netLibrary: a new direction in collection development

Abstract

Texas A&M University (TAMU) Libraries is a member of two consortiums that include academic and public libraries. Both consortiums purchased access to netLibrary e‐books for their members. Approximately 92 libraries within the Amigos Library Services consortium jointly purchased roughly 10,000 e‐books. The Texas State Library and Archives Commission (TSLAC), which oversees a consortium of approximately 700 state‐supported libraries, purchased roughly 9,000 e‐books. TAMU purchased an additional 193 e‐books for its own collection. The purpose of this project was to explore the use of netLibrary as an electronic collection development tool. The Library Extranet, netLibrary’s data‐gathering software, provided information necessary to compare usage based on subject categories. Data was cumulated for a total of 270 days comparing TAMU’s usage to that of the combined consortiums. Final analysis and results are provided. Collection development librarians will use these results to fine‐tune the future growth of TAMU and consortium collections.

Citation

Ramirez, D. and Gyeszly, S.D. (2001), "netLibrary: a new direction in collection development", Collection Building, Vol. 20 No. 4, pp. 154-164. https://doi.org/10.1108/EUM0000000005995