Chain Will Keep Us Together: A Case Study on a Call for eBooks and Improved Workflows during the Covid-19 Pandemic

Abstract

This case study discusses communication strategies for eBook acquisitions during the Covid-19 Pandemic. At the start of Covid-19, social distancing placed a moratorium for an unknown period on the physical collections and librarians had to rely purely on their electronic collections. The head of access services and the circulation supervisor were asked to replace their traditional physical textbook acquisitions and switch to a digital eBook purchasing format. Librarians and staff began to experiment with alternative ways of communication with the faculty for collecting eBook requests. Communication between both Access and Technical Services staff needed to be planned and flow along the approval chain. The eventual implementation of Power Automate allowed an approval email of a potential purchase to be sent to Acquisitions for purchase.

Keywords

• faculty outreach
• communication
• ebook acquisitions
• approval plans
• workflow management