Building and managing digital collections in libraries: advice from the trenches Dorette Snyman Collection Developer: Electronic Resources Unisa Library NLSA, 19 March 2015

E-Books, SA publishers and academic libraries

Academic library environment University (institution) –Serve the needs of the university: study, teaching and research –Report institutionally– statistics, user behaviour and ROI Content –Growth in depth and breadth of content collections - permanent –Content should be accessible to all staff & students (authorised users) Legislative –Procurement framework –Licenced vs open access –Protection of user privacy (POPI Act) Technical –Integration with campus learning management systems –Academic library systems – integrated, industry standards Cooperative environment –SA National Library and Information Consortium (SANLiC)

Collection development Academic libraries collect in all formats – print and/or e Digital format is convenient for distribution – remove distance Academic libraries build collections for: –Short term – prescribed & recommended materials –Long term – scholarly collections Collecting SA and African content is a requirement (Digital) Content collected: –Scholarly books & journals – current and back files (legacy collections) –Reference works –Newspapers (current and historical) –Technical, trade, conference proceedings, music, video, images –Fiction or literature –General interest material, magazines

E-book purchasing models Purchase model dictated by availability of funds Title by title selection – publishers, mainly aggregators Subject collections from publishers “Cherry pick” – or customized collections Packages defined by publishers – by year (front lists) Complete collections Back files – historical collections Subscriptions – aggregators Open access collections – Knowledge Unlatched (

What academic libraries require Business Multiple user access, academic pricing, permanent (ownership), none or little DRM Technical (platform) standards Networked access by IP authentication – library authentication system, Responsive design – device agnostic Linking standards – persistent linking (DOI) on granular level Compatibility with assistive technologies Discoverability Resource discovery tools (metadata), MARC / RDA records Statistics for analytics & analytical tools Usage statistics in COUNTER format ( Integration with academic systems Learning management systems, library systems, citation and referencing tools

What is not acceptable Individual e-book titles in HTML or pdf Individual username & password access Downloading to individual workstations Restrictive pricing: price per individual user Unstable content (technical standards, platform migrations)

Relationship with academic libraries Libraries is a valuable market Libraries have own unique requirements Libraries build long term relationships Visit libraries or library related events and learn more: –LIASA, SA Online Users Group, SANLiC Conferences