Patron-driven ebook acquisitions at NMU: WORTH THE EFFORT?

1. Patron-driven ebook acquisitions at NMU: WORTH THE EFFORT? Elyssa M. Sanner Metadata & Cataloging Services Librarian Northern Michigan University Presentation to the CMIG program at ALA Annual Anaheim, CA June 23, 2012

2. Outline • Background information • Overview of NMU’s PDA program • Problems with MARC records • Solutions implemented • Perceived benefits • Projections for the future

3. Four-year public university • Located in Marquette, • Michigan • Offers undergraduate • and graduate degrees • in 180 programs • Approximately 9,400 students

4. Olson Library • Holdings: 705,000 titles and 727,000 items • Currently in the third of a five-year weeding project for the print collection • Collection features: • U.S. Federal Depository • Michigan government document depository • Pre-K to 12 collection • Holocaust collection

5. Patron-Driven eBook Acquisitions through YBP/EBL • Profile accepted materials from certain subject areas from mostly university presses • Purchased “enhanced” discovery records • Initial retrospective load of 15,000 records occurred in December 2011

6. Problems with the MARC Records • In the fixed fields: • Coded as “u” for unknown descriptive rules • Not coded “s” for the electronic form of the item • Incorrectly placed GMD in the title field • Missing part or number information in the title field • Fewer 505 fields than we’d anticipated

7. Other problems • Duplicate ebooks • Records to delete

8. Solutions • Criteria must be met in order to be loaded into the catalog • Weekly reports for “acceptable” problems • Missing 505 fields • Missing 6XX fields • Monthly duplicate reports

9. Perceived benefits • Access to electronic materials is key • Patrons participate in selection • “Enhanced” records means less work once a title is purchased • Enthusiastic faculty members

10. Future projections • Assess and evaluate • It’s here to stay!