Handbook of Electronic and Digital Acquisitions

Citation

Barker, P. (2007), "Handbook of Electronic and Digital Acquisitions", The Electronic Library, Vol. 25 No. 3, pp. 374-375. https://doi.org/10.1108/02640470710754887

Broadly speaking, modern‐day libraries contain three basic types of archival resource: those based on paper, audiovisual material and those that are held in electronic form. For a variety of good reasons, the provision of access to digital and electronic resources within academic libraries is now considered to be both a standard and an important requirement for the support of research and for the ongoing sustenance of teaching and learning processes. Naturally, access provision must involve giving due consideration to the needs of both local and remote library users. Of course, from an acquisitions perspective, there is now a plethora of digital resources available to choose from – often with considerable duplication. This raises the important issue of which ones an organisation should subscribe to and, in situations where these may be free, which ones to support. This book provides answers to some of the questions and solutions to some of the problems that arise in relation to the acquisition of electronic and digital resources for library use.

The book contains a collection of seven chapters, all of which originate from authors who are based in North American universities or colleges. The first two chapters deal with copyright issues, “fair use” and other legislative matters pertaining to the use of electronic and digital resources. The following three contributions are each concerned with aspects of the evaluation of online databases and/or the various forms of aggregated material that is distributed by publishers. Subsequent chapters then deal with the provision and use of “virtual reference software” (Chapter 6) and issues related to electronic data interchange (EDI) between libraries and publishers/vendors (Chapter 7).

Bearing in mind its title, the types of resource that the book deals with are, primarily, electronic journals, full‐text databases and electronic books. Because artefacts of this sort can be so easily copied and replicated, special consideration has to be given to licensing agreements and copyright arrangements – as is discussed extensively in Chapters 1 and 2. Making suitable choices relating to the provision of electronic resources, and balancing library expenditure across different media types, can really only be done after an adequate evaluation of resources and an assessment of users' needs have been undertaken. The types of approach that can used to fulfil these requirements are explained, in some depth, in Chapters 3 through 5.

One of the (many) advantages of digital library‐resources is the fact that they can, in principle, be accessed by users who are physically remote to the library which hosts their patronage. This aspect of library use is considered in Chapter 6 which discusses the use of virtual reference software. This is defined (p. 127) as a facility that “allows a library to deliver real‐time (synchronous) reference service to a user who is not physically at the reference desk”. Typical components of such software would include: online chat, (web) page pushing, co‐browsing, application sharing, and voice and/or video over IP. Another of the advantages of electronic resources is the ease with which they can be exchanged between libraries and vendors. This topic is addressed in the final chapter of the book. This discusses how EDI (and, more generally, e‐business/e‐commerce) techniques can be used to enhance and streamline a library's acquisition functions. This is achieved through the use of standardised protocols (such as USMARC) and cross‐institutional encryption techniques.

Overall, the chapters that make up this book provide a useful summary of some of the important issues that need to be considered when acquiring digital and electronic resources for a library. In many cases, “cutting edge” developments are described and suggestions are made as to how these might impact upon the provision of library service enhancements that are intended to meet the ever‐changing needs of users.