Social and Behavioral Sciences Commons^™

Buy, Don't Borrow: Bibliographers' Analysis Of Academic Library Collection Development Through Interlibrary Loan Requests, Kristine J. Anderson, Robert S. Freeman, Jean-Pierre V. M. Hérubel, Lawrence J. Mykytiuk, Judith M. Nixon, Suzanne M. Ward

Libraries Research Publications

In 2000, the Purdue University Libraries implemented a Books On Demand program. Instead of borrowing books requested through Interlibrary Loan, staff purchased selected titles and added them to the collection after patron use. After two years, five subject bibliographers analyzed 800 titles acquired through the program in their subject areas and compared them with titles acquired during the same time period through normal selection. The bibliographers concluded that the patron-driven Books On Demand program is a valuable complementary collection development tool. It consistently adds a very high percentage of relevant scholarly titles to the collection which provides input from patrons …