Abstract

This study investigates the use of print titles purchased on approval and how quickly they become available as ebooks. Using this information, we explore the potential impact on patrons if the library was to move to a demand driven acquisitions process for print books. We found that at our library, the low overall usage of print titles received on approval indicates that patrons would be minimally inconvenienced by switching to this method in which records would be loaded into the catalog and titles would only be purchased when requested. Additionally, we found that the impact on patrons decreases over time as more titles become available as ebooks. Although differences exist between disciplines, overall findings show that a demand driven acquisitions process for print books would result in substantial budgetary savings without sacrificing patron service at our library. In addition to the description of our program, we describe some data analysis methods that can be used at other libraries in order to estimate potential impact on patron service and satisfaction.

摘要

本研究调查了经批准购买的印刷品的使用情况以及它们以电子书形式出现的速度。利用这些信息，我们探讨了如果图书馆转向需求驱动的印刷书籍采购流程对读者的潜在影响。我们发现，在我们的图书馆，获得批准的印刷品的总体使用率较低，这表明通过切换到将记录加载到目录中并且仅在请求时才购买图书的这种方法，读者将受到最小的不便。此外，我们发现随着越来越多的书名以电子书的形式出现，对顾客的影响会随着时间的推移而减少。尽管学科之间存在差异，总体调查结果表明，以需求为导向的印刷书籍采购流程将在不牺牲我们图书馆的读者服务的情况下节省大量预算。除了对我们计划的描述外，我们还描述了一些可以在其他图书馆使用的数据分析方法，以估计对顾客服务和满意度的潜在影响。