing stakeholders to better understand and interpret the situations that either help or hinder the rationality in library's decision-making.

中文翻译：

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理性行动或制度行动：学术图书馆员购买电子书产品决策过程的合理性研究

摘要 学术图书馆员在购买电子书产品时证明他们是值得信赖的公共资金管家很重要；然而，先前的研究很少考察图书馆员决策过程的合理性。采访了来自 19 家不同机构的 20 名图书馆员，以收集有关他们购买电子书产品时决策过程的数据。制度理论被用作分析访谈数据的框架。图书馆员对其决策过程发生的环境的看法被描述为充满不确定性，电子书市场被视为与有限的替代产品没有竞争力。然后确定了受访者为证明其购买决定而采用的七种策略，包括实验、结合用户的意见、依赖书面文件、从过去的经验中学习、从其他图书馆学习、集体决策和积极的谈判。决策过程是制度和理性行动的混合体。影响图书馆员电子书购买决策合理性的因素可以应用于图书馆环境中的其他类型的决策，让利益相关者更好地理解和解释有助于或阻碍图书馆决策合理性的情况。