Why does HKU library choose books directly from mainland bookstores? Three Suggestions for Mainland Publishers
These collection resources are mainly used to support the study and research in politics, law and journalism. In addition, the demand for literature in the fields of art and humanities is also increasing year by year. At present, HKU libraries usually go directly to mainland bookstores to select books when purchasing mainland books. The main reason for choosing this inefficient procurement method, which bypasses the publishing house, is that there is still a certain gap between the existing publishing and distribution mode in the Mainland and the needs of Hong Kong university libraries such as the University of Hong Kong. Based on the above reasons, the following suggestions are put forward for the reference of mainland publishing houses: make full use of questionnaire survey, which is a feasible way, and the more respondents, the better. Through questionnaires and other forms, we can deeply understand the resource needs of Hong Kong colleges and universities, accurately grasp which industries or disciplines have more browsing downloads and which ones have less usage, and then provide on-demand publishing. Learn from bookstores in North America and Europe, and establish a way similar to "reading order (or automatic book delivery)". Bookstores in North America and Europe have adopted the method of "reading, selecting and ordering", which is very convenient and practical in various disciplines and fields. Mainland bookstores can also try to establish such a way to automatically generate a list of books at the corresponding level according to the demand, which is convenient for libraries to buy the books they need. In the sales mode of e-books, it is suggested to adopt the "user-driven purchase mode". Due to the limited budget of HKU Library, if the purchased e-books can't play a great academic role, the subscription will be stopped immediately. Therefore, in the sales mode of e-books, mainland publishing houses may wish to adopt the "user-driven purchasing mode"-only e-books with real demand are allowed to be purchased according to the trial download, rather than e-books with possible demand.