User driven purchasing: A pilot project to test an alternative pricing model for Springer ebook collections

Abstract

This paper describes the initial findings of a pilot project between the University of York Library and Springer, which was instigated in order to evaluate the potential of a user driven purchasing model for Springer ebook collections. Springer granted the University of York Library free access to its 2005-2009 ebook collections for a three month period. In return, York has analyzed the usage and assessed which collections and copyright years have been used the most. The purchasing model has potential but careful consideration needs to be given to the pricing that would underpin it. At a time when many libraries are finding it difficult to invest in new products such as ebook collections, libraries and publishers need to work together to develop and evaluate flexible purchasing and pricing models.