Patron purchase requests and purchase for ILL

Owned by Elena Feinstein
Last updated: Jul 17, 2024
3 min read

Scope: Policy statement on patron purchase requests and purchase for ILL
Contact: Elena Feinstein
Units: Collection Strategy & Development, Monograph Acquisitions
Date created: 07/17/2024
Date last reviewed: 07/17/2024

Patron purchase request

Beginning in FY2023, DUL uses a central budget for monographic patron request orders: PXXEBIDIDSPX631 PS BIDDLE PATRON REQUEST.

The purpose of this budget is twofold: to allow the Collection Strategy & Development and Monograph Acquisitions departments to gather data on such orders and to allow subject librarians to use their discipline firm order budgets for general collection building.

Within the following parameters, all patron request orders should be submitted using PXXEBIDIDSPX631-2024. MonoACQ order specialists have been instructed to use this budget for all incoming orders with patron info attached. Subject librarians seeking to place patron request orders on other budgets should consult with Elena Feinstein and Bill Verner.

Any incoming order with patron information attached will be treated as a rush request, with a hold placed for the patron. Collection building that does not need to be a rush hold for immediate patron use should not go through this budget.

Judy Bailey continues to respond to patron requests submitted via the online Suggest a Purchase form. She will place orders for all requests that meet the criteria described here, and forward more general collection building suggestions or requests that otherwise don’t meet these criteria to relevant colleagues.

The best way to submit an order is via email to rush-orders@duke.edu.

Parameters

  • PXXEBIDIDSPX631 is to be used for patron requests for monographic physical resources and monographic e-resources, with a maximum price of $500

  • Any patron request item with a price exceeding $500 must be cleared through Collection Strategy & Development

    • Selectors should secure approval for $500 + orders before submitting them to an order specialist, and include the approval info as a note in the order (e.g. “Order approved by EMF”)

  • Orders for the Divinity School Library and DKU are not included

  • Reference works are not included and requests for them should be routed through Arianne Hartsell-Gundy and Brittany Wofford

  • Requests for assigned course readings should continue to be routed through reserves, not this budget

Purchase for ILL

The intent of the Purchase for ILL budget is to quickly acquire books requested by users (via interlibrary request) that aren’t available to borrow, often because they are recently published and in high demand. ADS staff processing interlibrary requests submit orders directly to Monograph Acquisitions. Items must meet the following criteria.

  • No duplicates: the item is not currently in the collection in any format or on order

  • Publication date: published within the current year or previous two years

  • Format: print and electronic books are included; A/V and other formats are excluded

  • Publication type: monographs, proceedings, and other standalone publications are included, except for textbooks (which may go through course reserves requests or other workflows); periodical volumes or volumes in sets are excluded

  • Content type: hobby, how-to, self-help, consumables (e.g., workbooks), and similar items are excluded; items entirely within the collecting scope of professional school libraries (Business, Divinity, Law, and Medicine) rather than DUL are excluded

  • Patron status: current University faculty, student, and staff members whose home library is DUL are included

  • Item price: less than $250

Items that do not appear to be scholarly or academic at face value do not qualify for this workflow. Patron-initiated purchase requests are accepted for a much broader scope of materials.

Notes and use cases

Add updates below as the policy is applied and clarified through use.