Customer-Based Collection Development: An Overview

Citation

Ann Clifford Green (2015), "Customer-Based Collection Development: An Overview", Library Management, Vol. 36 No. 4/5, pp. 378-379. https://doi.org/10.1108/LM-04-2015-0011

Bridges’ latest book, Customer-Based Collection Development: An Overview focuses on the use of patron-driven acquisitions (PDA) in large academic libraries. As editor, Bridges brings credibility to the topic from his more than 20 years of experience in university libraries in Idaho, Illinois and Vermont. The book is a compilation of different libraries’ experiences with patron-driven acquisition, known as PDA. PDA is a collection development model in which a library only purchases digital content, such as e-books and e-journals, when it is clear that a patron wants them. For example, a library would load its catalog with titles that fit certain criteria and once the title is accessed a certain number of times, a purchase is triggered, and added to the collection. The library may acquire the resource permanently, or acquire a license to use the resource only at certain times or in certain ways. PDA has changed the way librarians invest in their collections by meeting a “point of need” request rather than collecting for the future. PDA is not a new concept as subject specialists and user data from interlibrary loans have often driven new purchase requests.

The contributors to the 11 chapters bring their real-world experiences to a projected audience of librarians and archivists. Notes and references provide a seamless literature review. An index helps navigate from topics such as android phones and tablets to catalog records or usage data. Helpful appendices, such as “Questions for the patron-driven acquisitions presentation”, close many of the chapters. The individual chapters state many of the same reasons for employing PDA in their institutions focusing on increasing resource costs and flat budgets. In these economic times, librarians want to be sure they aren’t buying books that will not get used. The reverse point is the concern about subsequent usage. What if a title was triggered and purchased and then never used again? Providing users with what they want when they need it scores high points for customer service, but relying solely on PDA may exclude patrons who want to browse or find titles on their own. The contributors to the book also consider weeding, collaboration between departments and other libraries, interlibrary loan, traditional collection development, cataloging and space constraints. For the most part, the contributors agree that although PDA is useful, it is best used in tandem with the traditional method of librarian-based selection.

The chapter, “Seven reasons to be skeptical about patron-driven acquisitions”, brings the discussion full circle. The main drawback of the book is the focus on large research institutions. The use of PDA in smaller and special libraries is on the increase, but has not reached the level of the larger libraries addressed in this book. Editor Bridges has compiled a good collection of perspectives on customer-based collection development that should provide librarians the information they need to move forward in their own institutions. Even skeptic Buschman agrees that if “PDA takes its place as a sensible tool in librarianship’s toolkit – and not as an overhyped savior to libraries/librarianship, then it will have an honorable role”.