1. Dorette Snyman
Collection Developer: E-Resources
Unisa Library
The battle to build an e-book
collection: advice from the
trenches
GAELIC Training Camp, 16 November 2010

2. Discussion of the Unisa Library
experience in:
• Finding ebooks
• Purchasing models
• Content models
• Selection criteria
• Making e-books available
• Advice to offer to other libraries

3. Battle is an orgy of disorder
George S Patton,
American general

4. The battle to find e-books
• No single comprehensive source available
• Combination of sources needs to be used
• Book supplier & aggregator databases
• Coutts, Dawson, Blackwell, NetLibrary, Ebrary, MyILibrary
• WorldCat, Google Books
• Publishers web sites
• Publishers promotional material, visits & conferences
• SANLIC offers
• Requests from clients
• Serendipity, or the chance encounter
• Type of resource wanted will determine where we’ll look
• Selection is an effort!

5. What’s difficult to find?
• Textbooks
• Older titles
– Excluding big publishers
– Free titles may fill the gap
– Google Editions
• Small and niche publishers
• South African publishers
• Different content models offered

6. Content models
• Publisher driven content
– Compile collections to suit their marketing plan
– Bulk selling of content = “big deal”
• Library driven content
– Pick your own titles – time consuming
– Individual titles on request
– Often pre-requirement eg minimum value
• Patron driven content
– Purchase based on patron use
• Dawson
• MyILibrary

7. Purchasing models
• Individual titles
• Subject collections – determined by publisher
• Packages – by copyright year
• “cherry pick” – or create your own collection
• “the whole tutti” - or complete collections
• Backfiles – historical collections
• Unsuitable models:
– E-mailing the book in pdf or other format
– Downloading to individual workstation
– Individual password per person
– Single user per title in publisher packages

8. No battle plan survives
contact with the enemy
Colin Powell, US General

9. Selection (1)
• Budget
– Separate budget for collections & “bulk buying”
– Allocation within subject budget for individual titles
– Vary between colleges and subjects
– Digital assets and digital non-capitalised resources
• Selection decision:
– Collection development policy
– Criteria for selection
– Preference to access in perpetuity
– Title lists are scrutinized and circulated for approval

10. Selection (2)
• Content with opposing forces
– Publisher vs aggregator platform
– Collection vs individual title
– Purchase vs subscription / lease
– Front list vs available titles
– E-only vs print + e
– Single vs multiple user access
– Unlimited vs restricted use
– Copyright year vs publication year
• Full title list of available titles pre-requirement to order
• No front lists may be ordered
• Precise description of selected package or collection

11. Licence and technical issues
• Licence agreement / purchase agreement
– First order on platform time-consuming
– Due diligence (risk analysis)
– Description of the collection in addendum to licence
– Clauses required:
• Authorized users with remote access
• Post-cancellation or post-termination availability
• Educational use
• ILL?
• Technical considerations
– Authentication methods: IP vs passwords
– Format of content – pdf, html
– Persistent URL’s for linking

12. Procurement
• Publishers order record or individual title orders
• Direct or via agent
• Record of no. of volumes and title list
• Processing licence agreement & signatures
• Communicate with publisher re discounts
• Updated addendums for existing agreements
• Tracking payment through Finance dept.
• Receive notification of access
• Communication to collection development & cataloguing

13. Cataloguing
• 2-record approach
• Source of MARC records – OCLC vs publishers vs self
• Completeness of MARC record
• Correct 856 field and item record
• Fields must be correct to be retrievable in discovery tool
• Problems with OCLC Collection Sets:
• 856 (URL) not always correct – persistent URL’s
• Collections incomplete, do not match selection title list
• Errors in records
• Publishers MARC records
• Varying quality and completeness, UKMARC records
• URL usually correct
• Collections incomplete
• Keeping up with additions and deletions

14. Post- notification of access
• E-resource collection developer:
– Publisher or platform on A- Z list
– Completion of ERM record
– Usage statistics
– Initial announcement to users via newsletter
• Subject Collection Developers
– Ordered collections available
– Incorporate into marketing efforts
• Personal librarians, Information Desk
– Communicate to users – on-campus and remote

15. Finding our e-books
• Searchable in OASIS library catalogue
– E-books scoping in catalogue
– Or searches limited to e-books
• Linking in prescribed and recommended reading lists
• Listed on A-Z database web page
• Listed as separate list in monthly New Books list
• Will be retrievable in discovery tool (Encore)

16. Who is involved?
• Collection development
– Subject collection developers
– E-resource librarian
• Procurement
– Serials – if subscription
– Books – if a purchase
• Cataloguing
– All catalogers involved
• Personal librarians
– Marketing and raising awareness
• Information Desk, Request Services
• Marketing
• Training

17. Using our Millennium modules
Acquisitions
• Create bib record for publisher
• Attach orders to publishers
record – collection developers
• Dedicated fund code for e-
books – per college
• Number of volumes
• Fixed fields:
– Location: E-books
– Asset type: electronic
– Format : electronic
ERM
• Create erm record for publisher
• Attach order records (related o)
• Use Financial tab to total
payments – usage stats
• Source of MARC record -
catalogers
• Licence record - track progress
- Procurement
• Contact record for publishers
contact persons – used by all
• Supporting docs:
– Title lists
– Collections purchased
– Conditions, discounts, etc.

18. All collection orders attached to
one publishers record

19. Individual order with full
information

20. ERM – publishers record:
Under Financial tab, record of
payments per year with total

21. Full ERM record

23. Examples of recent requests
• Knowledge Resources: HR Survey 2009
– Ebook in pdf, downloaded by e-mail link, valid for 2 hours, single
workstation
• Harvard Business Press
– To lecturers only, after registration of course, individual student
per title, no institutional purchase
• Clinical Nutrition, 8th ed., Cengage Gale iChapters
– Lecturers and students online copy, payment per credit card,
individual use only
• Introduction to Textiles: Textiles and apparel education
and training at your finger tips.
– Series of 8 courses, prices per student per module

24. Issues we need to resolve
• Policies and criteria
• Boundary clarification between staff – internally and
inter-divisional
• Communication channels
• Publishers title lists. Slippages!
• Turnaround time for loading MARC records
• Mismatched title lists and MARC collection sets
• Additions and deletions of titles – who?
• Source of MARC records – other services?
• ERM to upload MARC records
• Prescribed titles – e-version available?
• Investigate e-readers and mobile interfaces

25. What advice?
• Communicate!
• Get your work flow sorted
• Complete order records
• Contacts with publisher
• Get the licence for the platform done first
• Insist on the correct title lists
• Document procedures
• Constantly work on the mind change of staff into the e-
world

26. Valuable book
Anson, Catherine & Connell, Ruth R. 2009. E-Book
Collections. SPEC kit no. 313.
New York: Association of Research Libraries, 2009.
http://www.arl.org/resources/pubs/spec/

27. You have to fight a battle
more than once to win it
Margaret Thatcher, UK Premier

28. Questions?
Thank you
Dorette Snyman
snymad@unisa.ac.za