Putting It Together: Implementing Books at JSTOR Demand-Driven Acquisition in Alma

Abstract

In Fall 2017, The University of Minnesota embarked on a new demand-driven acquisition (DDA) plan through Books at JSTOR. This presentation will cover how we created and automated a workflow for managing these titles in Alma.

Whereas our previous ebrary DDA program was managed for us by GOBI, the Books at JSTOR DDA service requires much more local management. JSTOR works with OCLC to provide MARC records for profiled and purchased DDA titles via multiple collections in WorldShare Collection Manager. We will discuss how we’re managing the ingest and update of these discovery records. A takeaway from this presentation will be how to decide whether to use Alma PDA functionality for PDA/DDA plans with varying workflows. We’ll also share the process we’ve developed for managing purchase order lines (POLs) and invoice payment, using a Python script to merge spreadsheet invoice data with WCM MARC records for ingest into a perpetual access collection. We’ll also touch on working with primary vendors (such as GOBI) to prevent duplication with approval and firm orders for print and electronic books.

Expect to come away from this session with a better understanding of the ecosystem of Books at JSTOR DDA, how to develop an efficient and effective workflow for library-managed DDA plans, the benefits and limitations of Alma’s built-in PDA functionality, how to automate aspects of the service, and how to manage those which require human intervention.