Levine-Clark, Michael, “The Current State of E-Books in Academic Libraries: A North American Perspective,” Invited. Emerging Trends in Digital Publishing and the Digital Library, National Taiwan University Library, Taipei, January 8, 2013. 學術圖書館之電子書現況 The Current State of eBooks in Academic Libraries Professor Michael Levine-Clark, 美國丹佛大學圖書館學術交流與典藏服務部門主任 http://www.lib.ntu.edu.tw/events/2013_CALAB/

1. The Current State of eBooks in
Academic Libraries: A North
American Perspective
Emerging Trends in Digital Publishing and the Digital Library
National Taiwan University Library
January 8, 2013
Michael Levine-Clark
Associate Dean for Scholarly Communication and Collections Services
University of Denver
michael.levine-clark@du.edu

2. OR
How We’re Getting It Wrong

3. Consumer eBooks are Easy . . .
And Successful

4. For academic libraries, ebooks have been
confusing from the beginning
“All the elements that would make the e-book
market viable are not quite in place. The
partnerships in the market, development of
standards, software and hardware features, and
business models are still regularly changing”
(2001)
Snowhill, Lucia. 2001. “E-Books and their Future in Academic Libraries: An Overview.” D-Lib Magazine 7 (7/8).
doi: 10.1045/july2001-snowhill.

5. “Several themes consistently appear in the
literature on the barriers to the adoption and
integration of e-books into library collections,
services, and systems. These include the lack of
e-book and hardware standards; incompatible
rights and operability; unrealistic price,
purchase, and access models; and limited
discovery and delivery options.” (2007)
Connnaway, Lynn Silipigni and Heather L. Wicht (2007). “What Happened to the E-Book Revolution?: The
Gradual Integration of E-Books into Academic Libraries.” The Journal of Electronic Publishing 10 (3). doi:
http://dx.doi.org/10.3998/3336451.0010.302.

6. “ideally, the choice to acquire a print or
electronic copy of a book should be as simple as
a single choice (print, electronic, or both)
integrated into the same acquisition systems
libraries already use for print books” (2010)
Slater, Robert. 2010. “Why Aren’t E-Books Gaining More Ground in Academic Libraries? E-Book Use and
Perceptions: A Review of Published Literature and Research.” Journal of Web Librarianship 4: 238.

8. Print Books are Easy
• Same book from multiple vendors
– One ISBN for hardcover
– One ISBN for paperback
• Library can use its preferred vendor
• Library can use its established workflow
– For ordering
– For processing
– For cataloging

9. eBooks are NOT Easy
• Hard to figure out ebooks
– may not even come out as an ebook
– may be released after print
– may be limited to some aggregators
– may have different ISBNs
• eBooks require licensing
• eBooks may have usage restrictions

10. E-Books Are Incredibly Confusing
i 020 9781118357514 (electronic bk.)
i 020 1118357515 (electronic bk.)
i 020 9781118358191 (electronic bk.)
i 020 1118358198 (electronic bk.)
i 020 |z9781118358177
i 020 |z1118358171
i 020 |z9781118358184
i 020 |z111835818X
i 020 |z1118358198
i 020 9780470661512 (cloth)
i 020 0470661518 (cloth)
i 020 |z9780470974322 (hardback)

11. Predicting eBook Availability is Difficult
• Only 42% of ebooks come out within two
months of print equivalent (October 2012)*
• Books with potential for course adoption may
never come out as ebooks
• Publishers sometimes make decisions about
aggregators and pricing models on a case-by-
case basis
*Matt Nauman, Academic Digital Content Manager, YBP Library Services, e-mail message, October 31, 2012

12. Digital Rights Management (DRM)
• A concern for libraries
• Often stricter with
aggregator than
publisher
• Another necessary
consideration when
ordering ebooks
• But, should either
libraries or publishers
be concerned?

13. How Do We Acquire eBooks?

14. Selection Models: Title-by-Title
• Greater flexibility to match collecting needs –
only buy what you need
• More expensive per title (full price)
• Potentially cheaper overall
• Time consuming

15. Selection Models: Packages
• May end up with material that isn’t relevant
to local needs
• Can be cheaper overall than buying title-by-
title
• Frees up selector time
• Can be a good solution for particular subjects,
types of materials

16. Access Models: Subscription
• Possible to get a large collection at a relatively low
annual cost
– Cheaper per title
– ebrary Academic Complete
• Often a mix of backlist and frontlist content
• No guarantees of long-term availability
• Useful for material that may become obsolete quickly
– Technology
– Medicine
– Business
• Useful to introduce critical mass

17. Access Models: Perpetual Access
• Higher cost than subscription
• Content added permanently to the collection
– Guaranteed availability
• Can behave like a subscription in terms of
budget commitment

18. Usage Models
• Single user
– Often cheapest
– Ideal for most books, in most libraries
• Multiple users
– Defined number
– Unlimited
– Often more expensive
– Often unnecessary
– Useful for heavily used material
• Course Reserves

19. Usage Models: Examples
• ebrary
– Single User Purchase Option (SUPO)
– Multiple User Purchase Option (MUPO)
– Numerous Single User Purchase Option (NUPO)
• Many copies of a SUPO title
– Extended Access
• Automatic upgrade from SUPO to MUPO triggered by
use

20. Usage Models: Examples
• Ebook Library (EBL)
– Non-Linear Lending Model
• Unlimited concurrent users
• 325 “uses” a year
– (lower for some titles)
– Doesn’t include uses under ten minutes
– Unlimited Access Model
• Why?

21. Demand-Driven Acquisition
• User-driven access
• Allows libraries to offer more ebooks
• Allows libraries to acquire only what they
need
• Allows libraries to offer bigger collections

22. Demand-Driven Acquisition
• The EBL model
– Has been adopted by other vendors
– Free browse (five minutes or less)
– Short-term loan (STL)
• Customizable
– Autopurchase

23. Demand-Driven Acquisition: Key
Components
• Free discovery
– Brief time in the book
– Free access to front/back matter
– Allows payment only for intentional use
• Short term loan
– Allows payment for amount of use
• Purchase
– For titles with significant use

24. Demand-Driven Acquisition: Another
Model
• netLibrary (1999)
– First use free
– Purchase on second use
– Bananas!
• MyiLibrary
– Same model but access to table of contents is free

25. Evidence-Based Selection
• Elsevier (and others)
• Commit agreed-upon sum of money up front
• Access to all titles
• Purchase titles based on usage
• Risk: Not enough usage = spending money on
unused titles

26. The Providers: Major Aggregators
• Broad coverage of • Easy workflow
content
– Many publishers
• Key players
– All subjects – Ebook Library (EBL)
– Front and backlist – Ebrary
• Multiple models – EBSCO
– Subscription – MyiLibrary
– Perpetual access
– Title-by-title
– Package
– DDA

27. University Press/Not-for-Profit
Aggregators
• Broad coverage • Easy workflow
– University Presses • Potentially better DRM
– Societies • Key players
– All subjects – Books at JSTOR
– Front and backlist – University Press Content
• Multiple models Consortium (UPCC), Project
– Subscription Muse
– Perpetual access – University Press
– Title-by-title Scholarship Online (UPSO),
OUP
– Package
– University Publishing
– DDA Online, CUP

28. Specialized Aggregators
• Useful for particular • Key Players
subjects – Books 24x7
– Computer manuals – Knovel
– Technical manuals – Safari
– Engineering
– Medicine
– Business
• Subscription
– Only current content
matters

29. Publisher Platforms
• Limited to that publisher
• Integrates with journal platform
• Better DRM (generally)
• Less streamlined with other monographic
acquisition workflow
• No DDA
• Only makes sense for particularly large
publishers

30. Bringing It All Together: Approval
Vendors
• Too many sources for ebooks
• Still need to collect print
• Libraries need simple workflow for
– Ordering
– Managing duplication
– Providing discovery records

31. Choosing eBook Vendors
• Which ones work with your approval vendor?
• Which ones have the content you need?
• Which ones have better DRM?
• Which ones have the purchase models you
want?

32. eBook Acquisition Still Difficult
• Inconsistency by publishers
– Which aggregator(s)?
– Publisher platform?
– Available as an ebook?
• Before or after the print book?
– Which purchase models?

33. Two Current eBook Options –
Neither Is Ideal
• Work with a subset of vendors (either through
approval vendor or not)
– Easier workflow
– Some titles will be missed
• Work with as many vendors as possible
– Inefficient workflow
– More titles will be available

34. “ideally, the choice to acquire a print or
electronic copy of a book should be as simple as
a single choice (print, electronic, or both)
integrated into the same acquisition systems
libraries already use for print books” (2010)
Slater, Robert. 2010. “Why Aren’t E-Books Gaining More Ground in Academic Libraries? E-Book Use and
Perceptions: A Review of Published Literature and Research.” Journal of Web Librarianship 4: 238.

35. Thank You
Michael Levine-Clark
Associate Dean for Scholarly Communication
and Collections Services
University of Denver
michael.levine-clark@du.edu