Notes:

• Budget allocations from the University are distributed one-time during the year and have not been on a set schedule. The timing of Library allocations is heavily dependent on the timing of University allocations.
• Funds for course reserves, faculty publications, replacements, and some awards titles are available year round.
• It is an increasing trend that books go out of print very quickly and therefore are more difficult to purchase.
• Early monographs ordering is encouraged where possible. It is difficult for acquisitions staff to handle large numbers of orders received on or near the last deadline.
• Rialto Market in Alma is the preferred method for submitting book selections.
• Using Gobi folders is also acceptable to select titles for collection development purposes. Make the folder visible and the type shared. Best practice is to use your fund code and the year as the title of the folder. Email books@uark.edu when you are ready for the selections in your folder to be ordered.

• Useful email addresses

book selections: books@uark.edu

book RUSH requests: rrequest@uark.edu (please add the interested user email address and the format of the request in the email)

electronic resource serials acquisitions questions: libacq@uark.edu

collection development strategies: libcoll@uark.edu

Alma Fund Reports

1. Log into Alma.
2. On the left menu, choose Analytics
3. In the search box type fund
4. You can pin the Acquisitions - Fund Reports to your Analytics menu as a favorite report.If you pin that report you will see the link to the Acquisitions Fund Reports when you click on Analytics under Pinned Objects. 
5. Click the report title to view it. 

DRM-free - DRM is a set of techniques that restricts the access, copying, and sharing of copyrighted digital media files.  For instance, DRM typically limits how much an e-book reader can print and how long they can check it out.  DRM-free content allows users to freely use and transfer the content without any limitations. Buying directly with the ebook publisher usually provides a DRM-free experience.  Often the price when buying direct is the same as buying the same ebook through an ebook distributer.  Contact acquisitions to learn more about special pricing or discounts available.  Often when we purchase ebooks direct from the publisher they are DRM-free - Cambridge, Springer-Nature, Taylor & Francis, Oxford University Press, and Wiley are some examples.

Ebook subscriptions with drops and expiring access.  The titles in ebook subscriptions can change or drop out without any notice.  There are a number of reasons why an ebook might be dropped from a library's subscription including publisher's rights (the publisher may have lost rights or no longer offer it for sale).  The vendor, such as EBSCO or JSTOR, may make changes that cause the title to be dropped from its platform. Some of the vendors that send us lists of titles with expiring licenses to regularly review include:

Proquest Academic Complete - Generally we receive drop notices in December and June. 

OverDrive - contains some ebooks with expiring licenses (metered access) similar to the streaming video licensing model that drop at intervals from the time purchased (usually two years).  Acquisitions will receive a renewal notice and usage report when these licenses are about to expire.  

For more information about ebook platforms please visit the Finding and Using Ebooks Research Guide.  

DDA "Data Driven Acquisition"  -  Also referred to as PDA (Patron Driven Acquisitions).  Purchases are generally triggered by use.  The number of uses that will trigger a purchase is different for each plan. We currently have a DDA program through JSTOR for ebooks where 4 triggers will trigger a purchase. The latest 3 years (frontfile) are traditionally included in the dda. Our JSTOR DDA is managed through Rialto titles so that 100 titles per week are added to the pool beginning in October 2024.

JSTOR DDA, as mentioned above a title is triggered for acquisition when its usage reaches four total item requests in this model. Usage of the frontmatter and backmatter doesn’t count toward the trigger threshold to ensure that only substantive use leads to an acquisition. In addition, all usage under the trigger threshold is free; there are no short-term loan costs.

Kanopy - While not ebook related, we also have a smart dda through Kanopy for streaming video.  The Kanopy PDA title pool is curated based on past use in consulation with Kanopy personnel.  We also receive mediated requests through Kanopy from patrons suggesting titles that can be added to the pool.  A trigger is 30 seconds of viewing time. Four views of a film triggered a one-year lease of the title. More information about Kanopy.

EBA "Evidence-Based Acquisitions" - Under an EBA model, we can choose to access a large pool of titles and then choose titles with perpetual access at the end of the EBA cycle (usually July to June).  Therefore, if you have suggestions for purchase please pin or submit those by April 15th each year.  The evidence to support decision-making is supplied in the form of usage reports, indicating which titles are the most popular within our institution.  See the files in the Collection Development Assembly (CDA) Team for more details about current EBAs and/or the Finding and Using E-books Research Guide.  A file on the CDA Team "Current EBA collections" indicates how to suggest a title for each collection in column G.  Some collections can be pinned in Rialto while others will link to a spreadsheet where you can list your suggestion(s).  

Try Before you Buy: DDA and EBA Collections

The Libraries license some e-book collections for a defined period and then purchase titles based on use.  These collections may be:

• DDA: Data Driven Acquisition model
  • books are purchased throughout the year or at the end of a review period, based on the amount of use
  • purchases are sometimes triggered by a certain number of views, downloads, or time on title
• EBA: Evidence Based Acquisition model
  • books are purchased at the end of the license period, with the Libraries choosing the titles purchased, based on use and other factors. 

You will see these EBA / DDA designations on some titles in OneSearch.  Your use of these titles helps determine our purchase decisions. 

How do I request that an EBA/DDA ebook be purchased in perpetuity?

Books in these collections are purchased based on use - but sometimes we cannot purchase all titles and the purchase may not occur until the end of the fiscal year.  Please do place a request if you would like to be certain we will continue to have access to a specific title.

• For titles you wish to assign in a class, please complete our course reserves form. 
• For other titles, please complete our request purchase form.