Patron-Driven Acquisitions

Abstract

During a time when libraries are facing reductions in budget, personnel, and space, it is not viable to continue the traditional “just-in-case” approach to collection development. In a user-centric library world, Patron Driven Acquisitions (PDA) has been shown to be an effective acquisition model in building “just-in-time” monograph collections to support the information and curricular needs of a variety of users in different settings. Arizona State University (ASU) Libraries have implemented a PDA model for electronic as well as print books for their users. The chapter explores the history of the use of PDA in a variety of library settings, provides a related literature review, discusses the application of PDA to the purchase of e-books at ASU from the perspective of an Electronic Resources Librarian and a Subject Librarian and Administrator of a branch library, and provides a sustainable model, which may be applied in different types of library settings.