Collecting and Acquiring in Earnest (The 14th Annual Health Sciences Lively Lunch)

In this year's sponsored but no holds barred lunch, host Wendy Bahnsen (substituting for colleague Nicole Gallo) offered a brief greeting, and Ramune Kubilius provided the traditional “year in review” synopsis of developments since the last Charleston Conference. Panelists then shared insights and led discussion on earnest attempts to meet users’ information needs and satisfy administrations’ budget and other expectations. No matter how information has become repackaged, two formats remain important in health sciences communication: books and journals (articles). Speakers focused on library experiments with these formats. Is PDA a solution? Bahnsen contributed highlights and findings from a survey by Rittenhouse on health sciences customers’ experience with the R2 PDA program. Yumin Jiang shared some impressions on the experience of her institution with a few e‐book PDA/DDA (patron‐driven or demand‐driven acquisition) packages. Suggestions were made about best practices in e‐book collection building with PDA programs. What conclusions can be reached from experimentation with and implementation of on‐demand article acquisitions? Emma O'Hagan shared insights and experience with journal article “on demand” and “pay per view” services at two institutions. Andrea Twiss‐Brooks fielded questions and moderated discussion with session participants about the services and programs described by panelists, ranging from discussion about specific programs and models to broader collection and service implications.