Don’t Fear the Reader: Librarian versus Interlibrary Loan Patron-Driven Acquisition of Print Books at an Academic Library by Relative Collecting Level and by Library of Congress Classes and Subclasses

Abstract

Recently, a great deal of literature on patron-driven acquisition (PDA) has been published that addresses the implementation and results of PDA programs at academic libraries. However, despite widespread worries that PDA will lead to unbalanced collections, little attention has been paid to whether patrons' and librarians' purchasing differ significantly. This study analyzes librarians' and PDA patrons' acquisitions at an academic library by relative collecting level and by subject (that is, Library of Congress class and subclass) to determine whether concern over patrons' collecting are warranted.ver the past decade-plus, the library literature has produced a wealth of articles, books, and conference papers and presentations on demand-driven or patron-driven acquisition (henceforth, PDA), and the results reported by the field have been almost unanimously favorable, especially where circulation/ use has been concerned. 1 Likely as a result, numerous academic libraries are considering initiating or have recently initiated PDA programs, and PDA programs have become widespread.2 Esposito, Walker, and Ehling recently estimated that there are 400-600 institutions worldwide with active PDA programs, and, as Walker recently noted, there are "strong indications that [PDA] is becoming an established model." 3 However, concerns over PDA as an acquisition or collection-building method for academic libraries persist. Numerous publications have expressed, or at least acknowledged, librarians' worry that doi:10.5860/crl.75.5.684crl13-496 Don't Fear the Reader 685patrons, because they make requests for items solely to meet immediate needs and do not have institutional collection priorities in mind, will purchase popular or nonacademic items via PDA or will lard their libraries' collections with topically idiosyncratic or otherwise inappropriate materials. 4 Other literature on the topic has noted that PDA could be understood to be reducing, if not subverting, subject specialists' control over their collections and collection budgets.5 Finally, some recent literature has even gone so far as to warn that, if patrons' collecting were to diverge too greatly from librarians', over time PDA could lead to overly narrow or to poorly balanced collections that do not meet researchers' long-term needs.6 Librarians, therefore, need to be wary lest "a shift to a patron-initiated collections model not result in gaping holes in the collection that would be difficult to back-fill at a later date."7 As Dahl has summarily put it, the arguments against PDA "suggest it is shortsighted and allows collections to be developed based on current needs, trends, and hot topics."8 This apparently not uncommon attitude no doubt led one PDA survey respondent to adamantly assert, "PDA cannot function as the primary collection-shaping device for any research library that hopes to fulfill research needs in the future," and may have prompted Rick Anderson, arguably one of PDA's stronger advocates, to similarly quip in a recent online dialogue, "If your goal is...

A Comparative Analysis of Evidence-based Selection, Professional Selection, and Selection by Approval Plan

“…They also found that there were differences between how patrons and librarians spent acquisitions dollars, but again, those differences were minor. 20 In 2015, two studies were conducted at the University of Florida and Iowa State University comparing DDA/PDA and librarian selection. At the University of Florida, librarian-selected e-books were less expensive on average ($88.45) than PDA titles ($123.04), but librarian-selected e-books had a higher average cost per use ($22.21) than PDA titles ($8.88).…”

Interlending and document supply: a review of the recent literature: No 88

“…Patron-driven acquisition (PDA) has become widespread after its very positive reception and it is "estimated that there are around 400-600 institutions worldwide with active PDA programs" (Esposito et al, 2012) quoted in (Tyler et al, 2014). The latter article is exceptionally well researched with 60 references, many of which further containing over a dozen references.…”