1. Criteria for purchase:
   • materials should support the course assignments and the research needs of students;
   • materials should be used at least twice in the first 2 years after purchase
   • consider the quality of the scholarship, uniqueness, authoritativeness, or creativity.
2. Check to see if we own the item.
3. Fill out the Suggest a Purchase form.
4. Use Document Delivery for obtaining items to support your research; encourage students to do the same.

There are many alternatives to expensive textbooks. GVSU Libraries' Open Educational Resources guide may be useful.

You may wish to explore this extensive guide on Textbook Alternatives (by Kate Pittsley-Sousa, EMU), for possible openly, freely usable texts.  This guide is most comprehensive, and includes:

• Open Access texts
• University Presses and Scholarly Publishers
• Information about using Library e-books (much of the information here pertains to GVSU's e-books, too)
• Open Educational Resources (OERs)