The Intersection of Scholarly Communication and Acquisitions: Required Course Materials as E-book Purchases

Abstract

Librarians at Indiana University Bloomington (IUB) developed a pilot project to obtain course material data and purchase multi-user e-books for classes. This is a practice that peer libraries like Illinois State University and Virginia Commonwealth University have utilized to further course material affordability. These proceedings provide a high-level overview of how the project was implemented, with specific details about the workflow that other libraries can adapt to their context, including identifying partners, getting funding, securing and cleaning data, comparing this data to existing holdings and licenses, purchasing content, and outreach to professors. The paper also provides ideas for scaling IUB’s program down so that libraries of all sizes can create a program that is appropriate for their context. It concludes with the strengths of this model as well as the considerations that libraries should consider before creating similar programs.