Jeanne Harrell

User-Driven Acquisitions: Allowing Patron Requests to Drive Collection Development in an Academic Library

In 2007 Texas A&M University (TAMU) Libraries adopted an approach to monograph collection development that uses an unconventional fund structure and sets aside funds for user requests, called Suggest a Purchase. After initiating this change, the libraries realized that its patrons had become actively engaged in selecting materials for the collection. Data will be presented describing user and librarian levels of satisfaction with the Suggest a Purchase program. Additional data will be presented describing what was requested, what was ordered, how much the materials circulated, who requested materials, and the increase in requests over time.

Bundled Database Subscriptions: Challenges, Opportunities, and Assessment

ABSTRACT This case study describes the second part of an experiment using a bundled database subscription model. Texas A&M University (TAMU) Libraries pursued a multiyear agreement with ProQuest to address “administrative churn.” This agreement was known as “ProQuest Comprehensive.” During 2014, the final year of the agreement, the TAMU Libraries considered renewal and assessed support for ProQuest Comprehensive. The company is a well-recognized information provider, but to date there are no studies assessing bundled ProQuest content. This article will outline the evaluative criteria developed to assess ProQuest Comprehensive and the steps TAMU Libraries undertook to determine what ProQuest databases to renew, what databases to cancel, and the challenges encountered in the decision-making process.

A Cost Analysis of Discontinuing Security Measures in a Current Periodicals Department

Seven thousand five hundred current periodical titles are housed in the Current Periodicals Department (CPD) of the Sterling C. Evans Library at Texas A&M University. Before 1987 a door guard was posted at the CPD exit to prevent users from leaving the room with periodical issues. When the room was remodeled, security precautions were rescinded for the collection, and users were permitted to take current issues from the CPD proper to read in other locations in the library. A cost analysis is presented of the decision to allow use of current periodicals outside of the CPD. The cost of two alternative security measures is compared to the cost of reshelving, searching, binding and ordering lost and missing issues. Results indicate that the decision to discontinue security in the CPD was a valid one.