Using Evidence in Practice
Streamlining Workflows in the Now: Using Evidence to Select a DVD Vendor
for the University of Alberta Libraries
Jessica Thorlakson
Academic Library Intern
University of Alberta Libraries
Edmonton, Alberta, Canada
Email: jthorlak@ualberta.ca
Denise Koufogiannakis
Collections and Acquisitions Coordinator
University of Alberta Libraries
Edmonton, Alberta, Canada
Email: denise.koufogiannakis@ualberta.ca
Sharon Marshall
Manager, Bibliographic Services (retired)
University of Alberta Libraries
Edmonton, Alberta, Canada
Email: sharon.marshall@ualberta.ca
Received: 13 Nov. 2014 Accepted: 31 Jan. 2015
2015 Thorlakson, Koufogiannakis, and Marshall. This is an Open
Access article distributed under the terms of the Creative
Commons‐Attribution‐Noncommercial‐Share Alike License 4.0 International (http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-nc-sa/4.0/),
which permits unrestricted use, distribution, and reproduction in any medium,
provided the original work is properly attributed, not used for commercial
purposes, and, if transformed, the resulting work is redistributed under the
same or similar license to this one.
Setting
Located in Edmonton, Alberta, Canada, the
University of Alberta Libraries (UAL) serve a robust community of users made up
of over 10,000 staff and over 39,000 students across 200 undergraduate and 170
graduate programs from 18 faculties
at the University of Alberta (University of Alberta, 2013a; University of
Alberta, 2013b). Programs of study are wide ranging, and serve all levels of
study. The UAL have 13 locations, with librarians and support staff at all
locations involved with collections work. The acquisitions and bibliographic
services units serve a central role within the libraries to oversee and streamline
processes for functions related to the acquisition and discovery of library
materials. Each year, the UAL normally hire paid academic library interns who
are recent graduates (within the last two years) from an accredited library
school program, and in the 2013-2014 academic year one of the interns was
assigned to work with acquisitions and bibliographic services on a project
related to the acquisition of video materials on DVD.
Problem
With an influx of online video resources,
many institutions are increasing their partnerships with video streaming
providers such as Films on Demand, Filmakers Library Online, the National Film
Board of Canada, and more, providing ubiquitous access to these resources.
Although the UAL are implementing many video streaming services, there is still
a sizable demand for individual physical DVDs in cases where there are requests
for specific, often difficult to locate video resources that are not available
via streaming. The acquisition of video materials (generally in DVD format) at
UAL had never been fully examined in the past and there was no preferred vendor
in place. Unit libraries within UAL normally purchased DVDs online from various
suppliers using a credit card. Such a process was cumbersome and not cost
effective, nor effective from a workflow perspective. The availability of a
librarian intern initiated the process of further investigation into possible
vendors and methods for obtaining this particular format of information across
nine UAL units, covering the complete range of disciplines served by the UAL.
The
acquisitions and bibliographic services department strives to streamline
workflows within an environment of constant change (both in terms of staffing
and new technologies), and also to meet the university’s procurement standards
in dealings with vendors. As part of the evaluation of business relationships
with materials vendors, the current landscape of materials supply must be
examined, and a determination made regarding the best options for provision of
service. The current increased reliance on digital
media suggests that libraries’ video needs will be met with more streaming
services, but digital streaming does not yet provide full coverage,
necessitating the use of DVD vendors in the meantime. Hence, this project set
out to uncover a suitable DVD vendor for the UAL in an effort to decrease
credit card spending and to streamline acquisitions and cataloguing workflows.
Evidence
Several sources of evidence were used to
make a decision on which vendor would be best for the acquisition of video
materials at the UAL. First, a literature review was conducted in order to
examine the landscape of possible vendors and understand the acquisition and
cataloguing activities at other academic libraries. Current literature on
academic libraries’ DVD acquisitions is limited, focusing instead on the shift
to video streaming services (Alonso-Regalado, 2010; Handman, 2010; McKenzie,
2006; Widzinski, 2010) or on the development of a video collection (Bergman,
Peters, & Schomberg, 2007; Walters, 2003). Walters (2003), however,
identified some possible vendors who distribute materials internationally, such
as Baker & Taylor and Ambassador Media (now called Ambassador Education
Solutions) (p. 166). To supplement the lack of literature, information
regarding possible video vendors was obtained through some academic library
websites (North Seattle Community College Library & Media
Services, http://facweb.northseattle.edu/mpaz/Media/Vendors.html, and University of Calgary Selected
Interdisciplinary Video Vendors, http://libguides.ucalgary.ca/content.php?pid=100718&sid=817240) and the periodical Video Librarian Online: The Video Review Magazine For
Libraries, http://www.videolibrarian.com. Based on content coverage and services, a
short-list of possible vendors was established: The Book House Inc., Action!
Library Media, and Coutts Information Services.
In order to have a better understanding of
the types of DVDs purchased by the nine unit libraries at UAL via credit card,
an examination and analysis of three months of credit card purchases was
undertaken, looking at orders from June to August 2013. Data recorded from each
purchase included: date, merchant or source (such as Amazon.ca, AbeBooks, and
Alibris), format (monograph, DVD, or CD), cost (including shipping and handling),
publisher, title, and, for DVDs, the film’s director. Such data were collected
to allow further analysis of credit card purchase trends both within and across
library units in addition to providing information on DVD purchases. Overall,
562 items were recorded and 30% of these were DVDs. Of those, 78% were
purchased from Amazon. The next biggest vendors of the purchased DVDs were New
Day Films, accounting for 5%, and the National Film Board with 4%. Seeing so
many DVD purchases confirmed the need for a formal, vetted, DVD vendor.
Interviews were also undertaken with each
library collection manager to ascertain video ordering preferences and
procedures. Librarians elaborated on their extensive use of and reliance on
credit cards to purchase DVDs. As no current video vendor was formally
established, they cited a great reliance on Amazon.
Data from the examination of video titles
recently purchased via credit card was used to test whether the short-list of
vendors would be able to meet the UAL’s DVD needs. A sample of 50 titles,
covering a selection of diverse titles previously ordered from each library,
including foreign language, popular, and independent films, was created and
sent to three vendors that in our initial estimation would be best suited to
meet the UAL’s need for
procurement of materials and shelf-ready cataloguing services. Each
vendor was asked to indicate whether or not they could supply these items (on
an item by item basis), how much it would cost, an approximation of how long it
would take to obtain the items, if they could provide cataloguing/shelf-ready
processing services, and if so, how much those services would cost.
The evidence showed that no one vendor was
able to supply all titles on the sample list; however, all three were able to
supply much more than we initially supposed. One of the three short-listed
vendors (Book House Inc.) did not wish to solely supply video materials, so
they were dropped from consideration. Of the remaining two, one was also our
preferred supplier for English language monographs, Coutts Information
Services, and it was therefore decided that UAL would use them as the primary
supplier, with the second vendor, Action! Library Media, being used as the
secondary DVD supplier.
Implementation
The process of investigation and selection
of video suppliers was communicated to library staff in a presentation and via
the UAL Collection Development Committee. Acquisitions staff were informed of
the change and procedures were drafted to detail the order of operations,
detailing which vendor to use first and the processes for ordering with each
vendor. Since Action! Library Media was a new vendor for the UAL, a new account
was opened and test orders were placed in order to further verify that the company
could fulfil the orders.
Outcome
The selection of two vendors to fulfil
UAL’s DVD acquisition needs has led to a streamlining of processes around the
acquisition of this format. In practical terms this has meant a reduction in
the use of credit card based purchasing in favour of ordering within
established library vendor systems and receiving regular invoices. The changes
are still new and will need to be monitored and adjusted over time. We plan to
monitor fulfilment and turnaround rates, as well as refine processes as issues
arise, such as how to handle rush acquisition of these types of materials. The
changes have meant increasing UAL’s use of an existing vendor, Coutts
Information Services, to a format not previously purchased, and the creation of
a relationship with a vendor new to UAL, Action! Library Media. As UAL monitor
how both of these companies work with DVDs, we will gain a better sense of
which is best in handling specific types of material or publishers, and can
tailor our ordering accordingly.
Reflection
Implementing
this evidence based change was straightforward, encountering little resistance.
Initially there were doubts as to whether, in this digital climate and with
such a plethora of DVD needs, a primary vendor could be established. The
availability of an academic library intern ensured time would be spent finding
and assessing DVD vendors, establishing confidence in the outcome of this
project. Having the evidence — comparing the cost of credit card purchases to
vendors’ pricing, and seeing how much the UAL were actually relying on credit
cards — provided the rationale for giving preference to the identified vendors.
Further,
this project is a reminder that although digital technology has changed the way
libraries serve their users, it is important to note that there is still a
transitional phase — a time of learning and adjusting to trends. Libraries are
participating in video streaming services, providing access to films online,
but demand still exists for physical video collections and should be met
efficiently, especially in a restricted budgetary climate.
References
Alonso-Regalado, J. (2010). Latin American and Spanish
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31–36. http://dx.doi.org/10.1108/01604951011015286
Bergman, B., Peters, V., & Schomberg, J. (2007). Video collecting for the sometimes media
librarian: Tips and tricks for selecting, purchasing, and cataloging videos for
an academic library. College &
Undergraduate Libraries, 14(1),
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Handman, G. (2010). License to look: Evolving models
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McKenzie, R. (2006). Academic media collections -- A
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