Testing the Patron-Driven Model: Availability Analysis of First-Time Use Books

Abstract

With shrinking book budgets, traditional collection building, or the "just in case" purchasing model, has been supplemented at many libraries by patron-driven purchasing. Targeting 2012 first-time use print titles as a sample, this study tests the feasibility of moving to a large-scale patron-driven model for the acquisition of print books. Results reveal a broad spectrum of publication dates for titles used. Overall, 76% of the titles were available for purchase in print and 5% were freely available online with a 2% overlap. The remaining print titles were available through interlibrary loan, leaving fewer than 1% or 13 titles unavailable, thus demonstrating a reasonable success rate.KEYWORDS patron-driven acquisitions (PDA), demand-driven acquisitions (DDA), patron-initiated purchasing (PIP), books on demand, print books, print book collection use