Participatory Library Services: Patron-Driven Acquistions
One of the things we read for LIBR 559M this week was a chapter from Casey and Stavastinuk’s Library 2.0 called “Participatory Service and the Long Tail.” The chapter discussed the need for creating ways in which patrons can have a direct stake in library services, contributing to the programs and collections that are available. Some of these ideas were reflected in a paper I wrote last semester for LIBR 580: Collection Management. The paper was called “Public Displays of Affection: User-Centered Collection Development in Public Libraries,” and I wanted to share a piece of it here. Specifically, I want to mention the concept of Patron-Driven Acquistions, through which patrons interact directly with the library catalogue to select which e-books the library purchases. Although this is arguably not an instance of social media use, it is an instance of direct participation by patrons, which is one of the most significant affordances of social media in the library world. This is an example of participatory service which provides access to the long tail, similar to those discussed by Casey and Stavastinuk.
“Libraries and vendors have also developed services to complement purchase on-demand services for print materials by meeting patrons’ on-demand digital information needs through patron-driven acquisitions (PDA) of e-books. Through PDA programs, patrons are able to dictate which e-books the library purchases and access content almost instantly. Through agreements with vendors, large numbers of e-book records are loaded into the library catalogue based on an individual library profile created by the collections librarian. Users are able to browse and loan these titles, which include fiction, non-fiction, and some reference materials, and at some point the loan (after either one or more uses, depending on the library’s agreement with the vendor) will trigger an actual purchase of the e-book which is then owned directly by the library (Chadwell 72). Although patron-driven acquisitions have been available in some form for about 10 years there seems to be growing interest in the service in the last few years, with an increasing number of vendors such as NetLibrary, EBL, and Ingram Digital (Polanka 121).”
References:
Chadwell, Faye A. “What’s Next for Collection Management and Managers? User-Centered Collection Management.” Collection Management 34.1 (2009): 69-78. Library, Information Science & Technology Abstracts with Full Text. EBSCO. Web. 1 Feb. 2010.
Polanka, Sue. “Off the Shelf: Patron-Driven Acquisition.” Booklist 105.9/10 (2009): 121. Academic Search Complete. EBSCO. Web. 4 Feb. 2010.
I’m on the fence about patron-driven acquisitions. I agree in principle, but I want to see the numbers. Did you come across any libraries that had been using such a service for a few years when you were writing your paper? I always wonder if a few overzealous patrons will skew the collection or if the library budget will get used up disproportionately.
I think those are both valid concerns. I remember that I did have a hard time finding specific examples, although clearly some libraries must be doing this successfully. In terms of budgetary concerns, caps can be set so that only an allocated amount of the library’s budget is used, but part of the challenge is setting the threshold for purchase at the right level so that too much money isn’t used up on short term loans. However, I agree that that the possibility of a “few overzealous patrons” doing the majority of the purchasing is certainly a problem and probably in some cases the reality. Perhaps it’s possible to set a limit on the number of e-books each individual patron can borrow? From what I see in my own library, the demand for e-books is relatively low compared to print materials, so I think that patron-driven acquisition of e-books needs to be complemented by more traditional purchase on demand services as well.