Cowles Library announces an innovative new approach to building its collection, letting users decide which electronic books to purchase. The Library has added access to 25,000 e-books, available through the on-line catalog.

Cowles Library announces the availability of new academic content by being one of the first universities in the Mid-West and the nation to implement a Demand Driven Acquisitions pilot.  This new approach in the selection of material for the library is in partnership with EBL (Ebook Library Corporation).  EBL offers titles from over 320 leading Academic and Professional Publishers.  The titles selected for inclusion in the Cowles catalog are geared to support Drake’s academic programs and curriculum. 

EBL’s Demand Driven Acquisition model allows Cowles Library to make un-owned titles visible to users in the library catalog. Users discover titles like they would any other books they wish to use. At point-of-use, the library will be charged a pay-per-use fee, and on the 4^th use will automatically purchase the item. “We view the EBL model as an exciting new service to the students, faculty, and staff of Drake University,” says Cowles Library Dean, Rod Henshaw.  “While we have provided access to e-books for more than a decade, providing "on-demand" access to many thousands more titles is a significant development in our collection model.  After all, today's scholars expect "on-demand" services in other parts of their lives; why should electronic texts be any different?” Cowles Library has a long history of technological innovation to support user services, from an initial Library Web site launched in 1994, to our current Web presence, which is powered by Open Source software and facilitates user feedback.  EBL's user-driven model is an important addition to this rich tradition of service-driven progress at Cowles Library.

Kari Paulson, President of EBL says, “We are delighted to see our Demand-Driven model being adopted in the Mid-West by such innovative institutions as Cowles Library. Especially in times of economic restraint, this model provides a very efficient and cost-effective way for libraries to open access to a great range of content to students while ensuring funds are allocated to resources that are truly needed. ”