Research libraries have long invested in approval plan services, which offer an economical way to acquire scholarly and scientific publications. Traditional approval plans have evolved and now enable libraries to expand their e-book offerings to better serve researchers. Publishers offer a myriad of e-book purchasing options. These range from individual titles to comprehensive packages allowing libraries to choose publisher-direct (Springer and others) or aggregator (Ebrary, for example) access, but a standard access and pricing model is needed to promote systematic acquisition of e-books. In 2010, Texas A&M University Libraries implemented an e-preferred approval plan. This article will discuss the evaluation process for research libraries migrating to an e-preferred approval plan.pproval plan services have evolved as technological advances influence user expectations; approval vendors now include digital content in their offerings. These expanded services support a variety of access models for monographs that accentuate shifting collection development initiatives in research libraries. Libraries have the option of incorporating e-books in approval plans by adopting hybrid profiles accommodating both print and digital content. Research libraries have long suspected that print collections are little used, as hypothesized in a 1979 study assessing the University of Pittsburgh's print collection.
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