Can We Get It? : An Assessment of the Effectiveness of the Suggest-A-Purchase Facility of the De La Salle University (DLSU) Libraries

Abstract

With the emergence of technology as a tool to provide efficient library service to patrons, this study seeks to determine the effectiveness of the “Suggest-A-Purchase” (SAP) facility of the DLSU Libraries in terms of reaching out to the academic community for purposes of resource collection building. With the theme “University Library Services and Resources for Research and Innovation”, this paper provides insights on the effectiveness of the DLSU Libraries’ “Suggest-A Purchase” (SAP) facility in reaching out to the academic community to solicit their participation and input on building academic resource collections. In addition, this paper aims to ascertain the number of library materials procured through the facility over the last two (2) academic years and analyze how it has contributed to the library collections. Moreover, this study will also provide recommendations on how this service could be further improved. A survey was conducted among selected faculty and other prospective users of the library. Purposive sampling was used to determine the effectiveness of the facility. In addition, statistics were compiled on the number of requests received, orders procured, and user-friendly design of the facility to provide a more compelling rationale for this undertaking. Based on the survey conducted, it was discovered that faculty members were the most common users of the facility in requesting materials which they needed. Moreover, they found the facility effective in reaching out to the academic community as it provides a status report on requests from the time they were received up to when the material is already available in the library for use. A significant number of materials were also procured from the requests receive from that facility. In addition, recommendation as to providing a timeline or date when will the material be available was also noted to further improve the service. There has been a dearth of literature written about library services in the acquisition of resource materials and collection building especially in the Philippine setting. This paper is unique in seeking to determine the effectiveness of having a facility where patrons can simply request materials they want the library to procure so as to make them readily accessible.