Evaluating E-Book Offerings discusses the benefits and challenges of eBooks for libraries. It provides an overview of the major ways libraries can purchase eBooks, including through aggregators, publishers, wholesalers and consortia. The presentation also discusses questions libraries should ask vendors and reviews strategies law libraries are taking, such as purchasing directly from publishers, highlighting existing eBook collections, and combining multiple eBook acquisition methods.

1. Evaluating
E-Book Offerings
Ellyssa Kroski
Director of Information Technology
The New York Law Institute
http://www.nyli.org
@ellyssa

2. Takeaways
• Benefits & Challenges of eBooks
• Ways to Purchase eBooks
• What Should You Ask Vendors?
• What Are Law Libraries Doing About eBooks?

3. Poll

4. …are offering e-Books
of academic libraries
of public libraries
of school libraries

5. Amazon now sells more Kindle titles than
print books
33% of Americans own a digital reading
device of some kind (eReader or tablet)
According to IDC, 52.5 million tablets were
sold in the final quarter of 2012
Over 22.9 million iPads sold in Q4 of 2012
By 2015, Americans are predicted to spend $3
billion on eBooks
Why e-Books?

6. Poll

7. Tablets in Law Firms
ILTA’s 2012 Technology Survey

8. Benefits
• No Shelf space required
• Instant Access
• Increased Portability
• Full-Text Search
• Added Features
• Enhanced Publisher Content

9. Challenges
• Long Waiting Lists
• Different Vendors/Interfaces
• Different eBook Devices
• Different eBook Formats
• Different Access & Pricing Models
• Publisher – Library Tension
• Software Installation
• Firewall Issues
• Challenge of Mediated Loans

10. WAYS
TO
PURCHASE

11. Purchase Options
Aggregators Publishers
Wholesalers Consortia

12. Major e-Book Aggregators
• Overdrive
– 1 million digital titles, 1,300 publishers, used by 22,000
libraries, schools, and colleges worldwide
– LexisNexis Digital Library of 1,800 primary law, deskbooks,
code books, treatises and other titles.
• EBL – Ebook Library (Acquired by Proquest on Jan 22, 2013)
– 300,000 e-books, 500 publishers 8,650 law-related titles
• eBooks on EBSCOhost (formerly NetLibrary)
– 350,000 e-books, 8,000+ law-related titles
• MyiLibrary
– 300,000 e-books, 1,000 publishers, 8,000 law-related titles
• Proquest ebrary
– 70,000 e-books, 6,000 law-related titles

13. Major Publishers
• LexisNexis Digital Library
– 1,800 primary law, deskbooks, code books, treatises
and other titles.
• Thomson Reuters ProView
– 431 law-related titles which link to WestlawNext
• PLI Discover Plus
– 1,600 treatises, course handbooks, and answer books.
Access to transcripts of PLI seminars and
downloadable legal forms.
• Wolters Kluwer International eBook Store
ˉ 100 titles in the areas of law and business.
• Fastcase eBook Advance Sheets
– Currently 50+ with plans for hundreds. All FREE!

14. Major Wholesalers
• Yankee Book Peddler
– 600,000 eBooks from Proquest ebrary, EBL,
eBooks on EBSCOHOST , Gale, and a host of
publisher-direct titles.
• Baker and Taylor
– eBooks from Proquest ebrary, eBooks on
EBSCOHOST, and Gale, as well as many individual
publishers.

15. WHAT SHOULD YOU ASK
VENDORS?

16. Technical Requirements
• Browser compatibility
• Plugins or software required?
• Device compatibility?
• Are you using or plan to use EPUB?
• Data metrics available?

17. Content
• Scope
• Number of titles
• Number of publishers
• MARC records?
• Embargo period?

18. Functionality
• Can User copy/paste?
• Can User print? (is there a limit?)
• Full-text search of books?
• Download for offline reading?
• Annotations?

19. • Single User vs. Multi-User vs. Unlimited Users
• Individual eBook Purchases vs. Subscriptions
• Perpetual ownership vs. ongoing access fees
• Short-term loans
• Patron-driven acquisitions (PDA) or Demand-
driven acquisitions (DDA)
• “Non-linear lending”
• Platform fee? (Annual, one-time, etc.)
• Title cost relative to print cost?
• Free viewing period?
• Minimum commitment?
• Pricing discounts for consortia?
Access & Pricing Models

20. WHAT ARE LAW LIBRARIES
DOING?

21. Purchasing Direct from Publishers
• Cleveland Law Library Association - LexisNexis
• Cooley LLP – Matthew Bender titles through
Lexis contract
• Patterson Belknap Webb & Tyler LLP - PLI
Discover Plus
• Con Edison Law Department Library - PLI
Discover Plus

22. Highlighting Existing Collections
• The New England Law Library - HeinOnline
Legal Classics Library, LLMC’s digital books,
and Oxford Scholarship Online
• The University of Oklahoma Law Library - Gale
Making of Modern Law Collection, Hein
Online’s Legal Classics, LLMC’s digital books,
the main University’s subscription to
Proquest’s ebrary.

23. Purchasing eBook Collections
Through Aggregators
• The Florida State Law Research Center (FSU) &
The Lawton Chiles Legal Information Center at
the University of Florida - joint eBooks
program powered by MyiLibrary.
• Hofstra Law Library - eBooks on EBSCOhost
• Ava Maria School of Law - eBooks on
EBSCOhost
• CUNY Law School Library - Proquest ebrary
• The New York Law Institute – EBL – Ebook
Library

24. Accessing eBooks through
Membership Libraries
• CLLA Members - Cleveland Law Library
Association (LexisNexis titles on laptops)
• All NYLI Members - The New York Law
Institute (EBL – Ebook Library)
– Nearly 900 eBooks have been browsed since
November 2012
– Over 350 eBook loans have been issued
– One-third of NYLI member firms have borrowed
our eBooks

25. Many Ways to Access Our eBooks
Through our OPAC

26. Many Ways to Access Our eBooks
Through our NYLI – EBL Portal Page

27. Many Ways to Access Our eBooks
Through your OPAC with the NYLI Seamless Catalog

28. Many Ways to Access Our eBooks
Through our upcoming Sharepoint Widget

29. Combining eBook Strategies
• Squire Law Library at the University of
Cambridge - eBooks on EBSCOhost & MyiLibrary
aggregators and Oxford Scholarship Online,
Cambridge Companions Online, and Westlaw
Commentary.
• Peter Rodino Law Library at Seton Hall -
highlighting collections from Gale’s Virtual
Reference Library, subscribing to eBooks on
EBSCOhost and MyiLibrary.
• The University of Chicago D’Angelo Law Library -
Yankee Book Peddler for eBooks on EBSCOhost,
Proquest ebrary, and Cambridge Books Online.

30. Combining eBook Strategies
• The Lincoln Memorial University Duncan
School of Law - EBL – Ebook Library, eBooks
on EBSCOhost, Proquest ebrary, MyiLibrary
and key publishers LexisNexis and
Cambridge Books Online.
• Also Vermont Law School and the Lillian
Goldman Law Library at Yale University
combining eBook strategies.

31. Creating Their Own
• Massachusetts Trial Court Lowell Law
Library - Massachusetts Court Rules and
Documents (downloaded 4,500x in first year)
– http://www.lawlib.state.ma.us/source/mass/rules
/ebooks.html

32. Poll

33. Further Resources
• The No Shelf Required Guide to E-book
Purchasing. Sue Polanka. Library Technology
Reports. http://tinyurl.com/6o6qweg
• JISC E-book Platform Comparison Tool:
http://tinyurl.com/7ankb7e
• Wellesley College e-Book Vendor Evaluation
Matrix: http://tinyurl.com/6om7plj

34. Access this Presentation
http://www.slideshare.net/ellyssa
ELLYSSA KROSKI
http://www.ellyssakroski.com