E-Preferred Approval Plans – Is This the Right Choice for an Academic Library?

Abstract

Texas A&M University (TAMU) Libraries implemented an e-preferred approval plan in early 2000s with the goal to achieve better oversight of monograph purchases, while responding to users’ increasing demands for library resources in both print and electronic formats. To determine the impact of the e-preferred approval plan on the library’s monograph collections, an evaluation of the print and e-books purchased from GOBI Library Solutions (formerly known as YBP) over a time span of six fiscal years was conducted. Acquisition, usage data and collection development profiles have been analyzed. Study results support evidence-based collection acquisition and management decisions of monographs in print and electronic formats. The results also inform whether e-books effectively support the TAMU research and curricula and to what extent hybrid print and electronic collections should co-exist to support diverse user information needs. Finally, this poster provides some suggestions for how librarians can evaluate and tweak approval plans to adequately supply the monograph titles needed by an academic community. The project is scalable to an academic library of any size: large, medium or small.