The role of document delivery and collection management for an electronic user clientele

• Published in: Collection Building Vol. 18; no. 4; pp. 166 - 173
• Main Authors: Gyeszly, Suzanne D., Carrothers, Matt
• Format: Report
• Language: English
• Published: MCB UP Ltd 01.12.1999
• Subjects: Academic libraries; Access to electronic and paper resources; Collection management; Document delivery; Electronic journals
• ISSN: 0160-4953
• DOI: 10.1108/01604959910303316

Feebased electronic resources such as fulltext journals, databases, abstracts, and indexes are widely available for library users. However, scholarly books and reference sources are usually not available in electronic format, and particular disciplines are not significantly represented by available electronic sources. Traditional document delivery serves as a complement to electronic resources, and offers patrons timely access to materials not available in electronic format. The data represent document delivery requests during the academic years 19971999 at the Policy Sciences and Economics Library PSEL, a branch library of the Texas A&M University General Libraries. The requests were sorted by academic departments, user types, call numbers, and type of material. The statistics served two primary purposes. First, frequently requested items were ordered for the librarys permanent collection. Second, the data were compared to electronic resource usage statistics to determine which resources best serve the patrons. The statistics assisted the library administrators in making collection management decisions and projected short and longterm budgetary needs.