What Cost and Usage Data Reveals About E-Book Acquisitions: Ramifications for Collection Development

Abstract

To better determine how e-book acquisitions might affect future collection development decisions, a team of librarians from the University of Florida (UF) launched a project to assess cost and usage of e-books purchased using three different acquisitions methods: e-books acquired in large publisher packages; single-title e-books selected through firm orders; and e-books purchased through two patron-driven acquisitions (PDA) plans. The cost-usage data were then sorted into three broad areas of subject disciplines—humanities and social sciences (HSS); science-technology-engineering-mathematics (STEM); and medicine (MED)—and the results were reviewed and summarized. The authors compared the cost-usage data of e-books acquired by the acquisitions methods across the three subject areas and describe how the findings are affecting current and future acquisitions, traditional collection management, and budgeting at UF.