StaffGuide: Collection Development

Ordering Calendar

Acquisitions ordering calendar

July
  • Fiscal New Year Start-Up
  • Library Finance Department notifies library about endowment income.
  • Selectors advised to begin ordering, assuming there are no budgetary constraints
August
  • Estimate price increases
September
  • 2nd week of the month, selectors reach out to departmental liaisons for input about selections.
October
  • Oct. 1, Monographic funds should be 30% submitted.
  • Oct. 30, Monographic funds should be 30% encumbered.
December / January
  • December 15, Monographic funds should be 50% submitted.
  • Jan. 31, Monographic funds should be 50% encumbered.
  • Jan. 31, All non-U.S. source orders (printed format) should be submitted by January 31st to allow for shipping time and payment to be completed before the end of the fiscal year.
March
  • March 1, Monographic funds should be 90% submitted.
  • March 30, Monographic funds should be 90% encumbered.
  • March 1, Subject group orders due.
  • Budget Proposals due to the University.
April
  • April 15, 100% of selections must be submitted. (Must allow time for invoice delivery plus payment)
  • April 15, EBA suggestions must be submitted.
May
  • Uncommitted general funds pooled for special purchases.
June
  • June 30, fiscal year end close.

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. Email books@uark.edu when you are ready for the selections in your folder to be ordered.
  • Unit email addresses

book selections: books@uark.edu

book rush requests: rrequest@uark.edu

serials acquisitions questions: libacq@uark.edu

Policies and Procedures

Fund Reports

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. 

OverDrive

GOBI

Other Tools

Ebook related definitions and information

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, and Wiley are some examples.

Ebook subscriptions with drops.  Several selectors have asked about the titles that fall out of the ebook subscriptions.  Proquest Academic complete is one of those subscriptions.  Proquest sends a list of titles that will be dropped twice a year, usually.  Most often in December and in June.  Ebsco also has several ebook subscriptions where titles are dropped often.  We do not usually receive notice of these drops.  

OverDrive contains some ebooks with expiring licenses similar to the streaming video licensing model.  

For more information about ebook platforms please visit the Finding and Using Ebooks Research Guide.  What you see listed on this guide is here at the request of subject specialist but the public guide is more comprehensive.

EBA and DDA for library faculty and staff.

DDA "Data Driven Acquisition"  -  Also referred to as PDA (Patron Driven Acquisitions).  Purchases are generally triggered by use.  The number of uses for each plan is different. We currently have a DDA program through JSTOR for ebooks where 7 triggers will trigger a purchase. The latest 3 years (frontfile) are included in the dda.  The true title list can only be seen in the JSTOR admin account, but if you sort the list at the JSTOR website by frontlist that may be close.  JSTOR DDA Title List: Demand-Driven Acquisition - About JSTOR *The JSTOR dda has been paused due to technical difficulties switching from a JSTOR managed plan to a Rialto managed plan.

JSTOR DDA, as mentioned above a title is triggered for acquisition when its usage reaches seven 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.  Acquisitions also receives mediated requests through Kanopy from patrons suggesting titles.  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 title and then choose titles with perpetual access at the end of the EBA cycle (usually July to June).  Therefore, if you have suggestions to purchase please pin or submit 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.  We have several Ebook EBAs currently.  See the files in the Collection Development Assembly (CDA) Team for more details about current EBAs.  The file below "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).  The pinning instructions also list a bit more information about the collections beyond the requested list below.

Current EBA collections

DDA and EBA information directed to the public.

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. 

UARK EBA/DDA Plans 2024-2025
Vendor Collection Name What's included Title List Plan ends
Cambridge University Press Cambridge EBA Ebooks Complete Collection All academic books, 2015-2014 in the following subject collections:
Anthropology, Archaeology, Classical Studies, Computer Science, Earth and Environmental Sciences with Geography, Economics & Management, Engineering, History, Language and Linguistics, Law, Life Sciences, Literature, Mathematics, Statistics and Probability, Medicine, Philosophy, Physics & Astronomy, Politics and International Relations, Psychology, Religion, Sociology, Visual & Performing Arts (Art, Drama and Theatre, Film, Media, Mass Communication, Music)

Does not include books in the collections Cambridge Histories Online or Cambridge Companions Online, which the Libraries acquire separately. 
Browse Cambridge Content available to UARK.

June 2025

 

Elsevier (ScienceDirect) Several subject collections

Includes books in the following sets:
Agricultural, Biological, and Food Sciences , 2020-2023
Biochemistry, Genetics, and Molecular Biology, 2020-2023
Biomedical Engineering, 2020-2023
Environmental Science, 2020-2023
Finance, 2020
Forensics and Security, 2020
Material Science, 2020-2023

Browse ScienceDirect ebooks available to UARK June 2025
JSTOR JSTOR Books EBA Collection Backlist titles published before 2021-2022.  Title list at JSTOR June 2025
JSTOR JSTOR (JSTOR Rialto DDA) information forthcoming; frontlist titles since 2021-2022.    ongoing purchase as triggered by use
Oxford University Press Oxford Scholarship Online Frontlist 2024 EBA

Oxford Scholarship Online Backlist 2024 EBA
All monographs in the Oxford Scholarship series in all subject areas. 

Note that the Libraries have previously purchased some individual titles in perpetuity, as well. 
All Oxford Scholarship Online titles June 2025
Project Muse Project Muse EBA Books All English-language Project Muse books. 
Some presses, such as Princeton, have embargoes on recent titles. 
Project Muse Book title list (download) June 2025
SpringerNature SpringerLink Books - AutoHoldings Subject collections covering books published 2021-2024:
Behavioral Science & Psychology, Biomedical & Life Sciences, Intelligent Technologies & Robotics, Earth & Environmental Science, Business & Management, Education, Social Sciences, Computer Science Engineering, Chemistry & Material Science, Mathematics & Statistics, Medicine Physics & Astronomy, Prof & Applied Computing, Energy, Economics & Finance, History, Literature, Cultural & Media Studies,  Political Science & International Studies, Philosophy & Religion, Law & Criminology, Synthesis Collection of Technology
All SpringerLInk books, sorted by date. June 2025
Taylor and Francis Taylor and Francis EBA All titles from 2023 and 2024 All Taylor and Francis Ebooks June 2025
Wiley Wiley Online Library Books This is a mixed collection of previously-purchased and EBA titles.  EBA plan Includes all Wiley book titles excepting major reference works. All Wiley Ebooks June 2025

 

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.