This document summarizes a faculty development institute presentation about e-books. Rebecca Miller and Carolyn Meier discussed the history and current state of e-books, how they are used in higher education, and how to access e-books through the university libraries. They covered topics like e-book packages available, searching the catalog, accessing content, using different reading devices, and issues around digital rights management. Resources for free e-books online or through the public library were also mentioned.

1. Rebecca K. Miller
Carolyn Meier
Faculty Development Institute
Virginia Tech
March 2012

2. About Us
Rebecca K. Miller is the College Librarian for
Science, Life Sciences, and Engineering
Carolyn Meier is the First Year Experience Librarian

3. Session Overview
 The current state of e-books
 E-books in higher education
 Searching for e-books in Addison
 E-book packages at University Libraries
 Accessing University Libraries e-books
 Beyond University Libraries

4. E-Books: A History
 Let’s look at an infographic:
http://thenextweb.com/shareables/2011/03/17/the-40-
year-history-of-ebooks-illustrated/
 E-books have been around for 30 years
 The advent of devoted e-readers has changed the game

5. Video: The Future of the Book
http://vimeo.com/15142335

6. Recent Bowker Study
 Australia, India, UK, and US are world leaders in e-
book adoption rates—20% of respondent have
purchased an e-book in the past 6 months
 1/3 respondents in the US and UK indicated they
would be buying an e-book soon
 In UK and US, purchase rates are highest among 24-35
year olds
 Genre: in UK and Australia, concentration on adult
fiction; in India and South Korea, concentration on
professional and academic

7. Libraries & E-books
 Libraries want to deliver resources to users, no matter
where they are; e-books aid in this endeavor
 E-books also play a role in libraries’ new visions of way
that library space can be used
 E-books are often purchased in packages
 Recent LRG report: 64% of libraries are reporting
rising demand from patrons for e-book access (up
from 41% last year)

8. Three Layers
 A recent EDUCAUSE review article (see “resources”)
identified three layers of e-reading:
 Hardware
 Software & controls
 Content

9. Hardware
 What do you read e-books on?
 Computer? Dedicated e-reader? Tablet?
 Study v. “Trade” Reading
 Optimal “study” reading device:
 10 in. or larger color screen
 at least 5-8 hours of battery life
 adequate “entry” mechanism (keyboard, mouse)
 32 GB or more memory
 multitasking
In short…a laptop!

10. Software & Controls
 Highlighting
 Tagging
 Full text searching
 Accessibility (visual and physical)
 Also includes:
 DRM
 Special software needed to read book (e.g. Adobe Digital
Editions or Schubert)

11. Content
 Currently, less than 20% of content requested by
faculty is available in a digital format
 The content that IS available is mainly static
reproductions of the print textbook—not at all the
vision of the “future” e-book
 What’s more: some content that is available for
individual purchase is not yet available for
institutional purchase

12. Students Using Textbooks
Another infographic!
http://www.mediabistro.com/ebooknewser/a-look-at-
students-using-etextbooks-infographic_b21348

13. Searching for E-books in Addison

14. A word on Addison…
 When we receive e-book updates from these
packages, sometimes there can be a backlog in adding
the records to Addison (the library catalog).
 If you’re looking for a tech manual, for example, or a
SpringerLink book, check Safari and SpringerLink
before requesting a book via ILL

15. E-Book Packages at University
Libraries
 ACS Symposium Series
 APA PsycBOOKS
 Gale
 Center for Research Libraries
 EBL
 Ebooks on EBSCOhost
 ebrary
 CRC Engineering Handbooks Online
 HathiTrust Digital Library
 Knovel
 National Academies Press
 Safari Books Online
 SpringLink eBooks
 Synthesis Digital Library
 And even more…
http://www.lib.vt.edu/find/byformat/ebooks.html

16. A word on users & accounts
 Multi- v. single-user
 Creating an account
 “Checking out” a book

17. E-book packages at University
Libraries:
http://www.lib.vt.edu/find/byformat/ebooks.html

18. HathiTrust & Summon
 HathiTrust Digital Library full-text indexed in
Summon
 About 20% is fully accessible (no subscription needed)
 Several browsable collections:
http://babel.hathitrust.org/cgi/mb

19. Digital Rights Management
 Essentially restricts the way you can interact with a
PDF’s content:
 Printing
 Downloading
 Viewing
 “Checkout” period

20. Adobe Digital Editions
 Is required by some e-book providers, like Ebsco E-
books
 Is used to manage the e-b0oks, and recognize the
DRM restrictions placed on this content
 Is available:
http://www.adobe.com/products/digitaleditions/?aut
oPrompt=true
 Our recommendation? Go ahead and install it if you
think you may use any type of e-book soon

21. Adobe Digital Editions

22. Schubert|it
 Plugin for Mac recommended for use with Ebsco E-
books: http://www.schubert-it.com/pluginpdf/

23. Beyond University Libraries:
Free, on the web
 Project Gutenberg
 National Academies Press
 Google Books
 OpenLibrary
 Some of HathiTrust

24. Beyond University Libraries:
Overdrive, through the PL

25. E-readers

26. PDFs and Documents on Kindle
 Add through USB
 Add through “free” personal document service:
“yourname”@free.kindle.com (Kindle’s email address)
 Will not work on free Kindle applications

27. PDFs and Documents on Nook
 Need Adobe Digital Editions
 Drag & drop
 Will sometimes be distorted

28. Nook and Kindle on iPad
 The Kindle and Nook apps have some restrictions
 With Kindle, cannot use the new Lending Library or the
free Personal Document Service
 Basically, allow you to sync with what you are reading
on your dedicated e-reader

29. More on the iPad
 Reading e-books from University Libraries on an
iPad, or other tablet, should be relatively simple.
 Simply pull up the material (PDF, html), and then read
it as you would on another computer.
 Tablet v. dedicated e-reader

30. Final Thoughts
 We will only be adding more and more e-content in
the coming years
 Most, if not all, can easily be accessed through a
desk/laptop, but we’re still seeing how publishers work
with tablets and dedicated e-readers
 Right now, the e-book landscape is incredibly
diverse—no two platforms are alike!
 If you have questions, do not hesitate to contact one of
us at University Libraries!

31. Resources
 EDUCAUSE. (2011). E-books: Overview. Retrieved from
http://www.educause.edu/Resources/Browse/EBooks/30539
 McCarthy, D. (March/April 2011). E-reading: the transition in higher education. EDUCAUSE
Review, 46(2). Retrieved from
http://www.educause.edu/EDUCAUSE+Review/EDUCAUSEReviewMagazineVolume46/iMobilePers
pectivesOnebooksibr/226161
 Head, A.J., and Eisenberg, M.B. (October 2011). Balancing act: how college students manage
technology while in library during crunch time. Project Information Literacy Research Report.
Retrieved from http://projectinfolit.org/pdfs/PIL_Fall2011_TechStudy_FullReport1.1.pdf
 Keller, M. (7 Mar., 2011). Library consortia begin to vote against HarperCollins ebook checkout policy.
Libraryjournal.com. Retrieved from http://www.libraryjournal.com/lj/home/889582-
264/library_consortia_begin_to_vote.html.csp
 Li, C., et al. (May 2011). Springer e-book pilot project: reader assessment subcomittee. Retrieved
from http://www.cdlib.org/services/uxdesign/docs/2011/academic_ebook_usage_survey.pdf
 Polanka, S. (27 Mar., 2012). Bowker releases results of global ebook research. Retrieved from
http://www.libraries.wright.edu/noshelfrequired/2012/03/27/bowker-releases-results-of-global-
ebook-research/
 Polanka, S. (20 Mar., 2012). New LRG study. Retrieved from
http://www.libraries.wright.edu/noshelfrequired/2012/03/20/new-lrg-study-74-of-libraries-report-
increased-demand-for-electronic-offerings/#more-4528

32. Questions?
Contact us!
Rebecca K. Miller
millerrk@vt.edu
http://rebeccakatemiller.com
Carolyn Meier
cmeier@vt.edu