Alexander Street Press launches evidence-based acquisition model

From this month, patrons of the University of Dundee’s library will have unlimited access to Alexander Street Press’s complete suite of academic video titles – more than 23,000 titles – for a full year. At the conclusion of this period, university staff will use Alexander Street’s detailed metrics to evaluate the most-viewed titles and select those they’d like to incorporate into their permanent collection.

'Letting libraries hand-curate their own collection adds unprecedented value,' said Jordan White, senior product manager at Alexander Street Press. 'This model ensures libraries of all budgets can provide their patrons with access to precisely the materials they’re looking for. Everybody wins.'

The agreement is aimed at paving the way for libraries worldwide to add the most highly sought-after content into their university’s collection in a precise, cost-effective way.

'The University of Dundee has a strong desire to enhance the licensed video-based material that is available to support learning and teaching through a wide range of disciplines,' said university librarian, Richard Parsons.

This is important for meeting staff and student expectations in our new digitally based environment. The new evidence-based acquisition provided by Alexander Street Press has offered us the opportunity to ensure that our expenditure for these resources is targeted directly to support material that is being utilised to enhance learning. This represents a very cost-effective method for ensuring that the maximum resource is available from the library budget.'