Purchase on Demand Pilot Project

The I-Share Purchase-on-Demand pilot project built on the I-Share resource sharing tradition by exploring options for providing ready access to recent monographs that were not held by I-Share libraries or that had limited availability. For this pilot, bibliographic records were loaded into I-Share for recently published items that met a particular set of criteria. When these records were requested by a library user, project funds were used to purchase the item and the item was rush processed and the request filled. CARLI and the University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign Library each shared the cost of the project.

The pilot project concluded in March 2010 with 190 items purchased over a five-week period. Items purchased represented requests from 40 I-Share institutions. Although the pilot project had a modest budget and timeframe, analysis of its outcomes have been helpful in determining the feasibility and implementation procedures of future purchase on demand projects. Results from this pilot project were used in planning the Patron Driven Acquisitions.

Project Details

Approximately 16,700 bibliographic records were included. The materials were required to meet the following criteria:

• Books published between November 1, 2008 and October 31, 2009
• US imprints
• English language
• Priced at $300 or less
• Currently in stock at YBP warehouse
• Not reference books or textbooks
• Not spiral bound
• Not published by O’Reilly or Macmillan Reference

The bibliographic records were loaded into the University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign’s Voyager database and into the I-Share Universal Catalog where they were available for request by any I-Share library user that has Universal Borrowing (UB) privileges. The only indication that the item was not currently owned was its location: “Acquired Upon Request Only—CARLI Pilot Program."

Staff at the University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign Library reviewed each request made on these titles to confirm that there was no or very limited availability of the item within the consortium. If circulating copies were available within I-Share, staff attempted to fill the request with one of the available copies. If staff confirmed that the items had limited or no availability, the book’s purchase was expedited, the item was rush processed at UIUC, and then was loaned to the patron. Items were shipped between libraries by standard ILDS overnight delivery. Items purchased under this program are assigned a four-week loan period and users are able to renew the item one time. Usage is  tracked as part of the project assessment. For this pilot project, all materials purchased are the property of the University of Illinois at Urbana Champaign Library.

CARLI and the University of Illinois at Urbana Champaign Library followed all applicable library records confidentiality policies throughout this project and all follow-up reporting.

When all funds for the project were expended, the bibliographic records of the items not purchased were removed from both the University of Illinois at Urbana Champaign Library catalog and the Universal Catalog.

The members of the Purchase on Demand task force were:

• Chad Buckley, Illinois State University
• Elizabeth Clarage, CARLI
• Frances Drone-Silvers, Parkland College
• Kris Hammerstrand, CARLI
• Cathy Salika, CARLI
• Marlene Slough, Eastern Illinois University
• Lynn Wiley, University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign

For more information about this pilot project, please contact the CARLI Office.