To Buy or Not to Buy: Consideration of Duplication and Availability in the OhioLINK Central Catalog Rob Kairis Library Director Professor Stark Campus Kent State University Linda Brown Coordinator of Collections Associate Professor University Libraries Bowling Green State University XXVII Annual Charleston Conference “Issues in Book and Serials Acquisition”, Nov. 7-10

Determining Duplication in GeneralRob Kairis Assumption … PCIRC (OhioLINK’s online user initiated borrowing and lending system) makes borrowing a practical way for all users to obtain books Study demonstrates that 44% of books borrowed arrived within 48 hours from the time of the request and 71% within 72 hours * * Van Dam S., Block J., Pettitt R.N. Jr., "The Impact of the OhioLINK Network on Traditional Interlibrary Loan", Journal of Interlibrary Loan, Document Delivery & Information Supply, Volume: 8, Issue: 1 (1997), pp. 2

Determining Duplication in GeneralRob Kairis Duplication … Determined by the percentage of AVAILABLE copies in the union catalog, not a raw number of copies purchased. For example … 4 copies of a rarely used title may be more than adequate for supplying borrowing needs if all copies are generally available (not checked out) While … 20 copies of a widely used title may be insufficient for supplying borrowing needs if all copies are generally in use (regularly checked out)

Determining Duplication in GeneralRob Kairis Duplication … How many AVAILABLE copies mark a sufficient number to meet user needs? Only 1 … Since the user only needs that one available copy More than only 1 … As a safety factor to insure available copies for subsequent users When do too many AVAILABLE copies constitute EXCESSIVE duplication?

Determining Duplication in GeneralRob Kairis Duplication … Measured as the ratio of AVAILABLE copies to purchased copies … AVAILABLE Copies Purchased Copies Duplication =

Determining Duplication in GeneralRob Kairis Samples … Based on the Stark Campus Library’s (slip) Approval Plan, a minimal number of basic (not advanced) academic titles, excluding textbooks … These titles would likely be included in most OhioLINK library approval plans Titles not purchased by the Stark Campus, only titles considered for possible selection in the form of notification slips

Determining Duplication in GeneralRob Kairis Samples … Samples checked against the union catalog using a program that creates a snapshot of the status of each copy, measuring duplication at busy times during the year, over time … Sample 1 (415 Titles) Sample 2 (464 Titles) Date Checked Duplication (% of AVAILABLE Copies) April % October %70% October %81%

Determining Duplication in GeneralRob Kairis Dupe Scenarios … An analysis of the financial implications of the measured duplication, and scenarios for demonstrating the financial impact of reducing duplication … Costs based on the statewide vendor information Calculations rounded to an integer, since you can’t buy a percentage of a book

Determining Duplication in GeneralRob Kairis Dupe Scenarios … Sample 1, initial check (April 2002) … Original Sample Criteria (April, 2002) Money spent$129,909 Titles415 Copies3,512 AVAILABLE Copies2,449 Ave Cost per Title$313 Ave Cost per Copy$37 Copies per Title8.46 AVAILABLE Copies per Title5.9 Duplication70%

Determining Duplication in GeneralRob Kairis Dupe Scenarios … Sample 1, initial check (April 2002) … Desired Number of Copies Available Desired Number of Copies Purchased % of Excessive Duplication Reduced0%5%17%29%41%53%65% Potential Deduplication Savings $ - $ 7,102 $ 22,453 $ 37,804 $ 53,155 $ 68,506 $ 83,856

Determining Duplication in GeneralRob Kairis Dupe Scenarios … Sample 1, last check (October 2007) … Desired Number of Copies Available Desired Number of Copies Purchased % of Excessive Duplication Reduced0%9%17%26%34%42%50%59%67%75%83% Potential Deduplication Savings$$16,582$31,607$46,632$61,657$76,681$91,706$106,731$121,756$136,781$151,806

Determining Duplication in GeneralRob Kairis De-duplication in Practice … Stark Campus Library Practices … Hold approval slips for 3-4 months Established criteria for faculty selections Necessary local purchase (initials) Consider if few duplicates (just send slip) Not worthy of purchase (throw away) Check union catalog for duplication level using 25% rule software

Determining Duplication in GeneralRob Kairis De-duplication in Practice … Desired Number of Copies Available Desired Number of Copies Purchased % of Excessive Duplication Reduced0%5%17%29%41%53%65% 25% Potential Deduplication Savings $ - $ 7,102 $ 22,453 $ 37,804 $ 53,155 $ 68,506 $ 83,856

Determining Duplication in GeneralRob Kairis De-duplication in Practice … Stark Campus Library Lending Statistics …

Minimum Guidelines for Number of CopiesLinda Brown How many copies are enough? Examine book buying patterns of OhioLINK libraries with YBP Analyze vendor data for 2004 shipments Search in OhioLINK central catalog to determine a snapshot of availability

Minimum Guidelines for Number of CopiesLinda Brown 49,351 profiled titles examined 2004 imprints –Excluded POPULAR level, but INCLUDED in classes BF & psych in RC BL-BX GV & sports med in RC M-MT PE, PN, PR, PS QA & computing in TK TT-TX

Minimum Guidelines for Number of CopiesLinda Brown 39,303 titles or 80% of total titles were shipped to at least one OhioLINK library

Minimum Guidelines for Number of CopiesLinda Brown

Shipment Type Copies per title shipped % of total shipments Approvals5.7142% Firm orders4.9357% Continuations3.991% All shipments4.62

Minimum Guidelines for Number of CopiesLinda Brown Some OhioLINK libraries are employing “soft caps.” “Soft cap” purchasing occurs when a library agrees to not buy an item if the OhioLINK union catalog already has a certain number of available circulating copies. Each library can set its own optimum cap number and its own exceptions, such as, for popular titles or course reserves.

Minimum Guidelines for Number of CopiesLinda Brown BPhilosophy. Psychology. Religion EU.S. History HSocial Sciences LEducation NFine Arts PLanguage and Literature QScience RMedicine

Minimum Guidelines for Number of CopiesLinda Brown LC classes B,E,H,L,N,P,Q,R Apr-06Oct-07 Number of titles in sample6,0726,387 % available66%77%

Minimum Guidelines for Number of CopiesLinda Brown How many copies are necessary to meet demand? 25% of total copies available to meet future requests PLUS Number of unavailable copies YIELDS Guideline for the minimum number of copies needed to meet theoretical demand

Minimum Guidelines for Number of CopiesLinda Brown LC ClassDescription 2006 Minimum Guideline 2007 Minimum Guideline B-BX Philosophy. Psychology. Religion43 EU.S. History64 H-HXSocial Sciences43 L-LGEducation45 N-NXFine Arts43 P-PT Language and Literature53 Q-QRScience43 R-RZMedicine44

Minimum Guidelines for Number of CopiesLinda Brown

What to purchase instead of multiple duplicate copies? Zero copies shipped to OhioLINK libraries 10,048 One copy shipped to OhioLINK libraries 7,746 Total titles with fewer than two copies purchased 17,794

Minimum Guidelines for Number of CopiesLinda Brown LC classDescription Total count % of titles with fewer than 2 copies purchased VNaval Science 17729% RMedicine 8,74227% TTechnology 10,12 426%

Minimum Guidelines for Number of CopiesLinda Brown Interdisciplinary area % of titles with fewer than 2 copies purchased Speech and hearing impaired42% Maritime studies30% Transportation20% Hospitality industry14%

Minimum Guidelines for Number of CopiesLinda Brown Format CategoryTotal Count % of titles with fewer than 2 copies purchased Cookbook30770% Programmed text2357% Workbook/Consumable35356% Travel Guide12655% Unrevised dissertation7253% Instructor's manual450% Conference Proceeding202949% Exam Guide44545% Textbook--intro % Study Guide48525% Personal Narrative122625% Textbook--prof.62124% Casebook44622% Classroom Anthology50022% Curriculum Guide6022% Cartoons11721% Conference Proceeding % Periodical Anthology43020%

Minimum Guidelines for Number of CopiesLinda Brown Conclusions 1.Decreasing excessive duplication can diversify the consortial collection and enrich holdings for all members. 2.Book budgets are unlikely to be expanded, so we must buy more wisely if we are to see growth in the number of titles available to consortium users. 3.In many cases, approval plans stock library shelves with copies sufficient to meet minimum guidelines. 4.We can diversify consortial holdings if purchasing patterns are changed to purchase titles not acquired. 5.Consider coordinating approval plans and continuations and making alternative firm order choices.

To Buy or Not to Buy: Consideration of Duplication and Availability in the OhioLINK Central Catalog Rob Kairis Library Director Professor Stark Campus Kent State University Linda Brown Coordinator of Collections Associate Professor University Libraries Bowling Green State University XXVII Annual Charleston Conference “Issues in Book and Serials Acquisition”, Nov. 7-10