Changing Library Vendor Contracts: A Case Study In Acquiring E Books From An On Line Book Vendor

Safari Tech Books Online offers several options for providing computer books to campus users. Purdue University used the vendor for 1 1⁄2 years and discovered that the current titles option was not working as well as expected. The option included providing access to the current year and two previous years for all available publishers and was less labor-intensive for the library staff. A statistical analysis was done that examined the use patterns, including most heavily used books and publishers, as well as books with and without catalog records. This paper discusses the new option chosen and compares the statistical use patterns before and after the change. The university library ultimately changed its plan to more closely meet user needs by limiting the number of publishers, maintaining high use titles, and selecting specific titles as needed. Additionally, problems that were encountered before and after the change are discussed.