Baker & Taylor and collectionHQ Launch ESP – Evidence-based Selection Planning

Baker & Taylor, the premier worldwide distributor of digital and print books and entertainment products, announced today a new service backed by collectionHQ’s data: ESP – Evidence-based Selection Planning .

ESP brings the art of Baker & Taylor’s collection development expertise together with the science of collectionHQ’s data analytics, to create a decision support system integrated with Title Source 360 to equip libraries with the information to select the right titles and quantities, for the right locations.

The concept of ESP first came about when Baker & Taylor acquired collectionHQ in 2011.

“We are excited to expand our efforts to help libraries streamline the collection development process,” said George Coe, President and CEO of Baker & Taylor. “collectionHQ provides libraries with evidence of collection performance and action plans on how to improve that performance, providing a natural platform for Baker & Taylor’s established collection development services to offer a predictive, streamlined solution to support selection decisions at libraries.”

ESP identifies the top forthcoming titles based upon past circulation by author, subject and series, determines the locations where copies need to be placed to satisfy patron demand and monitors budgets through the use of collectionHQ spending plans.

“Bringing together, in one workflow, the art and science of library collection development and acquisitions is the most exciting project that I have been a part of in my 20 years in the industry,” said Scott Crawford, collectionHQ’s Vice President and General Manager. “Our goal is to provide the public library with the decision support system to leverage demand analytics with future supply decisions in an efficient and performance-based workflow.”

ESP officially launched last week at a special event in the Indianapolis Marriott Downtown, Ind., during the Public Library Association conference. The session provided an overview of the features, benefits and workflows associated with ESP and featured guest presentations from two libraries who took part in the ESP pilot program – Phoenix Public Library (Ariz.) and Naperville Public Library (Ill.).

For more information about ESP, please visit www.baker-taylor.com/esp. For a recent example from the media of how collectionHQ’s data analytics is helping one library system, go to http://wishtv.com/2014/03/12/new-software-helping-indy-library-buy-smarter/ .