Managing an e-book collection in today’s academic library can be a challenge. Libraries face ever-growing collections, increasing costs, and complex user demands—all while operating with limited staff and budgets. These constraints make it difficult for libraries to maintain the breadth and depth of collections needed to support their communities. Enter Demand-Driven Acquisition (DDA), a collection development strategy designed to help libraries manage costs and improve efficiency by allowing patrons to drive the acquisition process based on their actual usage.
What is a DDA Program?
DDA is a purchasing model that gives libraries the ability to provide access to a broad range of e-books without having to purchase them upfront. With a DDA program, libraries expose users to a large pool of e-books from various publishers, but the library only purchases a title when certain triggers occur, such as a user viewing it multiple times or downloading it. This model allows libraries to meet the needs of their users by offering a wider selection of titles, without committing their budgets until there is proven demand. This method is particularly advantageous in today’s environment, where libraries are often required to make difficult decisions about what materials to buy with finite resources.
Library Success Stories: Wabash College and Baylor Health Sciences Library
To understand how DDA programs via GOBI are making a difference, we spoke to two librarians who have successfully implemented the program: Laura Vogler from Wabash College and Rebecca Egbert from the Baylor Health Sciences Library. Their experiences highlight the practical benefits and ease of use that a GOBI DDA program provides.
Baylor Health Sciences Library – Rebecca Egbert
Baylor Health Sciences Library, located in Dallas, Texas, supports medical education, research, and patient care by providing resources to Baylor University Medical Center and Texas A&M College of Dentistry.
Rebecca Egbert, a seasoned library professional at Baylor Health Sciences Library, has been with the library since 2012. Serving 13 hospitals and a large student population, Rebecca and her team are stretched thin, with just seven staff members to manage a complex library system. "Our GOBI DDA program has been an essential tool for us," Rebecca said, noting that it has allowed the library to provide access to a wide array of medical and dental resources without the need to buy every title upfront.
With limited administrative support, managing budgets and acquisitions efficiently is critical for Rebecca. The DDA program has made it easier for her to control costs while offering users seamless access to the resources they need. "The users don’t even realize that a title hasn’t been purchased yet," Rebecca noted, "and that’s the beauty of DDA—it’s invisible to the patron, and it ensures that we’re only buying the materials that are actually in demand."
Baylor has been managing it's DDA program via GOBI since 2015 and they are now looking to expand the DDA program to include its partner library in Temple, Texas. "This will be interesting for us," Rebecca said, "because the Temple location serves a Children's Hospital and other programs that differ from our current needs. We’re curious to see how the topics and titles triggered will change once we open up the DDA collection to this broader audience."
Learn more about how DDA has transformed the Baylor Health Sciences Library on our EBSCO Resources page.
Wabash College – Laura Vogler
Wabash College is a small all-male liberal arts institution with a student population of around 880. For over 30 years, Laura Vogler has played a key role in the library’s evolving collections, particularly as staffing levels have fluctuated. When asked about her recent experience migrating from the JSTOR DDA program to the GOBI DDA program, Laura described it as "super easy" and largely painless.
"We already used GOBI for e-book purchases, so transitioning from JSTOR to GOBI was not difficult at all," Laura explained. In April of 2024, she worked with her GOBI representative to set up a DDA profile, ensuring that her library would only pay for e-books when certain conditions, such as multiple views, were met. "The hardest part was setting up the profile, but even that was straightforward. It was mostly about making sure that we didn’t turn on any titles over $250, and that was handled on GOBI’s end."
One of the standout features for Laura was the visibility of titles within the GOBI catalog. She explained that while some publishers impose embargo periods on new titles, meaning they won't be available through DDA for a specified time, she could still manually purchase desired titles directly through GOBI. This flexibility ensures that even with restrictions, the library can maintain a current and relevant collection. "It’s not a huge issue," she said, "because we can still manually purchase those titles through GOBI if needed."
Overall, Laura praised the program’s flexibility, stating that the ability to access a wide range of titles without upfront purchase commitments has allowed Wabash College to build a collection that reflects the actual needs of its patrons.
Conclusion
The DDA program via GOBI is proving to be a game-changer for libraries like Wabash College and the Baylor Health Sciences Library. By streamlining acquisition processes, reducing costs, and ensuring that libraries are purchasing only the most relevant materials, DDA allows libraries to maximize the value of their collections. Moreover, as Laura Vogler and Rebecca Egbert’s experiences illustrate, the setup and maintenance of a DDA program through GOBI are straightforward and adaptable to each institution's unique needs. For libraries seeking to balance tight budgets and growing user demands, DDA offers a practical, user-driven solution for the future of e-book collection development.
