When the End-User Decides: Patron Driven Acquisition of E-Books

Outsell projects rapid growth of the e-book market, from $6.1 billion in 2011 to $12.7 billion in 2013. Publishers produce an ever-increasing supply of frontlist and backlist titles. How can librarians choose e-books to buy from this vastness? Libraries are adopting patron driven acquisition to get the most for their money. Academic libraries have experimented successfully with patron driven acquisition and are adding it to their portfolio of acquisition tools; public and special libraries are still wary. In this report, Outsell examines the results of those experiments, reviews content providers’ offerings, and makes recommendations for information managers who are considering patron driven acquisition. This report includes:
- An overview of the evolution of patron driven acquisition;
- The benefits and limitations of patron driven acquisition;
- The vendor landscape, including detailed analysis of Ingram Content Group, ebrary, EBSCO Publishing, and Ebooks Corporation;
- Key trends;
- A list of questions to consider for patron driven acquisition implementation;
- Lessons learned and imperatives for information managers.