1. Making e-books easy (or trying to!)
Establishing acquisitions procedures at the University of Surrey
Content: Laura Smithson & Phil James
Presentation: Kate Price

2. A bit about us…. High proportion of science disciplines
High proportion of postgraduates
Emphasis on innovation
E-Resources spend is nearly 70% of total information resources spend

3. A bit about us… 90,000 e-books (excluding EEBO!)
2,500 e-books purchased individually
650 of those purchased in last year
10% of all book orders are e-books, and growing
Individual titles purchased from same funds as print books
Packages purchased from same funds as databases

4. A bit about you…

5. Previous procedure Request submitted by various means
Librarian found e-book via supplier website
Printed off page and marked up (fund code, etc.)
Acquisitions ordered via supplier website
Order went on LMS (Talis) when invoice received

6. Problems Huge waste of paper! Funds not committed immediately
No record of order on LMS - possibility of duplication in interim
Records slow to arrive on catalogue

7. How are you ordering?

8. Process re-engineered 2008
New supplier (Coutts / MyiLibrary)
Able to select books via supplier interface
Able to download skeleton MARC record to generate an order record on Talis with minimal manual entry
Able to transmit orders via EDI direct from Talis
Able to do this (almost) without paper

9. Time = money
Ordering via an aggregator fits with our existing practices – saves time
Single interface for librarians to search -saves time
Costings are immediately available – no need to check with a publisher rep - saves time
Orders no longer get stuck in a box – saves time
Ordering and fulfilment via EDI are very quick so no need to backtrack through s and paperwork – saves time

10. Stage 1 Librarian receives list from academic
Librarian identifies items not in stock, funds available, number & format required
Librarian logs in to Coutts Oasis
Creates lists of e-books for ordering
Marks these up online
Forwards them to the Acquisitions team for ordering
Librarians not authorised to transmit orders directly

15. Stage 2 Acquisitions staff member logs into Coutts Oasis
Sees lists of e-books from Librarians waiting for processing
Batches them up for weekly ordering
Downloads basic MARC records and spreadsheet of orders including fund details etc.

19. Stage 3 Basic MARC record imported into Talis
Order created using MARC record, and fund code and price copied & pasted from spreadsheet
Copy function within Talis used when creating multiple orders – e.g. for librarians’s details
Order transmitted to Coutts via EDI
Funds committed immediately
Record visible on OPAC with standard message “e-link – not yet active – item is on order”

24. Stage 4 Supplier sends upgraded MARC record, including active link
Uploaded over the top of the basic MARC record
Links checked to ensure they work
Invoice sent by and items checked, receipted and paid on Talis
Invoice printed and kept as proof of purchase
Ordering, receipting & quality checking processes take approx. 2 hours per week in total

27. Points to remember Other suppliers offer EDI ordering for e-books
Other Library Management Systems offer EDI ordering & MARC import
Investing time in setting up smooth and efficient systems saves time later

28. Checklist 1 Get all staff involved familiar with supplier website
Establish workflows that suit your setup
Use individual logins for Librarians, tailored fund codes set up in advance for speed
Choose an appropriate e-book access model for your customers and budget

29. Checklist 2 Set up and test EDI ordering with supplier
Set up profiles for importing MARC records
Set up system of folders for MARC records and spreadsheets
Know how to deal with exceptions which cause import failure
Create instructions tailored to staff groups

30. Checklist 3
Integrate e-book ordering into regular acquisitions workflow
Establish quality checking procedures
Establish good customer support contact for troubleshooting
Establish procedures for collecting and distributing usage statistics
Send wished for titles to supplier to pass on to publishers

31. What do you think?

32. Added value from supplier
New title alerting, against subject profiles
Match e-book availability against existing stock
Match e-book availability against previous print purchases with same supplier

33. The future for Surrey Joint Consortium Book Agreement
Discounts now also applied to e-books
Embed procedures for purchasing from non-EDI enabled publishers (TIME!)
Use similar paperless process for ordering print copies
Agree policy on purchasing e-versions
Patron-driven purchasing?

34. The future for e-books Improve online selection & ordering
Improve availability of titles
In demand by students- but difficult to use!
Improve ease of login to individual titles
Improve usability on mobile devices
Reduce DRM restrictions
Flipping pages, downloading, copying are needed in order to learn effectively
Inform students of acceptable use policy
Use watermarking to track transgression

35. Thank you for listening
Kate Price
Head of E-Strategy & Resources
Library & Learning Support Services
University of Surrey