Academic libraries that cancel serials titles typically offer interlibrary loan (ILL) as an alternative means to access these titles.This study examines how serialsW hen academic libraries cancel journal subscriptions, patrons lose immediate access to the content within those journals.However, patrons whose libraries participate in interlibrary loan (ILL) programs retain the ability to discover the existence of desired content through indexes (often called "databases") and obtain the material from partner libraries. Many librarians are confident that this model of obtaining material is an effective alternative to subscriptions because, as Mortimore writes, a well-run ILL program can "provide access to the right materials at the right time." The practice of canceling subscriptions and relying on ILL presents two related but distinct concerns for library administrators, concerns that this paper addresses. First, savings from subscriptions budgets may be countered by increased ILL costs. Second, it is not established whether ILL meets patron information needs as well as direct subscriptions do.Accessing content via ILL is a very different experience from accessing it directly from a library portal.A patron seeking content than a subscribed title typically finds the material in an index and can begin reading it within seconds.A patron who uses ILL must undertake additional steps in the library interface to place the ILL request and wait hours

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Academic libraries are increasingly purchasing electronic books (e-books) via demand driven acquisitions (DDA) programs.  However, there is no guarantee about the quality of DDA titles. This is especially true for consortially managed DDA pools or when pools include all titles from selected publishers. This study analyzes data from EBSCO’s GOBI acquisitions platform to assess the quality of the pool and purchased titles from the Colorado Alliance of Research Libraries (CARL) publisher-based DDA program. Results showed that most available and selected titles were appropriate for academic libraries. Popular and lower level academic titles made up a relatively small portion of the DDA pool but were selected at a proportionally higher rate than other titles. The DDA pool was weighted towards titles that had been previously purchased by few GOBI libraries, but users tended to select titles that had been purchased by more GOBI libraries. Implications of these results are discussed from the point of view of a consortium member library using the DDA program as a supplement to its broader collections of print and electronic books.

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