Abstract
[Excerpt] As we have progressed with increasing options for acquiring library content, more librarians are focusing on data-driven approaches. Demand-driven, also known as patron-driven, acquisition (DDA or PDA) enables librarians to purchase or license eBooks and streaming video from various publishers. This model is facilitated by mediating parties such as eBook aggregators and library distributors. Video distributors are newer to this approach, which has already been used for books (electronic and print) for years. DDA for streaming video is a welcome development, although like other streaming video models, it tends to rely on annual or multi-year licenses, which creates its own sustainability issues due to ongoing subscription costs. However there is a vast category of library content that is in high demand by library patrons, especially in academia. Articles published in electronic or print serials, unless they are provided with open access to the public online, still require annual subscription costs. Thus library patrons have limited ways to access the text of articles behind pay walls. The current mix of subscriptions, interlibrary loan or document delivery, and pay per view is unsustainable for endangered library budgets, and thus is unsustainable for publishers. Library budgets, even in years without budget cuts, make it difficult to justify ongoing costs to maintain these resources.