This document discusses e-book interlibrary loan (ILL) practices at Columbia University. It provides data collected from ILL requests regarding patron preferences for e-book or print formats. While about 45% of patrons preferred e-books if available, only 22% of available sample titles had e-book versions. The challenges of ILLing e-books are also examined, as well as the capabilities and limitations of current e-book ILL platforms like MyiLibrary. Ideas are proposed for an optimal e-book ILL system that meets the needs of patrons, libraries and publishers.

1. E-books ; who wants what
and how to ILL them?
Seang-ill Peter Bae
Head, Delivery Services
Butler Library, Columbia University(ZCU)
2013 ILLiad International Conference
03/20/2013

2. Columbia University Library
 Founded in 1754 as King’s College. 28,824 FTE.
 11.9 million volumes, 22 Columbia and affiliated school libraries.
 4 separate ILL offices (ZCU, ZCL, ZCH, VVT)
 ILL office offers ILL, DOC-DEL and Borrow Direct Services.

3. Why started to collect the data?
 Many E-book Collections are purchased but some patrons do not want E-
book format and some do want.
 ILL staff needs to know who wants E-book so we can provide the title
quickly. It also provides useful data for other areas in the library.
 Initial idea came from Mary Radnor, “eBook Resource Sharing: Barriers
and Options”, 2012 ILLiad Conference. (Thanks, Mary ! )

4. Collecting the data
Use “Iteminfo1” field in ILLiad for asking patrons’ E-preference.

5. Data to be presented;
 Collected from September 2012 to December 2012.
 Total Request received: 7, 564 requests.
 Non-Returnable : 2,723 requests.
 Returnable : 4,841 requests.
 Patron Answers : Yes, No and No Answer.

6. Anyone can guess?
1
14, 41, 45

7. Do you want an E-Book, if it is available?
No Answer Yes
41% 45%
(1,972 req.) (2,188 req.)
No
14%
(681 req.)

8. E-Preferance by Unique Patron Account
No Answer
34% Yes
(854) 49%
(1,201)
No
17%
(422)

9. E-Preferance by Patron Status
1200
1124
Yes-47.5 %
1000
936
800
Yes-44.3 %
685
632
600
Yes-40.6 %
379 404
400
305
227
200 149
0
Faculty Graduate Undergraduate
Yes No No Answer

10. E-Preference by Patron Department (1)
Group 1 American Studies, Anthropology, Archaeology, Art History, Classics,
(Humanities ) East Asian, English, French, German, History, Italian, Middle East &
Asian, Philosophy, Religion, Slavic, Union Theology Seminary,
Writing.
Group 2 Astronomy, Biology, Chemistry, Computer Science, Earth Science,
(Sci. Engineering) Ecology, Geology, Health Science, Mathematics, Physics,
Engineering.
Group 3 Business, Economics, Journalism, Law, Political Science, Psychiatry,
(Social Science) SIPA(International Affair), Social Work, Sociology, Statistics,
Teachers College, Urban Studies.
Group 4 (Art) Architecture, Film, Music, Theater
Group 5 (Other) Administration, Library, Other
Group 6 (undecided) Arts & Sciences, General Studies

11. E-Preference by Patron Department (2)
1000
900
889 877
800
700
600
492
500
431
400
346
300 258 268
222
200 181
157 153
108 106 97 94
100
85
53
24
0
Humanities Sci & Eng Soc. Sci Art Others Undecided
Yes No No Answer

12. E-Preference by Patron Department (3)
Yes (%) - average 46.5
60
54.7
50 52.9
48.1
40
43.9
39.7 40
30
Yes(%)
20
10
0
Humanities Sci & Eng Soc. Sci Art Others Undecided

13. LC Classification.
A -- GENERAL WORKS
B -- PHILOSOPHY. PSYCHOLOGY. RELIGION
C -- AUXILIARY SCIENCES OF HISTORY
D -- WORLD HISTORY
E -- HISTORY OF THE AMERICAS
F -- HISTORY OF THE AMERICAS
G -- GEOGRAPHY. ANTHROPOLOGY. RECREATION
H -- SOCIAL SCIENCES
J -- POLITICAL SCIENCE
K -- LAW
L -- EDUCATION
M -- MUSIC AND BOOKS ON MUSIC
N -- FINE ARTS
P -- LANGUAGE AND LITERATURE
Q -- SCIENCE
R -- MEDICINE
S -- AGRICULTURE
T -- TECHNOLOGY
U -- MILITARY SCIENCE
V -- NAVAL SCIENCE
Z -- BIBLIOGRAPHY. LIBRARY SCIENCE.

14. E-Preference by Subject (1)
450
400
350
300
250
200
150
100
50
0
A B C D E F G H J K L M N P Q R S T U V W Z N/A
Yes 9 152 15 174 33 29 52 382 69 36 34 33 132 274 156 93 13 98 6 5 1 13 379
No 6 58 2 39 9 15 17 104 18 15 14 15 41 152 80 14 4 20 1 3 54
No Answer 13 128 10 146 21 40 60 264 54 16 44 79 95 366 143 47 19 67 4 1 1 17 337

15. E-Preference by top 8 Subject
450
400 382
366
350
300
274
264
250
200
174
152 152 156
146 143
150 132
128
104 98
95 93
100 80
67
58
41 47
50 39
14 20
0
B D H N P Q R T
Yes No No Answer

16. E-Preference by top 8 Subject- Yes (%)
*47.8% average
70
60
60
50 53
51
48 49
45
40
41
36 Yes(%)
30
20
10
0
B D H N P Q R T

17. E-Preference by Publication Year
1400
1271
1199
1200
1000
800
600
430
400
298
270
200 166 163 146
118 110
94 84
53 65 62 46 48
29 19 39 23 19 27 30 8 18
6
0
2000 1990 1980 1970 1960 1950 1900-1950 Before n/a
1900
Yes No No Answer

18. E-Availability of 655 sample records.
10 or more
11%
5~10
14%
0 record.
39%
4
4%
3
8%
2
13% 1
11%
* Title search through OCLC for item type “Internet Resources”

19. Subjects of 397 E-avail. sample records.
V Z N/A A
U
0% 1% 1% 0% C
S 0%
1% B 0% E
T
6% 7% 1%
R D
F
3% 6%
2%
G
3%
Q
18%
H
24%
P
13%
N J
L K 2%
3%
3% 3%
M
1%

20. E-Preference from 397 E-avail. sample
No Answer
Yes
34%
44%
(136)
(175)
No
22%
(86)

21. It is clear that our patrons want E-books
but can we e-fill the request ?
What about this?

22. So, how to ILL an E-book?

23. IFLA E-Lending Background Paper (May. 2012)
Typically the eBook file is never in the possession of the library which has significant implications
when considering the library’s ability to carry out functions such as preservation or interlibrary loan.
Librarians understand the societal importance of individuals having access to a work they require for
formal or informal research when the work is not available from their local library. The right to
interlibrary loan an eBook could require both negotiated license conditions
and a technical capability which may be beyond what many libraries have
access to.
http://www.ifla.org/news/ifla-releases-background-paper-on-e-lending
IFLA Principles for Library E-Lending (Feb. 2013)
2. … any eBook licensing/purchase options offered to libraries must respect copyright limitations
and exceptions available to libraries and their users in legislation including if applicable:
• The right to copy a portion of the work
• Reformat the work for preservation purposes if it is licensed or purchased for permanent access
• Provide an interlibrary loan copy
• Re-format a work to enable print disabled access
Libraries should have the right to bypass a technological protection measure
for the purpose of exercising any non-infringing purposes.
http://www.ifla.org/node/7418

24. Ingram MyiLibrary (1)
 Announced in April 2011.
 About 80,000 titles available for ILL via OCLC.
 OCLC symbol : IDEBK, IGDIG, IDILL.
 Available Publishers : Taylor & Francis, Wiley, U.Chicago
Press, Southern Illinois U. Pr. and more.
 9 day loan period, starting from the time when the link is
sent through OCLC Alert.
 15 % of the MyiLibrary price for access to the E-Book,
payable with IFM. ($9.71, $16.20, $31.50)

25. Ingram MyiLibrary (2)-Title Search
 You need to know the fact that Ingram offers the title.
 Custom Holding can work but still there is no easy way to chose the right record.

26. Ingram MyiLibrary (3)- Item received
 Fast Turnaround time
 An hour or less. (24/7)
 Link provided through OCLC Alert
 Receiving Alert could be an issue

27. Ingram MyiLibrary (4)- Terms and Conditions
Terms and Conditions
This link to MyiLibrary from OASIS is provided for the benefit of selectors and is for the
sole purpose of reviewing materials in order to make a buying decision. The site is
subject to terms & conditions that will be strictly enforced. Please read the following
carefully before indicating acceptance:
You understand and accept that all content accessed through any MyiLibrary site is
protected by copyright and you hereby agree that your use of the MyiLibrary platform is
subject to the conditions set out below:
You may display and subject to
individual publishers' restrictions
download, copy, or print out, for the
purpose of selection of content for purchase by
your institution only, e-content from the applicable
MyiLibrary site(s) accessed hereunder.
You may not otherwise copy, transmit, rent, lend, sell or modify any materials or e-
content from any MyiLibrary site(s) or modify or remove any proprietary notices
contained therein, or create derivative works based on materials therefrom.
MIL reserves the right to terminate this License
immediately with no prior warning if at any time
you download or attempt to print out more than a
limited percentage of any individual title from the  Not fully developed for ILL e-lending.
applicable MyiLibrary site(s) accessed hereunder.
You may not allow others access to the MyiLibrary site using your passwords and you
may not disseminate any portion of any title accessed hereunder through any means
 For Short-Term Loan
either in print or in electronic form including via email, mail lists or electronic bulletin
boards.

28. Ingram MyiLibrary (5)- Interface
 Unlimited Print
 User Note Feature
 10 page PDF download per time

29. Ingram MyiLibrary (6)- Interface
 Full Text Search
 No multi Access available
 Cannot copy/past the text.

30. Ingram MyiLibrary (7)- Mobile Reading
 No Mobile Oriented interface.
(regular web interface with PDF file in it)

31. Pros, Cons and Questions.
 Quick Turnaround time : can be also a problem.
 Full-text Search capability.
 Unlimited Print ; but printout quality is an issue.
 Support for Mobile Device-not fully developed.
 9 Day Loan Period and 15% of full price .
 How to include it to everyday ILL Workflow?
 Can we renew?

32. And More Questions.
What is an E-Book to our patrons ?
How and why they want to use an E-Book ?
(Can we assess their use of ILL books and how?)
Who should lend an E-book to another library?
(Library which owns the title or publisher or vendor?)
If we agree vendor/publisher as lender, how much should
we pay? How long current price model will last?
Who should provide the platform to circulate E-Books?

33. What each stakeholders want?
 Patrons – Quick delivery, Full-text Index/search, Device
Independent file format, Unlimited
print/download/access(during the loan period.)
 Libraries – Quick delivery, Control over the ILL-ability,
Ownership of the files, Preservation, Simple/easy system
which supports the libraries’ mission, Copyrights.
Publishers/Vendors/Authors – Ownership, Revenue,
Copyright Protection.

34. Requirements for an ILL E-Lending platform
 Library controlled platform; Lending library should be
able to generate, renew and close the link to E-Books
loaned to other libraries
 Vendor/Publisher independent platform which is
available for any types of e-reading device. (ILLiad App?)
 Fast Turnaround time; minimal staff involvement.
 Good quality print out/download should be allowed under
the copyright guideline and Fair use.
What else?

35. An Idea of ILL E-Lending system; “Hermes”
 A Union catalog and contents supplying platform
managed by an independent entity or in collaboration of
stakeholders.
Hermes will communicate publisher-based platform to get
the contents and it will also provide a gateway for patrons
to access the contents.
Patron submits ILL request to Borrowing Library and the
Borrowing library send the request to Hermes system
with/without staff involvement.
Hermes system will distribute the request to holding
libraries(with load balancing functionality.)

36. An Idea of ILL E-Lending system(2)
When agreed to lend, Hermes system will generate a link
to the contents and forward it to Borrowing library. And it
communicates lender’s contents platform to block the
access.
When loan period ends, Hermes system disables the link
provided to borrower and re-open lender’s access.
 Hermes system provides a mobile access platform.
 In lending process, Hermes system can move the request
automatically based on availability or joining member
libraries can respond the request within limited amount of
time.

37. An Idea of ILL E-Lending system (3)
Publishers can join as lender of the last resort. So there will
be no unfilled request.
 Borrowing fee will be paid through the Hermes system and
it can be given to the lender or shared with publishers. (an
incentive for publishers to join ? )
Borrowing fee can be reduced by loan period, if patron
decided to return it before the set due date.

39. What do we need now?
 More researches on our patrons’ perceptions, needs and
usage of E-books.
Engage in bigger, broader discussion on E-book and make
ILL’s voice heard.
 Think not only about E-books but also about other types
of digital contents. (i.e. Enhanced E-book, Streaming
media, Research data set and more)
Let’s remember, “No library can be self-sufficient in
meeting all the information needs.”

40. Let’s Liberate (e)Books ! Thank You.
*Hereford Cathedral Library image from http://medievalnews.blogspot.com/2012/01/medieval-library-with-chained-books.html