Adopting Content with Affordable First - Admin User Guide

What is Affordable First?

Affordable First  is the delivery process for the Inclusive Access program that your institution has selected in order to make studies more affordable for your students, while ensuring that Faculty retains full academic freedom over content selection. 

With Affordable First, the most affordable content type available for a specific request (print or eBook) will be delivered by default. BibliU ensures that students are offered the least expensive option by comparing prices for print and eBook versions of requested content items, selecting the cheapest option, and delivering it directly to students. For example if a title is requested with a ‘content type’ of ‘Print’  and if the eBook is cheaper, then the eBook will be delivered, ensuring your students are not financially penalized.

This helps empower the institution to support students with:

• Value for money: cost-effective choices provide good value without compromising on quality and educational value of learning materials.
• Inclusivity: Affordable First ensures all students are able to have the same educational experience, regardless of their financial situation.

Using BibliU to place Affordable First Adoptions

1. Through Bulk Upload

Users such as Faculty or Bookstore Managers can use the Bulk Upload process to place requests and specify their Affordable First choices. 

To do so, you can follow the below steps:

1. Navigate to Booklist > Bulk Upload 
2. Download the Bulk Upload template, which is the required format your file will need to follow in order to be successfully processed.
3. In your .csv file fill in all the required columns 
4. In the Affordable First Column, mark ‘Yes’ or leave blank in order to confirm that the line item should be delivered through Affordable First. For adoptions you do not want to process through Affordable First, simply input ‘No’ in the Affordable First column
5. Upload your .csv file
6. The booklist will reflect the Affordable First value in column Affordable First with ‘Yes’ or ‘No’ values

What do I do if Affordable First is not showing in the Booklist or Template as a column?

Please reach out to your Operations / Store Manager if the template Booklist or Booklist are not showing the Affordable First columns so these can be enabled for your account.

2. Through Requests form or Search

You can place Affordable First individual title requests by using our form, accessible from the Booklist page > Make a Request button, or  by browsing our catalog available on the Search page.

If your institution is an Affordable First partner school, requests placed via the Requests form or Search will be considered Affordable First requests by default.

If you wish to opt-out of Affordable First for a request placed through the form or Search, or adjust your preference for  any other request, you can follow the below steps:

1. Navigate to the Booklist page
2. On the row corresponding to the request, click the Actions button > Edit

3. Adjust the Affordable First selection to No in the dropdown

What happens operationally after Affordable First adoptions have been made?

Once you have placed your content adoptions through the Affordable First process outlined above our Content team will compare the price of different content types (ie. print or eBook) for the same request and will deliver the most affordable content type available by default.

Your Operations or Store Manager will notify you if the delivered content type differs from the content type requested in cases where a more affordable format has been identified, for example if ‘Print’ was requested but ‘eBook’ was identified as a cheaper content type.