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Library Assessment Plan

Assessment of resources, services, spaces, and programs

E-books Assessment

E-books are strategically licensed and purchased to maximize accessibility and cost-effectiveness.

Multiple approaches exist to select individual titles to acquire that supplement larger subscription databases of licensed e-books.

E-books Subscription Collections Selection
Service Outcomes A broad selection of subject-specific or interdisciplinary digital content that is accessible and portable that supports learning and research while also offering cost-effective and space-saving solutions
Type of Assessment Platform evaluation, subject analysis, cost-effectiveness
Assessment Description Long-standing collections are reviewed annually by usage, coverage, platform, cost and licensing changes; New collections under consideration are reviewed for subject coverage, licensing terms, cost and acquisition model.
Responsibility Head of Library Collections, Heads of Research and Circulation Services, Supervising Librarian for Electronic Services
Results Distribution Head of Library Collections, Supervising Librarian for Electronic Services
Assessment Schedule Annually
Last Assessment Occurred Fall/Winter 2024/2025
Action Taken Based on Assessment Data Funding previously budgeted to ConnectNY was applied to the renewal of ProQuest Subscription database and JStor EBA, both formerly accessed through ConnectNY; the rest of the available funds were applied to: adding hand-picked titles to Gale Research Library; adding 2025 titles from a Springer Nature collection as they are published (one time purchase of copyright year 2025 with perpetual access); and an EBA purchase agreement with Cambridge.
 
Demand Driven Acquisition (DDA) Model
Service Outcomes
  • The Library offers access to a vast pool of titles for users to discover and browse.
  • Only titles actually used by the Pace community are triggered for purchase, ensuring effective spending.
  • The DDA collection is aligned to demonstrated user needs.
Type of Assessment Demand Driven
Assessment Description Demand Driven Acquisition or DDA is a method for acquiring e-books that allows patron usage to contribute to the e-book selection process. Individual subject selectors contribute many titles to a DDA collection or pool, making e-books available for patrons to search in the catalog and browse, however, the Library is only charged for e-books that experience substantial usage (as defined by the e-book vendor).
Responsibility Head of Library Collections, Heads of Research and Circulation Services, individual subject selectors, Supervising Librarian for Electronic Services
Results Distribution Heads of Library Collections, Supervising Librarian for Electronic Services
Assessment Schedule Ongoing
Last Assessment Occurred Ongoing
Action Taken Based on Assessment Data Titles are added to the permanent e-book collection in real-time as purchases are triggered by specified levels of use.
 
Evidence Based Acquisition (EBA) Model
Service Outcomes
  • The Library offers access to a vast pool of titles for users to discover and browse.
  • The Collections department purchases a selection of titles guided by actual patron usage, ensuring effective spending.
  • The EBA collection aligns to demonstrated user needs.
Type of Assessment Evidence-Based
Assessment Description EBA (Evidence-Based Acquisition) is an e-book acquisition model where the Library pays for access to a large collection of e-books (available to browse in and access through the Library catalog) for a specified period of time (usually a year); then librarians use usage data to guide decisions about which titles to purchase for permanent access.
Responsibility Head of Library Collections, Heads of Research and Circulation Services
Results Distribution Head of Library Collections, Supervising Librarian for Electronic Services
Assessment Schedule Annually
Last Assessment Occurred Summer 2024
Action Taken Based on Assessment Data In the last year of the Connect NY consortium's shared e-books EBA with JStor, The Library acquired titles most used by the consortium as a whole, as well as top-used individual titles by the Library.