AASL 2011 National Conference

Books, E-Ink, and Databases, Oh My! Collection Development in the 21st Century

Digital Reference and Beyond

Angela Carstensen

Background

Convent of the Sacred Heart, New York, NY690 students, PK3-12, all girls~50 students per grade

Two librariesLower/Middle School (grades PK3-8)Upper School (grades 9-12)

Reference Ebooks

School website, Library Electronic Resources page

Moodle Library Online page

Moodle 11th Research project page

Ebook Link in Destiny (library catalog)

GVRL on Gale IPad/IPhone app

Ebook

Invest in a Research Ebook Collection

• Ebrary• Questia• Ebooks from EBSCO (was Netlibrary)

Individual Publishers• Rosen• Marshall Cavendish

Jobbers• Baker & Taylor Axis 360 / Blio• FollettShelf (includes Pebblego)• Ingram MyiLibrary

1. How much teaching time required? Is using the product intuitive for students?

2.With which print publishers does the Ebook vendor partner? (Can we add the books we want?)

3. Is there a set-up fee? An annual fee?4. Do we own the Ebooks we purchase? 5. Can users download to a digital device? Which?6. Does the Ebook vendor provide MARC records?7. How intuitive are the ordering management

pages?8. Does the vendor provide usage reports?9. Does it work on your platform? (Mac and PC)

Choices• When to buy print? When to buy Ebook?• If Ebook:– How many simultaneous copies? – Allow patron-driven acquisitions?– Buy books one by one, or invest in a collection?– Short-term lease option for project research?

Freading

• Pay for usage, not content• 20K ebooks for no cost. No platform fee.• Pay as your patrons read.• Unlimited simultaneous access to all titles. • Mobile apps for iPad, iPhone, android devices

Angela CarstensenHead Librarian, Convent of the Sacred HeartNew York, NY

Twitter: AngeReadsBlog: Adult Books 4 Teens (SLJ)