(17 Sept 2020) Choice has announced the publication of the seventh in a series of white papers designed to provide actionable intelligence around topics of importance to the academic library community. The paper, “Ebook Collection Development in Academic Libraries: Examining Preference, Management and Purchasing Patterns,” aims to provide libraries with practical information and ideas for refining their strategies and adjusting expectations when integrating ebooks into their acquisitions workflow.
Researched and written by John Novak, University of Maryland-College Park; L.Angie Ohler, University of Arkansas; and Annette Day, University of Nevada-Las Vegas, the researchers surveyed academic librarians and interviewed academic library collection development practitioners in the United States and Canada. The goal of the study was to provide empirical context around the factors that are having the most influence on the way academic libraries acquire and integrate ebooks into their collection.
Commenting on the publication of the latest white paper, Choice Editorial Director Bill Mickey noted, “Ebooks have long been an important resource format in academic libraries. Even so, they require different collection development workflows, oversight, and budget considerations when compared to their print counterparts. With this report, Choice is pleased to provide greater insight into how academic libraries are purchasing and managing their ebook collections.”
Funding for this research was provided by a generous contribution from OverDrive Professional. “Ebook Collection Development in Academic Libraries: Examining Preference, Management and Purchasing Patterns” has been published under a CC BY-NC 4.0 license and is available on the Choice 360 website.
The original press release is here.
