Online journals have been the preferred format for several years, with most academic libraries favoring online access to print subscriptions. However, the move towards an online-preferred collection development policy for books has not quite reached the same saturation, despite the popularity of options such as DDA and PDA. This session will review the literature on reasons for moving to an online-preferred collection development policy for all resources, including books, and provide information on user preferences, technological and platform hurdles to overcome, and information on current collection development policies for e-books. Kate Moore Coordinator of Electronic Resources, Indiana University Southeast Kate Moore earned her MLS in 2009 from Indiana University. She began her career in electronic resource management at Indiana University Southeast in New Albany, Indiana in 2009, and is an Assistant Librarian and Coordinator of Electronic Resources there.

1. Are We There Yet?
Moving to an E-Only Collection
Development Policy for Books
Presentation at NASIG 2014
May 2nd 1:10pm
Kate Moore, Coordinator of Electronic
Resources, Indiana University Southeast

2. Outline
I. Motivations
II. Reservations
III. Steps Taken
IV. Future Directions
ABSTRACT: Online journals have been the preferred
format for several years, with most academic
libraries favoring online access to print subscriptions.
However, the move towards an online-preferred
collection development policy for books has not
quite reached the same saturation, despite the
popularity of options such as DDA and PDA. This
session will review the literature on reasons for
moving to an online-preferred collection
development policy for all resources, including
books [Motivations], and provide information on user
preferences, technological and platform hurdles to
overcome [Reservations], and information on current
collection development policies for e-books [Steps
Taken].

3. What’s the motivation?
 Space Constraints
OCLC Collection and Circulation Analysis Project (2011) found
that just 6% of the collection drove 80% of the usage.

4. What’s the motivation?
 Reinvention of Library Space
The “Library as Incubator” project defines makerspaces as
“[c]ollaborative learning environments where people come
together to share materials and information, and to learn new
skills. Makerspaces are not defined by a specific set of materials
or spaces, but rather a mindset of community partnership,
collaboration, and creation.”

5. Reinventing Library Space

6. What’s the motivation?
 Online Education
4.6
5.3
5.8
6.6
7.9
1.6
1.9 1.9
5.2
7.8
FALL 2010 FALL 2011 FALL 2012 FALL 2013 SPRING 2014
Percentage of Hours Taken in Online
Classes
All IU IU Southeast

7. ACRL’S Standards for Distance
Learning Library Services (2008)
The originating institution is responsible for
ensuring that the distance learning
community has access to library materials
equivalent to those provided in traditional
settings.

8. What’s the motivation?
 24/7 availability
 Remote access
 Full-text searching
 Copy and paste
 Portability
 No re-
shelving, loss, or
defacement
 Environmentally
friendly

9. What’s the hold up?
Lack of interest is perhaps too mild a characterization for the reaction
that some students have to e-books. Many of the reactions that I have
encountered have been more visceral. They reflect an intensity I did
not see in the transition from journals to e-journals. The loss of print
books is personal. Books are loved. E-books threaten them. I think it is
important to acknowledge that for many students, faculty and
librarians, perhaps most acutely for librarians, e-books threaten the loss
of something approximating the loss of a personal friend. - Allen
McKiel, Dean of Library and Media Services, Western Oregon
University, 2008

10. What’s the hold up?
Book Type
Subject
Age
Purpose
User Preferences vary by:

11. What’s the hold up?
User Preference
vs.
Use

12. What’s the hold up?
76,335
67,773 66,955
72,478 73,168
80,069
56,460 55,092
3420 2998 3071
617 984 287 719
25222 26135 27016 26894 26069 26537
22181
25222
60,888 61,430
64,066
69,315
73,324 73,841
69,763 68,412
0
10,000
20,000
30,000
40,000
50,000
60,000
70,000
80,000
90,000
2006 2007 2008 2009 2010 2011 2012 2013
IU Southeast Usage by Collection
Subscription Collection Collection (through consortia)
Publisher Collection Print Circulation (includes Request Delivery)
Student Credit Hours Enrolled

13. What’s the hold up?
 Platform
Functionality

14. What’s the hold up?
Ebooks are a “Faustian technology that seduces with
convenience, particularly for those who consume a
great many books, but offers little else while extracting
a corrosive toll on our social institutions and norms.” –
Clifford Lynch, Executive Director, Coalition for
Networked Information, 2013

15. Accessibility
Is the content accessible?
Is the search interface accessible?
Is the content reasonably navigable for users with
disabilities?
Are other features such as highlighting and note-
taking accessible?
Adapted from Thoughts and Tips about Ebook Accessibility
http://www.uniaccessig.org/universal/node/97

16. Business Models for Libraries
Subscription v. Purchasing
Single Title vs. Collections vs. Patron Driven
Acquisitions
Platform preference
Number of simultaneous users
“There is no agreement or direction pointing to the obvious
choice for most types of libraries.” –David Stern

17. While We’re on the Subject…
 Preservation
Availability of content
 Multiple licenses
 Interlibrary loan

18. Where are we now?
Wiley 2013 Library Survey Key Findings:
• Spending on print books still exceeds digital but is expected to be even in three
years’ time.
• Currently 26% of book collections are digital.
• 75% of respondents state that their e-book collection supplements their equivalent
print collection, while 25% state it replaces it.

19. Where Are
We Now?

20. What Should be Taken into Account?
 Responsibility for Selection
 Funding for Electronic Resources
 Criteria for Selection
 Duplication of Resources
 eBook Collections vs. Individual Titles
 Perpetual Access vs. Subscription for eBooks
 Patron Driven Acquisitions
 Open Access (Free) eBooks
 Downloadable eBooks
 Library-owned eReaders
 Guidelines for Weeding Electronic Resources
Adapted from LRCCD Libraries Electronic Collection Development Policy:
http://www.crc.losrios.edu/Student_Services/Library/About_the_Library/LRCCD_Libraries_Electronic_Collection_Development_Policy.htm

21.  Promoting
Policy/Availability
to Users
What Should be Taken into Account?

22. Where are we going?
• Knowledge Unlatched
• Evidence-Based Acquisitions
• Other Initiatives?

23. References
http://www.zotero.org/groups/ebook_collection_
development_policies/items