[Digital Library] 3/5 Meeting Topic: Advantage Plus

[McInnes, John]

One of the topics for our annual all-member meeting this Thursday is Advantage Plus.  Here's some background about that topic to inform our discussion.


What is OverDrive Advantage?

Advantage allows members of a consortium such as ours to purchase titles which are available exclusively for their patrons.  Many members use Advantage to purchase extra copies to reduce waiting times, and some use it to make unique titles available to their communities.  Roughly half of our members currently participate.



What is Advantage Plus?

Advantage Plus allows Advantage libraries to share their local copies with the rest of the consortium.



How does Advantage Plus work?

  *   Participation is entirely voluntary.
  *   Advantage libraries create a plan in Marketplace which determines the criteria for titles that will be shared.  For example, titles can be shared through Advantage Plus based on date added to the Advantage collection, format, lending model, latest checkout date, and more.
  *   This is an automated process. While individual titles cannot be shared on a case-by-case basis, it is possible to exclude individual titles from the Advantage Plus program.
  *   Shared titles will be available to the entire consortium, whether they participate in Advantage or not.
  *   Holds for the owning library’s patrons are given priority over consortial holds.



Is there a recommended sharing plan?

Members are free to create any sharing plan they wish, but the Executive Committee’s initial recommendation is to share one-copy/one-user (i.e., unmetered) titles owned for more than one year.  These titles are likely past their peak demand, and there would be no downside to sharing them.



What are the benefits of participating?

This is an opportunity to improve the depth, availability and circulation of our collection without an increase to our shared materials budget.  As more of that budget is allocated toward the highest-demand titles, this may be the best way to ensure that unique and specialized-appeal titles are available.



Will there be any kind of compensation for sharing?

Any compensatory reduction in member fees will not be an option, as it would diminish our shared materials budget.



What can I do if my library doesn’t have Advantage?

There is no fee to join the Advantage program, and no minimum purchase involved.  Advantage is the ideal mechanism to respond to purchase requests from your patrons, so we recommend that members consider joining.  We'll be sending out more information about this soon, and the Board can offer assistance in the process.




John McInnes
Head of Fiction, Audiovisual and Teen Services
Mount Prospect Public Library

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