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This study investigates the relationship between librarians' purchases and the actual preferences of library patrons based on usage. Using ten years of purchase history, we reviewed how print and ebook preferences have changed over time and what role, if any, discipline plays in format preferences. This information will be used to help subject librarians across various disciplines to make informed print and ebook purchases, relying on actual patron preferences rather than guesswork. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Over the past two decades the availability of eBooks to library users has increased exponentially despite continued financial challenges. In this study, four librarians examined eBook and print book usage to determine the best way to allocate collection funds. After determining which subjects were being used, the researchers surveyed students across all campuses and sites to discover the users' preferences for, and knowledge of, the library's collections. The study resulted in an improved distribution of funds and insight into what could be better emphasized in bibliographic instruction sessions. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The ability to browse a circulating library collection has been shown to be an important component of access and discovery for library patrons. While we are unable to definitively identify all times when patrons browse collections, we can examine when there is a higher likelihood they are not. Faculty from University Libraries at the University of Denver engaged in a study examining what types of books were most likely to have a checkout transaction that originated from a patron request in the library catalog. By examining this data, they were able to determine which disciplines (Education, American History, Social Science, Fine Art, and Law) were more likely to request books than other disciplines, and in which subjects browsing was less likely to occur. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Information about the LGBTQIA population is difficult to collect because of the sensitive nature of the topic of sexual preference and gender identity. This paper examines our weeding project and collection development efforts to provide health care information for the LGBTQIA community at a Midwestern metropolitan university. The findings conclude that our collection was not providing sufficient, up-to-date health information for the personal and professional information needs of our patrons in the R-RZ Library of Congress range. The weeding process, strategies for working with department faculty, and the implications for an intersectional medical collection are discussed. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The realities of budgetary constraints, and a transformative digital world, point to a future in which academic libraries continue to expand demand driven acquisitions in order to maintain necessary access. However, legitimate concern has arisen regarding the affect this shift might have on the coverage and scope of library collections. The gathering of diverse perspectives, and subjects that support minorities may fall to the way side through the further embrace of DDA, buried in fulfilling the needs of the majority. This paper investigates the University of Utah's demand-driven acquisitions program and the potential for imbalance in the collection. Data regarding campus demographics and the DDA pool itself are considered. Rather than discouraging the use of DDA, the primary purpose of this research is to put forth tangible ways in which librarians can deliberately counterbalance the focus of DDA purchases in order to ensure collections remain inclusive and diverse. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The Marriott Library at the University of Utah was an early champion of the demand-driven model of acquiring ebooks. Beginning in 2017, the Marriott Library applied a similar approach to the acquisition of print books. Demand-driven acquisition of physical formats is a means for stretching compressed library budgets and a technique for managing the explosion in book publishing. Demand-driven acquisition addresses publishers that refuse to sell individual electronic books to libraries and better serves disciplines like the fine arts. The Marriott Library's experiences with demand-driven print acquisition are discussed and compared with other libraries that are testing this acquisition method. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

In 2016, The Claremont Colleges Library began to imagine what it might look like to provide access to our collections in ways that are informed by how our community uses those resources. From the beginning, this effort was a response to difficulties helping researchers connect our digital and physical resources, unsatisfactory storage space, and opportunities arising out of renovations and master planning. Through this work we aim to ensure the organization and presentation of our collections support how our researchers need to work with them and be inspired by them. To that end, we have engaged colleagues in other academic libraries on these questions. We have also convened task forces and conducted an in-depth, qualitative study to understand the different yet complementary engagements scholars have when browsing and searching print and electronic resources. In this case study, we will review provocative conversations at Claremont and beyond about the place of print in the digital age and discuss what we are learning from our local investigations of research behaviors. Building on this foundation, we will share plans for a fledgling program at Claremont that we expect will resonate with and be vital to the future of many academic libraries. The "Active Print" program includes a variety of approaches to enhancing the traditional stewardship role of the library by engaging our users in re-envisioning the organization and presentation of our physical collections. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Numerous publications on patron-driven acquisition (PDA) for print books and similar materials have reported that patron-requested materials circulate more. Tying circulation to selector may be failing to address the complex of factors that contributes to items' circulation. In the present study, the authors revisit a PDA program's data and to determine whether PDA print books' circulation advantage persists when the potential interactions of several additional variables are taken into account. As with prior studies, library patrons were significantly better predictors of circulation than were librarians or approval plans. However, librarians proved to be significantly better predictors than were approval plans. [ABSTRACT FROM PUBLISHER]

Libraries are offering more services through social media Web sites like Twitter and Facebook, and this presence online is encouraging more conversation between libraries and patrons, including collection development requests. A review of popular Twitter and Facebook library profiles reveals the most successful accounts to be those where the library actively engages its users online. Through these media, libraries can have direct, immediate conversations with patrons that result in patron-initiated material requests. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This article discusses a paradigm shift from librarian-mediated collection development to patron-initiated selection of library materials. The authors report on two programs at The Ohio State University Libraries (OSUL): an interlibrary loan purchase-on-demand program and two tests of ebrary's patron-driven acquisitions program, in which patron usage triggered behind-the-scenes purchase of e-books. Results of the tests were analyzed by user activity, subject area, publisher type and level, and imprint date. OSUL and OhioLINK consortium holdings were reviewed to evaluate availability, duplication, and circulation of titles purchased by patrons. OSUL subject librarians were polled for comments on patron-selected titles and the funding implications of patron-driven selection. The authors discuss changes in the philosophy of collection development, and the role of patrons and collection development librarians in the evolving e-book environment in academic libraries. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

In 2007 Texas A&M University (TAMU) Libraries adopted an approach to monograph collection development that uses an unconventional fund structure and sets aside funds for user requests, called Suggest a Purchase. After initiating this change, the libraries realized that its patrons had become actively engaged in selecting materials for the collection. Data will be presented describing user and librarian levels of satisfaction with the Suggest a Purchase program. Additional data will be presented describing what was requested, what was ordered, how much the materials circulated, who requested materials, and the increase in requests over time. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This paper discusses a patron-driven acquisition program at the University of Denver. Instead of selecting books from YBP's slip approval plan, the Penrose Library will load MARC records for these titles and for a selection of electronic books from ebrary and EBL. All University of Denver students and faculty will be able to select the title and format (print or electronic) that best suits their needs, thereby allowing the library to expend its collection funds in a more user-oriented way. Through this demand-driven acquisition model, the library offers its users a much wider range of titles, while ensuring that more of the titles purchased are used. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This paper describes how library instruction sessions (both one-shots and credit-bearing information literacy courses) can be used as collection development opportunities. Students were assigned the project of selecting materials for the library's collection as a way to demonstrate understanding of research tools. The titles selected by the students were purchased by the library. The author discusses the creation of this assignment and how it served to increase course enrollment and build a more useful library collection. This model integrates outreach efforts with collection building and information literacy. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

New and emerging roles are transforming the landscape of academic librarianship. This paper focuses on the changes facing academic librarians whose activities and responsibilities in collections are shifting, particularly in the face of greater emphasis on user-driven collection development. Librarians' reduced role in routine collection development translates into gaining more time and support to move in other directions. Among many exciting and interesting opportunities, librarians apply their subject expertise in such strategic initiatives as information literacy, research, e-science, digital humanities projects, and collaborative print retention efforts. They can also participate more in campus affairs. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The article discusses aspects of libraries and the acquisitions services required by library users. It is the contention of the authors that libraries are driven by the needs of their users but that library materials selected by librarians do not always address those needs. A number of related factors are examined including the increased number of interlibrary loans, collection development and the requirements of library users, and the acquisition of library materials requested by library patrons.

The Purdue University Libraries have been participating in a patron-driven collection development project for 10 years. This analysis focuses on the books purchased in the science and technology areas. The author found that the books were appropriate and in many cases identified emerging or interdisciplinary topics that might have been missed by librarians. In addition, data proved to be a rich source of information for collecting, such as identifying publishers or emerging areas that warranted further attention from selectors. Although not replacing librarians as the major collection developers, patron-driven selection is one successful way to augment collection development. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

There has been a flurry of interest in programs for collection development through patron-initiated requests. However, some librarians have been concerned that such methods run the risk of producing idiosyncratic collections with poor usage and poor use value. The University of Nebraska-Lincoln Libraries have operated such a program through the Interlibrary Loan Department over a five-year period. The following study assesses the relative performance of the program's interlibrary loan-acquired monographs in terms of prices paid per rates of annual circulation, relative use at the topical level, and annual rates of circulation. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The Purdue University Libraries was an early implementer of purchasing rather than borrowing books requested through interlibrary loan. This pioneering user-initiated acquisitions program, started in January 2000 and called Books on Demand, is managed by the interlibrary loan unit. Now that the program has reached its tenth year, the authors revisit their initial 2002 study to analyze books purchased in the six top subject areas across the whole decade. In their review of the liberal arts titles selected, subject librarians found that the books were appropriate additions and that these titles expanded the cross-disciplinary nature of the collection. The Books on Demand service offers a seamless method for all users, especially graduate students, to provide input into the collection building process. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

After more than 30 years of failing to conduct a comprehensive inventory of the book collection at a large liberal arts library, our patrons complained that they could not find one in five books. A study of the problem indicated that in fact 20% of our books were either missing or misshelved. This article discusses the investigation of the problem and the impact after five years of conducting an annual inventory by using handheld devices to gather bar codes and interface these with our catalog records to find the missing and misshelved books. The missing book rate dropped from 5.6% to less than one half percent. The misshelved book rate dropped steadily every year from 11.6% to 3.1%. The number of books reported as missing by our patrons dropped 90%. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The author discusses the future of collection management and the need to improve user-centered features. The author believes that a common practice in collection management is to develop collections based on what librarians think users will want, rather than actually taking the time to learn what users want. She also points out that collections are often built based on policies that have been designed to lightened the workload of librarians. She urges collection managers to take a more user-centered approach, noting that this style of collection building is responsible for producing many world class libraries. She discusses several user-centered features such as self-checkout, home and office delivery and electronic books.

The federal government, "the largest single producer, consumer, collector, and disseminator of information in the United States,"' has begun to disseminate most of that information electronically. Legislation and more economic production and dissemination of government information have produced changes in the Federal Depository Library Program (FDLP) and federal agency dissemination. This chapter examines the dissemination of electronic government information from the Government Printing Office (GPO) through the FDLP and executive branch agencies and discusses the impact that this has on users, libraries, and government information specialists. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The library profession has worked on issues related to equity, diversity and inclusion for a long time, mostly from a workforce or a service perspective. On another major topic related to collections, two articles focus on space and the logistics of having to move large parts of the physical collection out of the library. The "Request It" service was first implemented during a library renovation where the whole collection was in off-site storage, but the service was retained once the renovations were completed and part of the collection returned to the library. [Extracted from the article]

There is no standard form for patron registration at special collections libraries. The author recommends that special collections adopt a registration form that features a basic common set of information categories. The information gathered with these forms can be used internally to learn more about a collection's users and how to better serve them. The information can be compared and shared between libraries to gain more knowledge about the users of special collections and their needs. The challenges of updating and creating registration forms are discussed and suggestions are offered for their implementation. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Item level surveys have a place in both public and university library collections. Although rarely applied outside of special collections, item level surveys benefit both patrons and library staff in several ways. These benefits include the reference or subject librarian's increased knowledge of the collection, which passes to the patron through reference services and collection building; the ability to compile precise statistics about how the collection is used by patrons; and the identification of particular challenges the collection faces (such as theft, mutilation, or damage). [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Regional and/or small off-campus academic libraries are seeking effective collection development practices in order to serve their diverse students and faculty needs. Should materials requested by users carry a significant weight in the selection process of the library's collection? This paper describes a collection development study conducted at the Shady Grove Library, a branch of the University of Maryland Libraries. A "Hold Shelf Study" was used to gauge the incoming books by subjects, thus measuring the user demand by subject categories. This article reports the outcomes of the study, which include some predicted trends as well as unpredicted results for high demand in minor subjects/discipline areas. This research project may assist regional and/or off-campus education center libraries in designing a more "customized" collection development plan. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This article identifies a common problem in many academic libraries: users having difficulties finding library items. It suggests that a mapping system may help solve the problem if the difficulties stem from users who do not understand floor structures of the library or classification of the collections. The technology of Geographic Information Systems (GIS) is proposed to build the system because of its ability to analyze spatial data of collection locations and dynamically present the analytical results in maps of varied detail. Such a GIS item-locating system could he integrated into current online catalog systems so that users would have search results in both textual display and visual demonstration. The article advocates that libraries take advantage of GIS for its inexpensive development and simple implementation. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

A study conducted at the University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign Library (UIUC) examined data from a random sample of PhD dissertation titles to determine the number of items missing from the portion of the collection housed in the Main Bookstacks. Results from the study indicated that a higher number of items were missing than originally estimated based on failures to find materials on the shelf. Analysis of the data resulted in recommendations to replace the titles that were missing to ensure access by future researchers to this uniquely held material. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Library consortia offer expanded access to shared collections through patron-initiated borrowing of materials. This article looks at two primary questions regarding patron-initiated borrowing: Is it possible to improve delivery time of materials within the constraints of current staffing? Is it necessary for patrons' satisfaction to improve delivery time? Answers to these two questions were sought through two studies: a series of interviews with library circulation staff and a survey of library patrons. The results of these studies provided answers to these questions and additional information that could be used to improve the current service. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]