Assessing Patron Driven Acquisition (PDA) adoption among Malaysian academic libraries

Abstract

This study aims to explore the adoption of the Patron Driven Acquisition (PDA) model among Malaysian academic libraries. The study ensues the continuous increase in the proportion and cost of information resources (electronic and print) coupled with the current dwindling budget crushing libraries worldwide. It adopts questionnaires to elicit responses from 111 purposively selected librarians, specifically from Malaysia's academic libraries' acquisition units. This study revealed that some Malaysian academic libraries practice the user-initiated collection acquisition model, with modifications from the Patron Driven Acquisition (PDA) practiced in the developed world. Malaysian academic libraries adopt the stand-alone user-initiated collection development model instead of integrating the model with either the library OPAC or publishers ‘databases as practiced by other libraries. The user-driven acquisition model is productive considering resource usage, library budget justification, and high return on investment (ROI), according to Malaysian academic libraries.