Let the customer decide...
Welcome to the Library Choice pages of the ASA website.
Here you can find out all about Library Choice.
If you are already familiar with the initiative and want to know how
you can get more involved, please click here.
To view the list of participating publishers, click here.
To view endorsements from the international library community, click here.
What is Library Choice?
Library Choice is about supporting customer choice. The ASA and its members believe that libraries and consortia should be free to order via preferred methods and not be obliged to order through any particular channel. Library Choice enables the agent to support any deal which has been negotiated with a publisher, by an individual library or a consortium. In this way, the customer will get the assistance they need with the extra work associated with the access and management of e-journal collections, whilst being able to take advantage of the pricing and terms negotiated by a buying group or consortium.
Support for Libraries
As the number of publishers offering e-content continues to grow, the role of the librarian is increasingly defined by the volume of work associated with providing access to and management of e-collections. Subscribing to a large package of e-journals, either directly or through a consortium, whilst providing greater access, typically creates more work for administrative, serials and technical staff. Not knowing precisely which titles and years are included in a deal makes collection management difficult and time consuming and this lack of detail makes content linking and discovery difficult, if not impossible. Factors such as these may compromise or even prevent libraries from fulfilling their key role - enabling intuitive, seamless access to their information collections.
Agents and publishers understand that many libraries are struggling in this challenging environment. In response, the ASA and its members have collaborated with publishers to develop the Library Choice initiative. Library Choice enables libraries to take advantage of publisher deals, in terms of price and features, whilst remaining free to order through preferred channels and retain valuable agent services which help them achieve their information access and management goals.
Endorsement from Publishers
By signing a Library Choice letter, publishers pledge their support for libraries and consortia to have a choice, for example to place their orders directly with the publisher or, if they prefer, through an agent. Where an agent is preferred, the agent becomes the billing and payment partner, and provides both library and publisher with management data: a win-win for everyone. Click here to see the growing list of publishers who have endorsed Library Choice to date.
Value and Service from Agents
In cases where a deal calls for direct interaction between the library/consortium and the publisher, the Library Choice pledge enables agents to deliver services where required without restrictions, for example processing new orders, renewals and claims, providing accurate and timely pricing information, title-level management information, historical holdings information (including cost-per-use data), COUNTER & SUSHI compliant usage data and delivering newer services, including assistance with publisher negotiations, cost comparison calculations and sophisticated, pre-populated ERM services.
Find Out More
- ASA Members can consult the Library Choice pages of the Members' Only area of this website for full details.
- Publishers, please click here to find out how you can participate in Library Choice.
- All users click here to view the latest list of participating publishers.
Important
Library Choice from the ASA is entirely separate from, and not in any way related to, SkyRiver's Choice for Libraries initiative.
Members of the ASA are grateful to fellow long-time member and supporter of the ASA, EBSCO Information Services, whose staff were responsible for developing the original Library Choice initiative. Realising its industry-wide potential, EBSCO suggested the ASA take on the steering role for the initiative for the wider benefit of all involved in scholarly and professional information supply. The ASA would like to acknowledge the efforts of former EBSCO employee, Dan Tonkery, who made a significant contribution to the development of Library Choice whilst at EBSCO.
