Making e-books easy (or trying to!) Establishing acquisitions procedures at the University of Surrey Content: Laura Smithson & Phil James Presentation: Kate Price

A bit about us…. High proportion of science disciplines High proportion of postgraduates Emphasis on innovation E-Resources spend is nearly 70% of total information resources spend

A bit about us… 90,000 e-books (excluding EEBO!) 2,500 e-books purchased individually 650 of those purchased in last year 10% of all book orders are e-books, and growing Individual titles purchased from same funds as print books Packages purchased from same funds as databases

A bit about you…

Previous procedure Request submitted by various means Librarian found e-book via supplier website Printed off page and marked up (fund code, etc.) Acquisitions ordered via supplier website Order went on LMS (Talis) when invoice received

Problems Huge waste of paper! Funds not committed immediately No record of order on LMS - possibility of duplication in interim Records slow to arrive on catalogue

How are you ordering?

Process re-engineered 2008 New supplier (Coutts / MyiLibrary) Able to select books via supplier interface Able to download skeleton MARC record to generate an order record on Talis with minimal manual entry Able to transmit orders via EDI direct from Talis Able to do this (almost) without paper

Time = money Ordering via an aggregator fits with our existing practices – saves time Single interface for librarians to search -saves time Costings are immediately available – no need to check with a publisher rep - saves time Orders no longer get stuck in a box – saves time Ordering and fulfilment via EDI are very quick so no need to backtrack through emails and paperwork – saves time

Stage 1 Librarian receives list from academic Librarian identifies items not in stock, funds available, number & format required Librarian logs in to Coutts Oasis Creates lists of e-books for ordering Marks these up online Forwards them to the Acquisitions team for ordering Librarians not authorised to transmit orders directly

Stage 2 Acquisitions staff member logs into Coutts Oasis Sees lists of e-books from Librarians waiting for processing Batches them up for weekly ordering Downloads basic MARC records and spreadsheet of orders including fund details etc.

Stage 3 Basic MARC record imported into Talis Order created using MARC record, and fund code and price copied & pasted from spreadsheet Copy function within Talis used when creating multiple orders – e.g. for librarians’s details Order transmitted to Coutts via EDI Funds committed immediately Record visible on OPAC with standard message “e-link – not yet active – item is on order”

Stage 4 Supplier sends upgraded MARC record, including active link Uploaded over the top of the basic MARC record Links checked to ensure they work Invoice sent by e-mail and items checked, receipted and paid on Talis Invoice printed and kept as proof of purchase Ordering, receipting & quality checking processes take approx. 2 hours per week in total

Points to remember Other suppliers offer EDI ordering for e-books Other Library Management Systems offer EDI ordering & MARC import Investing time in setting up smooth and efficient systems saves time later

Checklist 1 Get all staff involved familiar with supplier website Establish workflows that suit your setup Use individual logins for Librarians, tailored fund codes set up in advance for speed Choose an appropriate e-book access model for your customers and budget

Checklist 2 Set up and test EDI ordering with supplier Set up profiles for importing MARC records Set up system of folders for MARC records and spreadsheets Know how to deal with exceptions which cause import failure Create instructions tailored to staff groups

Checklist 3 Integrate e-book ordering into regular acquisitions workflow Establish quality checking procedures Establish good customer support contact for troubleshooting Establish procedures for collecting and distributing usage statistics Send wished for titles to supplier to pass on to publishers

What do you think?

Added value from supplier New title alerting, against subject profiles Match e-book availability against existing stock Match e-book availability against previous print purchases with same supplier

The future for Surrey Joint Consortium Book Agreement Discounts now also applied to e-books Embed procedures for purchasing from non-EDI enabled publishers (TIME!) Use similar paperless process for ordering print copies Agree policy on purchasing e-versions Patron-driven purchasing?

The future for e-books Improve online selection & ordering Improve availability of titles In demand by students- but difficult to use! Improve ease of login to individual titles Improve usability on mobile devices Reduce DRM restrictions Flipping pages, downloading, copying are needed in order to learn effectively Inform students of acceptable use policy Use watermarking to track transgression

Thank you for listening Kate Price Head of E-Strategy & Resources Library & Learning Support Services University of Surrey C.L.Price@surrey.ac.uk