Paper presented at the California Association of Research Libraries Conference, April 2016 Analysis of 2 cases studies - Demand Driven Acquisitions impact on ILL and Self-service reference impact on traditional reference services

1. Finding Our Value in Lower Usage Numbers:
An Examination of Reference Services & Demand
Driven Acquisitions
Elizabeth S. Namei, Reference & Instruction Librarian, University of Southern California
Stacy R. Williams, Head, Architecture & Fine Arts Library, University of Southern California
California Association of Research Libraries Conference | Costa Mesa, CA | April 1, 2016

2. Our Inspiration:
Reference “is a reactive position. We wait for problems to occur
and solve them as best we can, considering our sphere of influence
and available resources. Essentially, we wait for our systems to
fail....The fundamental goal of reference work should be self-
destruction. We know they want to be able to do it themselves, so
we should be working proactively to make the library system so
easy that they don’t need us to navigate it.”
Judith Logan, July 2015
“Reorienting Reference”
http://acrlog.org/2015/07/02/reorienting-reference/

3. A Willingness to Cannibalize
Libraries “must break out of the natural
human trait that propels them to use
yesterday’s bag of tools to solve
tomorrow’s problems. They must do so
today, while they still have options,
not tomorrow, when they will have
nothing left but a useless bag of tools.
They must be willing to cannibalize
before there is nothing of value left to
cannibalize. Cannibalization is clearly
a difficult and painful thing to do. It
requires [libraries] to swim against the
tide of organizational inertia.”
(Chandy and Tellis, 1998, p.485)
Image from: http://www.cultofmac.com/70330/is-apple-really-cannibalizing-everything/

5. Case study #1 - Declining Reference Transactions
and the rise of Self-Service Reference Options

6. Reference Services @ USC
• 13 libraries on our main
campus
• 1 general reference desk
• 2 specialized reference desks
(Science & Engineering and
Special Collections)
• In 2015 we moved from 24/7
collaborative chat to local chat
service
Image from: http://newdigitalguru.com/kckarchitects/usc-doheny-memorial-library/

8. New features, intuitive systems & services @ USC
Libraries:
• LibGuides, September 2008
• Summon added as the default search option, July 2010
• LibAnswers FAQs, January 2013
• Link Resolver results page redesign, March 2013
• StackMap, October 2014
• Improved signage throughout our main library, June 2015
• Website redesign, July 2015

9. Several of these are “Self-Service Reference” Options:
• LibGuides, September 2008
• Summon as the default search option, July 2010
• LibAnswers FAQs, January 2013
• Link Resolver results page redesign, March 2013
• StackMap in October 2014
• Improved signage throughout our main library, June 2015
• Website redesign, July 2015

10. StackMap

11. StackMap

14. Case study #2 - Declining Interlibrary Loan
Borrowing Requests after the Introduction of a
Demand Driven Acquisitions Program

15. Demand Driven Acquisitions (DDA) Program for E-books
• Records are added for items that
are not owned by a library
• We only pay if and when an item
gets used
• Extends a library’s budget while
expanding access to content
• All of this happens seamlessly for
users
Image from: http://sunsounds.org/sun-sounds-demand

16. DDA @ USC
2013: Started as a small pilot in with
EBL to determine viability
• Added 9,000+ records to
Summon
2014: Launched larger scale program
• 25,000+ records added to a new
DDA pool
2015: Expanded program to include
ebrary and manual additions by ILL
staff
• 38,000+ records are in DDA pool
Image from: http://michaelhyatt.com/why-do-ebooks-cost-so-much.html

17. DDA is a Paradigm Shift for Libraries
• From just in case → just in time
collection development
• From ownership → access
• From librarian/expert curated →
user selected collections
• From educated decision making
(predicting) → evidence based
decision making
Image from: http://www.enterpriseefficiency.com/author.asp?section_id=3140&doc_id=265278

18. DDA vs. ILL?
“We should replace ILL whenever
possible with a DDA model that
will allow us all to go to a
single location to gain
immediate access to any eBook,
often at a cheaper cost than
borrowing a print book from
another library….ILL should
become a means of borrowing
only materials that are not
available — either as [print on
demand] or eBook — on demand.”
(Levine-Clark, 2011, Against the Grain,
p.26-27.
Image from: http://www.history.com/this-day-in-history/andrew-jackson-kills-charles-dickinson-in-duel

20. What can we learn from these 2 case studies?

21. Self-Service Reference and DDA both:
• Offer preemptive solutions that anticipate and solve problems before they
arise
• Empower users to be self sufficient and independent
• Focus on enhancing library systems to connect users more quickly and
intuitively to information, resources and help
• Prioritize a just in time over a just in case service/collections model
• Remove librarians as a mediators (i.e., gatekeepers)
• Require collaboration across library departments and service points to
provide more efficient and intuitive services

22. Collect Better (Different) Data!
“As we move forward and imagine what public services models should
look like in the future, more nuanced data is crucial for making
evidence-based transformations. While annual tallies of non-
directional reference transactions can help us gauge the extent of
informal teaching and learning opportunities, this data is not good
enough….Academic libraries...need to start tracking and reporting
meaningful teaching and learning opportunities through reference
services in order to have valuable discussions about the future of
reference services and the value they add to the learning experience.”
(Folk, 2015, p.21).

23. Caroline Muglia - Collection Assessment Librarian

24. Questions?
Comments?
Image from: http://www.opencolleges.edu.au/informed/features/student-driven-learning/

25. References
Chandy, R. K., & Tellis, G. J. (1998). Organizing for radical product innovation: The
overlooked role of willingness to cannibalize. Journal of Marketing Research, 35(4), 474-487.
Folk, A. L. (2015). “Access or awareness? Identifying relationships between reference and
other dimensions of public services.” Association of College and Research Libraries National
Conference. Portland Oregon.
http://www.ala.org/acrl/sites/ala.org.acrl/files/content/conferences/confsandpreconfs/2015/Fo
lk_Access.pdf
Levine-Clark, M. (2011). “Developing a Model for Long-Term Management of Demand-
Driven Acquisitions.” Against the Grain. 23(3): 24-26.
http://docs.lib.purdue.edu/cgi/viewcontent.cgi?article=5887&context=atg
Logan, J. (July 2015). “Reorienting Reference.” ACRLog.
http://acrlog.org/2015/07/02/reorienting-reference/