Demand-Driven Acquisitions and Return on Investment: Getting Our Money’s Worth with eBooks and a Little Lagniappe
With more than six years of data from the DDA program of an R1 university, the presenters completed a multi-year analysis of DDA eBook acquisitions, cost, and usage data to determine if the program has resulted in both a balanced eBook collection and an efficient return on investment over time. Originally designed and implemented in 2016, the DDA program, administered through collaboration with GOBI and EBSCO, was part of a shift in the collection development model from just-in-case to just-in-time purchasing. In 2018, sixteen months after the program began, an initial study of data established that the budding DDA plan had resulted in the alignment of eBook selection and cost with traditional print monograph purchasing across subject disciplines as well as a remarkably high return on investment (ROI) of eBook DDA title purchases as compared to firm-order eBook and print titles. This presentation introduces the findings of the subsequent study, eight years after the program’s implementation, and demonstrates how eBook purchasing via DDA has maintained collection balance, ensuring significant return on investment and purchase of books based on demonstrated need.
Speakers
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Lindsey LowryCoordinator of Acquisitions and Electronic Resources, The University of AlabamaShe/Her/Hers
Lindsey Lowry is Assistant Professor and Coordinator of Acquisitions and Electronic Resources at The University of Alabama Libraries. She oversees procurement and ongoing management of both print and electronic resources at University Libraries as well as negotiating product price and licensing terms with vendors. Lindsey earned her MLIS degree from Florida State University in 2014 and is active in CORE, ACRL, and NMRT. She is also the incoming chair of the Acquisitions Committee of the Metadata and Collections Section of CORE. -
Michael A. ArthurSenior Associate Dean, The University of AlabamaMichael Arthur is Senior Associate Dean and Professor in University Libraries at The University of Alabama. Michael received his Bachelor of Science in Sport Marketing & Management in 1991, and his Master of Library Science in 1999, from Indiana University in Bloomington. He received his Master of Public Administration from Old Dominion University in 2006. Michael held faculty positions at Ball State University, Old Dominion University and the University of Central Florida before joining The University of Alabama in 2015. At the University of Alabama Michael served as Head, Resource Acquisition and Discovery, and Associate Professor from 2015 until he was promoted to Director, Resource Acquisition and Discovery, and Professor in August of 2021. He was appointed as the Senior Associate Dean and Associate Dean for Research in March 2022. Michael regularly presents at national professional conferences and has served on several Library Advisory Boards representing university interests with large publishers including Gale, Institute of Physics, SAGE Publications and Springer Nature. Michael is a well-established scholar in the field of librarianship and his research interests focus on the efficient and effective delivery of scholarly content to the university community.