8 Selection and acquisition
Dr Rama Patnaik
I. Objectives
The objectives of the unit/module are to:
- Elaborate the expertise needed to select and acquire print and non-print collection in the library.
- Comprehend the methods and steps involved in building a collection in a library.
- Identify additional methods and criteria involved in the selection of various resources in electronic format.
II. Learning Outcome
After going through this unit/ module, you would learn different aspects of selection and acquisition. You would learn about the need for collection development and policy for print and e-resources, selection of library resources, acquisition of library resources, licensing, access models, e-books, technical issues, selection tools etc.
III. Structure
1. Introduction
2. Need and General Principles of Book Selection
3. Book Selection Policy, Tools and Process
3.1. Collection based evaluation and selection
3.2. Content and subject
3.3. Currency
3.4. Veracity
3.5. Conspectus method
3.6. Circulation Statistics
3.7. Collection mapping
3.8. Checklist method
3.9. User Studies and Usage data
3.10. Citation analysis
3.11 Collection Analyser
3.12 Return on Investment
4. Acquisition Procedure and Issues
5. Selection and Acquisition of Electronic Resources
6. Selection and Access to Databases
7. Selection and Access to Electronic Journals
7.1. Big Deals / Subject Bundles
7.2. Pricing models
8. Selection and Access to Electronic Books ( Ebooks)
9. IFLA Guidelines
10. Selection and Acquisition in Different Types of Libraries
11. Interface with other Departments
12. Conclusions
13. References
1. Introduction
Book selection is an essential element for all libraries, may it be small or big; public, academic or special, and all librarians participate some way or the other in this process. Selection of library resources is a craft that requires diverse expertise, experience and intuition. Over the last three decades, the process of selection has undergone various evolutions because of pedagogical changes, scholarly communication, Internet and web technologies along with new publishing formats. With the advent of electronic resources and vast amount of data sets available in the information world, decisions on purchasing especially the electronic content at individual library level has become a daunting task with various selection tools and criteria. In the past selection and acquisition remained two distinct works of acquisition section of a library. Acquisition process remained a long time process say for example one month for Indian books and three months for foreign books after ordering. But, this time has reduced drastically and the time the item is selected can be ordered online and may be available within one day to one week from any part of the world. Even online access requires no time once the e-publication is available by the distributor/publisher/database provider. Therefore, selection and acquisition has been taken as an integrated activity in this unit.
This module discusses various issues related to the selection and acquisition of traditional and electronic material, emphasizing the need for selection of library material, principles of selection, types of resources and their selection, selection criteria for documents, acquisition procedure,selection and acquisition of e-resources, acquisition issues with printed and e-resources, and selection and acquisition in different type of libraries, etc.
2. Need and General Principles of Book Selection
A library is a service institution with limited funds. Hence, care has to be taken to see that useful books should be purchased for the library within the budget allotted. The books should satisfy the aims and objectives of the library. Certain general principles are enunciated for selection of documents by eminent librarians to provide good guidance. Let us examine some of them. Library material needs to be selected, ordered and acquired within the context of the collections development goals as set out for the library.
Book Selection is an important activity to meet the information needs of a large number of library users. Book selection requires critical judgment and skill. It is an active, complex and intellectual activity involving principles and tools. It is an effort to restrict indiscriminate acquisition. Book selection facilitates adding of a wide variety of materials useful to the clientele to the library.
As all selection process begins and ends with the user community and the long term mission, goal and priority of library and its parent body, many libraries have written collection development policies which describe these goals and objectives; which also serve as a guide for developing and managing collection. However some libraries, in the absence of any written document, adhere to the established process and norms which become an informal guideline for selection process. On the other hand, the burgeoning of consortia due to the high cost of acquiring has also diminished the role of librarians in decision making at individual level of library as it is being displaced by group decision of consortia.
The philosophical foundations that were espoused during last century continue to be relevant in holding the library patron as a starting point for any collection development activities. Ranganathan’s second and third law, “every book its reader or every reader itsbook” and Drury’s principle on selection in 1930 “the high purpose of book selection is to provide the right books, for the right reader and at the right time” propound the supremacy of the user centric process of selection of library resources. Mc Colvin advocated his Demand and Supply Theory of Book Selection in 1925. He states, “Books in themselves are nothing. They have no more meaning than the white paper upon which they are printed, until they are made serviceable by demand. The more closely book selection is related to demand, the greater is the resultant and possible service”. His theory also advanced the concept of users demand for selection of books and resources in the library.
Principles enunciated by Drury in 1930 include:
- Provide the right book to the right reader at the right time;
- Study the community, analyze its desires, diagnose its ailments, provide for its wants and satisfy the
- Enact suitable standards for judging all books and strive to accommodate them;
- Duplicate the best rather than acquire the many;
- Select for positive use. A book should not be simply good, it must do good service;
- Keep selection within the budget, knowing the total amount available and maintaining a just proportion in allotments;
- The above mentioned principles, if followed carefully, may ensure the selection of the best reading materials for the users.
The vital observation by Melvil Dewey regarding library collection in one sentence is “The best reading for the largest number at the least cost”. He has spelled the principles of book selection as under –
- The best documents are those which satisfy the just demands of the users for recreation, knowledge and study; the documents which cater to the social and cultural needs of the users.
- Selection of documents should satisfy as many readers as possible taking into consideration the limitation of resources.
- One has to be careful in the selection and economical in purchases to ensure optimum satisfaction to the maximum number of readers.
Ranganathan’s first three laws of library science are helpful in formulating the principles of selection of documents.
- The first law “Books are for use” – makes it obligatory that only those documents which are useful to the clientele of a particular library should be selected.
- The second law “Every reader his book” directs the selector to cater to the information needs of all the users of the library.
- The third law “Every reader his/her book” suggests that all efforts should be made to put to use those documents of value which have been selected in anticipation of the needs of the users.
3. Book Selection Policy, Tools and Process
Library resources comprise both documentary and non-documentary sources. The documentary and non-documentary sources may include:
However, present day libraries need to acquire printed and electronic resources for building a balanced collection. In order to develop useful collection, it is essential to formulate selection policy for the acquisition of e-resources. The selection of library materials is the joint responsibility of the academic faculty members and library staff. It needs careful planning as there are number of factors which affect collection development.
– Explosion of literature in all areas of knowledge;
– Increase in costs of publication due to rise in prices of paper, ink, printing, binding materials;
– Increase in complex demands for multi-disciplinary publications;
– Escalation of costs and conversion rates of foreign currencies due to devaluation of rupee in international market;
– Reduction in grants for developing collections in print and e-resources;
– Joint acquisition arrangement for acquiring e-resources;
– Continuous interaction of staff with users for effective services; and
– Training staff to render effective and efficient services from varied multiple media collections.
The selection of resources should be based on the general policies viz. the objectives of the library, users’ requirement, existing holdings of the library, authority, accuracy, cost and the overall value of the item. Priority should be given to cover the following aspects –
- Chronological coverage Current and retrospective publications
- Subject coverage Various disciplines covered in the syllabus of various programmes
- Books of different levelsHigher secondary school, intermediate, undergraduate, postgraduate and research
- Geographical coverage Local, regional, national, international,
- Language coverage Languages as media of instructions
- Media coverage Print and non-print media viz. electronic, magnetic, optical, digital, miniaturized microforms
Some general guidelines concerning dos and don’ts of selection and acquisition of resources may include:
– Select only items listed in standard catalogues;
– Select those items which are favourably reviewed in at least two sources;
– Avoid selection of negatively reviewed resources;
– Justify selection of documents of controversial subject giving positive details;
– Do not select items of sensational, violent or inflammatory nature;
– Select only items of lasting literary and social value.
– Avoid duplication as far as possible
– Prefer to procure paperback editions instead of hardbound books
– Place standing orders for serials such as yearbooks, annuals, directories etc and procure expensive foreign publications every alternate year
– Give importance to purchase of current latest publications and avoid selecting out of date books
– Take care and precaution in getting 30% or more discount on remaindered books
– Follow Good Offices Committee Recommendations (GOCR) for getting benefits consistently and continuously. In absence of the GOCR, follow bank rates decided by the Reserve Bank of India
– Demand for original invoice as price proof of foreign books rather than photocopies of pages from printed catalogues or book selection tools.
There are different tools for selection of books, journals, e-resources, databases. The library professionals must have knowledge of these tools/ sources in order to select the qualitative material for the library, e.g. Books in print or cumulative book index or a national bibliography is important source for printed books, Ulrich Periodicals Directory is good source for selection of journals. There are number of selection tools which are available for selection of library resources. Bibliographies, New titles lists from Societies, Directories, publishers’ catalogues, Review of new books in core discipline based journals which help in identifying relevant books. All major publishers have their own websites with RSS feeds which can alert about the arrival of new books, Databases such as Global Books in Print also provide books published all over the world. Books stores and book fairs provide an opportunity to examine the materials before purchase and Book fairs bring many publishers to display and promote their publications.
Hindu Book reviews in newspapers, Times supplement, publishers’ catalogues in print or electronic from reputed publishers also provide relevant information. Amazon, Flip cart, Infibeam are some of the web based tools which provide reviews and also help in identifying out of print books and ensure speedy delivery when order is placed.
For subject journals, Indexing and Abstracting services, which provide the list of titles indexed, can be checked in library holdings. Guide to Indian Periodicals which indexes journals from social sciences and Humanities, Science Citation Index, catalogues / announcements from journal publishers etc., are some of the vital selection tools for journals.
Government publications are usually identifiable by authorised distributors who acquire rights to deliver on order. Book well and Jain Book agencies based in Delhi are some of the popular sources. Government Publication and information division also maintains an updated list of publications and various ministries and departments host their publications in their own website.
In previous section, we have discussed some general principles of selection. But we face certain problems in the selection and acquisition of documents. The criteria for selection of some different kind of library material is discussed below –
| Library MaterialBooks |
Criteria for selection of library Material | |
| Price and Format Authoritativeness of author and publisher Importance of subject matter Accuracy of information Value and quality Importance to total collection Current and permanent values Relationship to other materials in the collection |
| Reference | – | Authority: the author, his credentials and his previous work, |
| Material | publisher’s reputation and publication data | |
| s | – | Scope and purpose of the work |
| – | Treatment of the subject | |
| – | Arrangement | |
| – | Format | |
| – | Indexing and bibliographical value | |
| – | Comparison with other reference tools |
- Applicability to course of study
- Table of contents
- Clearly stated objectives
- Organisation of information
- Index
- Appendix
- Glossary
- Physical quality, quality of paper, printing and binding
- Subject coverage
- Scope and authenticity of the periodical
- Accuracy
- Organization of information
- Continuity of the periodical
- Indexing, abstracting and bibliographical value
- Book reviews
List of Electronic resources can be searched on Google as most of the libraries provide directory of electronic resources through subject guides. Section 8 of this lesson discusses in details, issues pertaining to electronic content.
For selection of library resources According to ODLIS, evaluation refers to “the set of standards used by librarians to decide whether an item should be added to the collection, which normally includes a list of subjects or fields to be covered, levels of specialization, editions, currency, languages, and formats (large print, non-print, abridgments, etc.). Selection criteria usually reflect the library’s mission and the information needs of its clientele, but selection decisions are also influenced by budgetary constraints and qualitative evaluation in the form of reviews, recommended core lists, and other selection tools.”
The methods of evaluation may be categorized into collection based and user based methods.
3.1 Collection based evaluation and selection
In this method, decision on selection and purchase depends on evaluation and assessment of the title, based on several parameters. These may include the following:
3.2 Content and subject
Content and subject are evaluated in terms of their scholarly nature, scope on a topic or a given subject covered either at peripheral or in depth level, which is usually done in consultation with subject experts to assess the quality of Scholarship and uniqueness of the content.
3.3 Currency
Date stamps on the content created has to be checked to know the how current is in the information that is covered.
3.4 Veracity
Author or creator’s credentials are verified to identify the affiliating institute or organization that might have sponsored the publication of the content along with the reputation of the publisher. Apart from the above, writing style, geographic coverage, physical quality, uniqueness of content, frequency of updates, reader or user level to which is content is directed, cost in relation to the quality of item should also be taken into consideration.
3.5 Conspectus method
In 1979, ResearchLibrariesGroup,I North America developed a collection assessment tool known as RLG Conspectus method to ensure uniform evaluation of collection and facilitate resource sharing. It has proposed collection level to assess or define the extent of library collection. These levels are as follows
- Out-of-Scope: The Library does not collect in this area.
- Minimal Level: A subject area in which few selections are made beyond very basic works. For foreign law collections, this includes statutes and codes.
- Basic Information Level: A collection of up-to-date general materials that serve to introduce and define a subject and to indicate the varieties of information available elsewhere. It may include dictionaries, encyclopedias, selected editions of important works, historical surveys, bibliographies, handbooks, a few major periodicals, in the minimum number that will serve the purpose.
- Instructional Support Level: A collection, that in a university is adequate to support undergraduate and post graduate instruction, or sustained independent study; that is, adequate to maintain knowledge of a subject required for limited or generalized purposes, of less than research intensity. It includes a wide range of basic monographs, complete collections of works of more important writers, selections from the works of secondary writers, a selection of representative journals, and reference tools and fundamental bibliographical apparatus pertaining to the subject.
- Research Level: A collection that includes the major published source materials required for dissertations and independent research, including materials containing research reporting, new findings, scientific experimental results, and other information useful to researchers. It is intended to include all important reference works and a wide selection of specialized monographs, as well as a very extensive collection of journals and major indexing and abstracting services in the field.
- Comprehensive Level: A collection which, so far as is reasonably possible, includes all significant works of recorded knowledge (publications, manuscripts, and other forms), in all applicable languages, for a necessarily defined and limited field. This level of collecting intensity is one that maintains a “special collection.” The aim, if not achievement, is exhaustiveness. Older material is retained for historical research. For example, in law collections, this includes manuscripts, dissertations, and material on non-legal aspects.
3.6 Circulation statistics
Libraries, distraught with budget cuts, had to rely on sources of demand which justified funding decisions on collection development. One such source which emphasized the demand from users on collection was the usage data collected from circulation statistics to assess the activity of collection. The results of circulation analyses1 have been applied to a number of important issues, including evaluating collection acquisition policies, guiding such management decisions as allocating physical space for materials, identifying materials for offsite storage, allocating funding for materials, and suggesting approaches to de-selection.
3.7 Collection mapping
Collection mapping is a technique to examine the state of information resources, both quantitatively qualitatively and qualitatively in certain subjects and it is also a process to identify the strengths and weaknesses of a certain fixed collection with a view to further development.
1Justin Li�man and Lynn SilipigniConnaway, “A Circulation Analysis of Print Books
and E-books in an Academic Research Library,” Library Resources and Technical Services 48, no. 4 (2004): 256– 62.
3.8 Checklist method
One of the oldest methods of collection evaluation which dates from at least 1849 when Charles Coffin Jewett conducted a major evaluation of Smithsonian Institute’s collection. The checklist method provides a qualitative, collection centred evaluation which allows one to evaluate numerous collections, especially those located in various parts of the country. Cheryl Elzy noted that checklist method also acts as collection development tools, not just a collection evaluation tools by illustrating holes in the collections or valuable resources that are missing. This method of collection evaluation is the practice of checking a library collection against a list of notable books or materials to see if the collection includes these titles. This is the oldest method of collection evaluation, and its first recorded use occurs in 1849 by Charles Jewett at the Smithsonian Institute.
3.9 User studies and ssage data
User surveys and studies have always been centric to libraries to obtain a subjective evaluation probing the adequacies or inadequacies pertaining to its collection, resources or services. Including users in the decision making process to evaluate on the relevancy, currency, preferable format and non-use of certain collection enables library to understand the changes in the patterns of use, perceptions and acceptability levels to a new collection development strategies.
3.10 Citation analysis
A bibliometric technique in which works cited in publications are examined to determine patterns of scholarly communication, for example, the comparative importance of books versus journals, or of current versus retrospective sources, in one or more academic disciplines. The citations in student research papers, theses, and dissertations are also examined by librarians for purposes of collection evaluation and development. Citation analysis2 is used in journal subscriptions where decisions to be made include to acquire or not a particular title, to continue or discontinue a subscription, to weed a backset. Line and Sandison 3 acknowledge three uses to which ranked lists derived from citation counts can be put: (1) highly ranked journals not available locally and within subject scope are worth examining in more detail; (2) low-ranked journals that are taken locally should likewise be examined; and (3) lists based on source journals in a particular subject can indicate journals outside of that subject which may not yet have been acquired but may be2Smith, Linda (1981) Citation Analysis. In Library Trends Vol 30, No 1, p 83-106 3Line, Maurice and Sandison, Alexander. “Practical Interpretations of citation and library use studies” In College and Research libraries vol 36 ( Sept 1975), p393-96 valuable for local use. Citation Analysis is the method most used at the college and university level. This method looks at citations on bibliographies prepared by students’ and faculty’s written work to see if the resources used are included in the learning institute’s partner library. The purpose is to see if the written work produced can be done using only the library located at the college or university. Citation analysis is a good research method to use in academic libraries at the university and college level when performing collection evaluation. This method is performed by studying bibliographies from many sources such as student papers, faculty research publications, along with theses and dissertations. This information is then used to see what percentage of the items cited in the bibliographies have come from the academic library’s collection. Citation analysis is used to see if the work produced at the university or college has been written using sources mainly from the academic library at that learning institution
3.11 Collection analyser
Collection analyser of OCLC helps library to compare its collection with authoritative list and libraries that contribute data to OCLC WorldCat. It is designed to help libraries identify gaps in collection, weed out collection which is not in demand, uniqueness value of titles apart from getting alerts of authoritative / predefined list that are currently not available with the library
3.12 Return on investment
It is used to measure the economic influence of libraries in extending benefits to users in terms of value measuring the academic performance or research output or in time saved to identify relevant resources for academic and research pursuits. There are number of studies carried out in public libraries in United States for their sustenance and attracting funds, but of late increasingly adopted in data driven academic libraries to advocate for allocation of more resources.
For Journal subscription, the criteria for subscription are usually governed by the following factors.
– Educational and research value
– Indexed in leading indexing services such as web of science or Scopus.
– Impact factor as per journal citation reports.
– Reputation of publisher
– Cost / subscription price
Bibliometric / citation and alternate to citation studies.
4. Acquisition Procedure and Issues
The success of implementing the selection and acquisition work depends mainly upon two major factors – budgeting and acquisition policy.
Source of Finances:Library receives funds from the parent body or government or local tax payers or any other means.
Library Budget: Library is required to prepare an annual budget in accordance with procedures established by the university. Ranganathan suggested the following proportions for allocation to staff salary, book grant and miscellaneous items.
| – | Book grant | — | 40% |
| – | Salary for staff | — | 50% |
| – | Miscellaneous items | — | 10% |
Allocation of Funds: Allocation of the available funds needs to be done on various types of documents and e-resources or for different libraries / sections in accordance with the policies. Budget allocation can be done keeping in view some criteria.
– Number of departments
– Number of certificate and diploma courses offered
– Number of undergraduate and post-graduate courses offered
– Number of part-time and full-time faculty members
– Number of research scholars
– Number of students enrolled
– Number of patrons and outside members
– Variation in prices of every media resources in different subject areas.
A sub-committee can be constituted to help the librarian in deriving a formula considering all these criteria and budget can be allocated accordingly. Purchases are monitored to ensure that the expenditure incurred during the current financial year on each subject is in accordance with the budget allocation. Quarterly expenditure statements should be sent to facilitate faculty members to recommend books in time lest the budget should lapse.
In addition to salaries and purchase of books and journals, a portion of funds is used for various other purposes. They include special library stationery items and requisites such as catalog cards, book cards, accession, withdrawal and stock verification registers, communication such as telephone, printing, duplicating, travel, freight and insurance and other miscellaneous expenditures.
On approval of budget and selection of items to be bought the following broad procedure is adopted for acquiring the item:
- Checking that the item selected ahs full bibliographic information and there are funds available in the particular subject.
- It is to make sure that the item selected is not already ordered or standing order (if any) has not been placed.
- If the acquisition policy allows duplicating items or newer edition or any other specification about the copies and edition needs to be carefully investigated.
- Making decision on the method of acquisition, as whether it has to be purchased from the publisher or standing supplier or distributor or any other agency.
- Pricing must be check with the publisher’s catalogue or any other bibliographical source.
- Checking the availability of the item in the market by individual website of publisher or any source.
- Selecting the supplier and which item is to be purchased from which publisher, e.g for government publications, children books, text books needs to be chosen in the database if online acquisition management system has been in place.
- Entering the field record into the database to generate purchase order and placing order with the pre-defined conditions of supply including discount.
- On receipt of the item, the “on order” status is changed to “in process” as the material is passed to the technical processing department.
- If any supplier makes delays in supply from the specified period than reminder to be generated sand sent. If need arises, reordering is to be done to the same or other supplier.
- Receive item and invoice; check to make sure that the correct item was supplied and arrange for return of incorrect shipments along with the remarks.
- Update on-line acquisitions system with receipt information; forward item for and note in on-line system where and when Acquisitions sent item, after annotating item with order number and location for which item will be catalogued; make sure that selector’s original cataloging treatment instructions travel with item to technical processing department.
- Passing the invoice for payment and sending to the Finance Department.
- Acquisition Policy and Procedure of JNU, New Delhi can be found at:
- http://lib.jnu.ac.in/book-acquisition-policy
Librarians face several problems in acquisition of print and non-print materials and equipping the library with relevant useful collections for the members. Prasher (2002) who has suggested a few problems faced by the librarians while developing collection.
4. Acquisition Procedure and Issues
Shrinking budget: Libraries all over the world face the problem of shrinking budget and find it difficult to cope up with the explosion of literature and publications in all area of knowledge as well as increase in complexities of demands for information from the users. Indian libraries face severe cuts in the grants which causes diminishing purchase power due to inflation and devaluation of rupee in the international market.
Foreign Publications: Libraries find it very difficult to get foreign publications recommended by academicians and research scholars. Many a time it is not possible to get them directly from the publishers abroad. Librarians depend upon the Indian representatives of the foreign publishers. Foreign publications being very costly, they are not readily available in the market but have to be procured against orders from the libraries. They take about 120 to 180 days depending upon the publishers and distances involved. Booksellers are keen to get the orders, even by under-quoting, though they are not able to execute them. At the end of the financial year, only 40% to 60% ordered books are received after sending several reminders. They push their unsold books in the place of the ordered books after waiting for the long time and compelling librarians to indulge in rush purchase lest the funds get lapse.Most of the orders are processed based on “Print on Demand4” model after the advent of digital printing.
Indian publications: Book trade in India is well developed and procuring publications of the leading well known publishers is not difficult. But valuable publications from the unorganized sectors, small publishers of states and individual author publishers are not well publicized and hence are not easily noticed. They remain unprocuredinspite of their being useful.
Publications in Indian languages: Indian publications in regional languages are much in demand and are published usually by publishers in the respective regions. Their publicity and sale is restricted in their own regions and it is very difficult to procure them. They charge advance payment and postage charges which sometimes becomes more than the cost of publications.
4Print on demand (POD) is a printing technology and business process in which copies of a book (or other document) are not printed until an order has been received, allowing books to be printed singly, or in small quantities. (source: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Print_on_demand accessed on 25th July, 2016)
Publications of Learned Societies: Publications of learned societies are usually short discount titles and not available through normal channels. They also demand advance payment from the bookseller. Since they are valuable documents for research and higher studies, special efforts are to be made to procure them. Booksellers do not give discount on such titles but sometimes even demand handling charges or even advance payment.
Rare and out of print books: Academic libraries need to build collection of rare books, classics and out-of-print publications useful for conducting research. These books are not available through normal trade channel. They are procured only by a few specific booksellers or dealers of rare and second-hand books. The prices are not fixed but have to be negotiated. Libraries have to relax their policies for acquisition of books to procure rare and out-of-print books. Approvals for such books have to be taken giving justifications prior to ordering them.
Problems of procuring non-print media resources: Academic libraries are becoming hybrid libraries in India since last three decades. Realizing the importance of media resources, they keep funds for procuring them but due to lack of comprehensive selection tools, they are not able to develop collections of varied physical formats of media resources. Majority of media resources are to be imported from foreign countries and on advance payment. Ordering media resources following Government of India Policy, getting released the ordered items from the custom and payment of custom duty in certain cases becomes very cumbersome.
Concentration of book trades in metropolitan cities and big towns: Academic institutions in India have developed quickly all over the country after independence but book trade market is active only in four metropolitan cities such as Delhi, Mumbai, Chennai and Kolkata and a few big towns having many educational institutions. Universities and colleges in other parts face considerable problems in acquisition of required books for their libraries.
Indian bibliographical tools: Indian Bibliographical tools are not published regularly. They are not very dependable as they are neither up-to-date nor comprehensive. Even the Indian National Bibliography suffers from these limitations. Again, Indian language publications are not covered by the Indian Books in Print. No dependable tool is available for government publications, society publications, technical and statistical reports, theses, dissertations research reports and non-print media resources. It poses a very serious problem for the libraries to spot out such publications.
Books on approval: Libraries receive books on approval from the booksellers and send them to the faculty members concerned for selection. Booksellers usually supply costly publications and those giving them higher margin. They are keen to sell only those books which are in their stocks rather than those required by the libraries. Faculty members do not select the books quickly ad return or use / misuse by taking photocopies of the relevant pages.
Advance Payment: In many universities advance payment is not permitted for books. But in order to procure some government publications and institutional publications, advance payment has to be made. Librarians have to justify payment of bills in advance and take approval from the authorities. After receiving the ordered books advance in the name has to be adjusted by informing to the Accounts and Finance Division. It is a cumbersome process but they need to be procured to enrich the collection.
Faulty import policy and unorganized Distribution System: Lack of systematic import policy, appropriate distribution system, comprehensive and well documented bibliographical selection tools also cause lot of problems in acquisition of books for the library.
Fluctuation in exchange rates and unstable prices: Foreign publishers frequently revise the prices without any prior notification and devaluation of rupee in the international market also results in increasing the costs of books already ordered. Librarians have to bear the loss and it upsets their collection development programme.
Quotations for purchase of books and journals: Calling quotations for purchase of books and journals was in vogue before four decades. But it was discontinued later when GOC was instituted. Fixed terms and conditions and standard rates for foreign currencies were fixed for acquisition of books and journals. Still a few libraries invite quotations but on the long run it is not very beneficial for developing useful collection. Booksellers will supply only those documents which are meeting their profit margin.
Good Offices Committee: In India, Good Offices Committee (GOC) consisting members from the Ministries of Government of India (GOI), leading librarians and booksellers/publishers was constituted to help both librarians and booksellers. The GOC met regularly and decided the conversion rates of various foreign currencies and discounts on different kinds of publications. They also recommended some terms and conditions to be followed both by the libraries and book trade. The conversion rates were with certain mark-up for the book trade to cover their expenses of procurement and all libraries used to purchase the books at standard conversion rates of foreign currencies. Hence it helped both the booksellers as well as librarians.
But since last 15 years it has become non-functional as the GOI members have been pulled out and librarians and booksellers are not able to reach any amicable and convincing decision to fix the rates for the foreign currencies. For some time two recommendations were issued – one by the Indian Library Association (ILA) and other by the Federation of Publishers’ and Booksellers’ Associations of India (FPBAI). Libraries were insisting on paying according to the ILA’s recommendation and book trade was charging according to FPBAI recommendations. At present most of the libraries have shifted to payment according to the conversion rates decided by the Reserve Bank of India (RBI) and announced in leading news papers. But still in small towns, booksellers charge them according to FPBAI rates with almost 3%-4% mark-up and librarians are forced to pay as it is difficult for them to procure books.
Remaindered books: Foreign publishers get rid of publications which are not sold within certain stipulated time as it is very expensive for them to store them. These books, though not out-of-date publications are declared as remaindered books and Indian booksellers get them at 60 % to 80% discount after negotiating with the publishers. According to the Good Offices Committee recommendations, they are to be sold at 30% discount on the normal price. But as there is no stamp or mark of “remainder” on them and therefore booksellers charge normal price with regular discount of 10% to the libraries and there by earning more profit.
5. Selection and Acquisition of Electronic Resources
For electronic and multimedia resources, the additional considerations may include several of the following5:
– Licensing and contractual terms
– Special pricing models of retaining print subscriptions, restrictions cancellations, consortia purchases
– Print and its digital equivalent on completeness
– Currency
5 Johnson, Peggy. Fundamentals of Collection Development and Management.3rd Ed. Chicago : American Library Association. 2009
– Ability to select and de-select individual titles or other content if it is package deal offered by an aggregator and publishers.
– Technical or customer support
– Vendor support and responsiveness
– Availability of back files
– Permission of access when subscription is discontinued.
– Quality of end user interface
– Compatibility with Electronic resources management tools, such as discovery services, link resolvers, A to Z services, electronic reserves, course management software, exporting to thirty party providers
– Preservation strategies either through local infrastructure or third party providers
– Physical logistical requirements within the library, including space, furniture, hardware, wiring, and telecommunication and data ports.
– Effective use of technology.
6. Selection and Access to Databases
Evaluation criteria for databases are still evolving and technological and licensing issues are the major factors which influence the selection process. During the trial, library gets an opportunity to review the product and its features on the following parameters.
Content: Content is assessed in terms of its currency, relevancy, breadth and depth of the topic, consistency and reputation of author and publishers like any other traditional resource but the most challenging aspect that confronts the selector is availability from multiple sources. Electronic content can easily be obtained through different sources and repackaged into a variety of products. And these options from multiple sources create selection dilemmas6
Technological solutions are available to check the overlap analysis and uniqueness of content as duplicity of content is a major concern for libraries in the acquisition of electronic resources.
Technological concerns: Advent of World Wide Web and Internet has revolutionized the access methods for digital content. Libraries are now constituting 6Davis, Trisha. (1997). Evaluation of selection activities for electronic resources.Library trends, Vol 45(3) winter 391-403. selection committees to include members are drawn from technical domain to evaluate options that are suitable for the library in terms of software, hardware and network infrastructure.
Access: It is dependent on the hardware and software requirements and given the array of methods available, selector is expected to be technically equipped to opt for the best method for a given resource. IP filtering, concurrent access, remote access, terminal specific, through online public access catalogue, via email are some of the access methods available for accessing digital content. However, additional features such as downloading of data, search strategies, saving history of searches, exporting and importing of references, integration with social networking tools, personal bibliographic manager are some of additional features which are also considered apart from ease of access.
Browsers and their versions, additional plug-in, excel exports, response time, downtime time, other applications and their versions have to be carefully assessed before a purchase decision is made.
Archives: One of the most challenging factors which confronted the resource acquisition in electronic format in early 1990s is archival and perpetual access. In the initial years of digital publishing, content was leased and libraries owned no content once subscription is terminated. However, as libraries became more vocal with activism by professional bodies and groups at various platforms and retention of the content is made available at additional or negotiated cost. Third party storage sites such as CLOCKKS and PORTICO are available to ensure the perpetuity of content and database providers also permit storage or deep archives at libraries’ local servers as well.
Licensing issues: Written license agreements govern the use and restriction of accessing the digital content displacing the provisions ordained by copyright laws. A pre purchase process of any digital content entails negotiations of various terms and conditions pertaining to the following:
- Authorized users: it should broadly include current affiliated faculty, students, research scholars (both full time and part time) apart from walk-in users.
- Rights of the users: Users should have the right to browse, search, download, print and share content for scholarly purpose and sometimes create derivative works out the content and also should include all such activities permissible under fair use clause of copyright act of native countries of international agreements
- Restrictions on Usage: Restrictions by vendors should be reasonable and clauses for monitoring the use should be avoided.
- Performance obligations by the Licensee: It should be bilateral agreement between the library and content provider where the clauses of terms of the agreement are complied with, to execute the agreement.
- Performance obligations by the Licensor: content provider should agree for uninterrupted access and should respect the privacy of users
- Governing Law: Libraries should negotiate for insisting application of laws of native jurisdiction pertaining to contract and copyright or should conform to international laws that are mutually acceptable.
- Pricing and severability clauses. Pricing of content should be transparent
Counter compliant statistics: Project Counter7 (counting online usage of networked electronic resources) as in initiative launched in 2002 to set standards for recording the online usage statistics which are consistent and compatible. Initially it covered online journals and databases in 2003 but extended to online books and reference works in 2006. Counter also developed a protocol in collaboration with NISO on SUSHI (Standard usage harvesting initiative) to facilitate automated harvesting and consolidation of usage statistics from different vendors. This initiative is very helpful to both librarians and publishers. Usage statistics helps librarians to take better informed purchase decisions and plan ICT infrastructure to develop multiple channels of dissemination and publishers are able to provide the data as the customers wanted and develop multiple channels of dissemination.
Alternate to Citation Studies: Altmetrics / plum analytics: Traditional Bibliometric studies were considered as gold standard for measuring the impact of journal and journal citation reports and Eigen factor and more recently, the H INDEX, Scimago journal rankings were used to evaluate the impact factor of journal before a selection decision is made. Altmetrics8and plum analytics9 intruding into the scholarly landscape to capture social web for analysing and informing scholarship. With thousands of scholarly papers discovered, discussed, shared on social web, these tools were designed to count on the impact that a research generates that which is usually published in electronic medium. These tools are designed to categorize the impact in form of “saved”, cited”, recommended articles or discussed.
8http://www.alt metric.co m/
9http://www.plumanalytics.com/
7. Selection and Access to Electronic Journals
According to online dictionary of library and information science10 “A digital version of a printjournal, or a journal-like electronic publication with no print counterpart (example: EJournal), made available via the Web, e-mail, or other means of Internetaccess.”
However, evaluation criteria which are influencing the collection development decisions for electronic journals are as follows
7.1 Big deals / subject bundles: Journals on a particular topic or theme are bundled together as a subject collection by publishers and offered to libraries to subscribe or own the collection as a whole instead of selecting individual titles in a collection. Among the advantages of subscribing to big deals is increasing access to a variety of journals, cost effectiveness and precise budget predictability. However, the flip side of big deals is that the bundle may comprise of titles that are peripherally relevant and not selected by individual libraries which also form a part of collection
7.2 Pricing models:
There could be two type of pricing models, namely:
– Subscription model with perpetual access: In this model, library pays time amount for the period of subscription and gets perpetual access for the subscribed period.
– Pay per View: This model requires the user / library to pay for the viewing or downloading article from a journal that is not subscribed by the library. It is an alternate to inter library document delivery services as instant access is available to faculty and research scholars to articles from journals that are not subscribed by the library.
8. Selection and Access to Electronic Books ( Ebooks)
An electronic book or eBook is a digital version of a traditional book which can be read in computer, eBook reader or smart phones and tablets. A chronology on evolution of eBooks is reproduced from the book authored by Richard Kapling is illustrated below. Ebooks are available as aggregators’ packages and directly from publishers. Netlibrary, my ilibrary, overdrive, world e library, ebrary are aggregators which are available on subscription based models without any perpetual access. Publishers packages from Springer, oxford, Taylor and Francis, Cambridge, Elsevier etc are available as subject bundles and also provide the option of “ Pick and Choose” majorly on ownership models.
Advantages of e books
10http://www.abc-clio.co m/ ODLIS/searchODLIS.aspx
– Searchability : readers can search for and find an exact word or subject in seconds
– Modifications : eBooks can be updated and more frequently and seamlessly
– Portability : once device can carry thousands of eBooks
– Variety : there are many e book reading devices and handhelds to choose from
– Readability: readers can increase or decrease the font size of the text, image and figures
– Space saving: e books reduce shelving space requirement for libraries
Disadvantages
– Reading on screen: it is not always preferable to read large amount of text only
– Battery Power : Most of readers have battery power not more than 3 hours
– Multiple readers: there are multiple readers to choose from and each comes with its own format
Selection of e books entails participation from multiple stakeholders.
– Content evaluation from subject experts
– Licensing and financial aspects by library professionals
– A new model emerging o influence the selector’s role is Patron driven acquisitions or Demand Driven Acquisition
Requesting trials for eBook collection
A trail offers an opportunity to evaluation eBooks during which these can be evaluated on
– Currency, relevancy, content
– Ease of search
– Print and download options
– Level of DRMs
– Format
– Software / apps needed to view
– Access on smart devices such as tablets and phones.
Patron Driven AcquisitionsThis model evolved with the advent of eBooks and also known as Demand Driven Acquisition. In this model patrons play a key role in selection of books and purchase is made after the patron uses the book. In this model library preselects the books on a subject collection and loads the records in OPAC or vendor provided interface. Based on the patrons attempt to view and download the books, an alert is triggered to librarian. The purchase decision is made depending upon the number of times the book is used. EBSCO academic collections, my ilibrary, PROQUEST EBL, JSTOR offer this option.
Sources: There are number of aggregators and publishers who offer eBooks, Springer, Oxford, Taylor and Francis, Routledge, EBSCOHOST, PROQUEST, Netlibrary, Overdrive, Wiley etc.
Pricing models
- Perpetual access and ownership: In this model, library pays one time amount and owns the title; however there could a small fee that is charged as platform fee for the subsequent years.
- Subscription: EBooks are subscribed for s specific period and access gets deactivated after the subscription is terminated. In this model, the library loses the content once subscription ends.
- Pay per View: This model requires the user / library to pay for the viewing or downloading either the full book or a chapter or number of chapters depending upon the need without actually subscribing to the resources. It is ideal for either high priced or low use resources.
- Short term rental: E-books are rented at a price for a short interval, and will not be available after the rental period is over.
- Restricted concurrent user access: In this model, the number of users accessing a particular title is restricted a certain number to which libraries decides to pay for, which could be either subscription on ownership based, JSTOR e books follow this model.
- Apart from the above purchase models, the associated costs which might add up to the collection budget such as fees for MARC records, staff costs for training and maintenance, archives fees.
File formats and Devices:It is important to know the files formats and devices required to check the compatibility before a purchase decision is made. Criteria should include eBook readers, mobile devices and applications as these are changing and evolving 11.
- Portable document format is the most popular format used widely for eBooks, but as there are stored in images, files cannot be viewed in eBook small screens. However, there are portable to all types of devices.
- Epub is industry based standard of international digital publishing forum. It is compatible with Nook and Sony eBook readers and can be read in any windows or MC computers through adobe digital edition.
- Kindle editions cannot be read without kindle application and is based on Mobipocket format which allows the files to be locked to a user’s registered device.
Audio visual Resources:Apart from traditional methods on evaluating the scope and depth of the content on accuracy, authenticity, relevance, reputation of publishers, technical evaluation on file formats, software and hardware requirements, access, dissemination and delivery methods, selectors should also be aware of stringent copyright guidelines on access, usage and storage. Pricing models vary from offering the product in physical form of DVD or storage unit, steaming rentals, access based such as Classroom or public viewing, lending to patrons or mirroring in a server are some of the access models offered by publisher and special pricing is offered for academic and non-profit organizations.
9. IFLA Guidelines
IFLA Section on Collection Development Collection describes that development is based on ongoing assessments of the information needs of library clientele, usage statistics analysis, and demographic projections, and is normally constrained by budgetary limitations. The processes of collection development include:
– formulation of selection criteria
– planning for resource sharing (i.e., cooperative decision-making within library consortia or with other libraries)
– planning for new collections or collection areas
– routine selection and de-selection decisions
– evaluating options for access (e.g., format choice, ownership v licensing)
These processes are guided by a collection development policy which establishes priorities and facilitates decision making.
11Kaplan, Richard ( Ed) . Building and Managing ebook collection Chicago: Neal Schuman,
2012
The IFLA Section further describes the activities associated with the acquisition of materials (print, other traditional format library materials, and electronic resources) by purchase, exchange, gift, or legal deposit, include:
– Ordering, receiving, claiming, and payment
– Selecting and evaluating supply sources
– Negotiating pricing
– Licensing of electronic resources
– The open access movement
– Scholarly communication
The IFLA Guidelines describe that e-resources represent an increasingly important component of the collection-building activities of libraries. The guide concentrates mainly on academic and research library purposes, but nonetheless will be of high value to many types of libraries. “Electronic resources” refer to those materials that require computer access, whether through a personal computer, mainframe, or handheld mobile device. They may either be accessed remotely via the Internet or locally. Some of the most frequently encountered types are:
– E-journals
– E-books
– Full-text (aggregated) databases
– Indexing and abstracting databases
– Reference databases (biographies, dictionaries, directories, encyclopaedias, etc.)
– Numeric and statistical databases
– E-images
– E-audio/visual resources
The Guide focuses exclusively on e-resources whether acquired via purchase or license, free from the web, born digital or multiple format materials (e.g., CD-ROM combined with a book). E-resources present a number of challenges not encountered with the selection and acquisition of traditional analogue materials and it is advisable for the library to develop clear policies and processes for the selection and management of such resources. These will provide clarity to staff and ensure that e-resources within the library are developed with due consideration of cost, technical feasibility, licensing, access and preservation requirements, and constraints. The Guidelines can be accessed at:
10. Selection and Acquisition in Different Types of Libraries
Each type of library has different clientele and resources according to their needs need to be acquired in the library. In the different courses of e-PGpathashala content, there are different modules on selection and acquisition and related aspects, as enumerated below:
| Name/number of the paper and |
Title of the Module | Issues covered in the module |
| Paper No :12 Special and Research Module 12 | Collection Development Policies and Procedures | The module incorporates meaning of collection development, need of collection development policy, elements of collection development policy, |
| Paper No :13 Public Libraries Module:14 | Documentary Resources of public Libraries | The module covers categories of library material required by public libraries, discusses various kinds of documentary resources and their role in a public library |
| Paper No 11on Academic Libraries Module 06 | Collection Development and Access Management in Academic Libraries | The module covers concept of collection development in traditional library context,functional aspects of collection development/ management, collection development policy,models of collection development and problems |
11. Interface with other Departments
Inter library Loan: Inter library loan statistics are always used to corroborate demand for certain resources while evaluating for purchase decisions.
Circulation: Circulation statistics are used to take decision on purchase of multiple copies and aid in weeding of old materials
Computer or Information Technology Department: Selection and evaluation of electronic content includes involvement of multiple stakeholders including IT department of the organization. In academic and research libraries this interface is still evolving raising complex issues on consensus specially on hardware, software and network requirements for disseminating the content to end user community. IT department generally provides IP ranges for access or evaluates the hardware and software requirements for resources are installed in specific terminals.
Legal Department: The advent of written license agreement for digital and multimedia content has compelled the library professionals to seek legal counsel on the terms and conditions and complicity with obligations on the rights and restriction of use before an agreement is signed with the vendor. It is also suggested to find whether as library professionals can legally sign agreements on behalf of the institute as well.
Promotion and Outreach: Liaisoning activities in promoting library collection provides an opportunity to understand the need of its constituents especially non-users or underserved. Functional divisions within the library engaged with promotion and outreach activities of library resources and services assess the satisfaction levels and can provide vital inputs on incorporating new parameters especially delivery and dissemination channel to provide an online resource
12. Summary
Selection and acquisition of library resources has undergone widespread transformation in the last two decades with the advent of new publishing formats and web technologies. As libraries are drifting to electronic formats, selection and evaluation process would continue to evolve with these ever changing publishing formats. Though the role of subject experts is still relevant for assessing the content, new domains of expertise especially on technology and legal field will continue to expand the intrusion of multiple stakeholders in the selection process. Selection committees in academic and research libraries have already started interfacing with Information technology and legal departments within the organization for purchase of digital and multimedia content.
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