This document discusses promoting the use of eBooks among students at academic libraries. It provides statistics about the print and digital collections at two universities. It then summarizes research on why students have not used eBooks in the past, with the top five reasons being lack of awareness, preference for print, eye strain from screens, not seeing a need, and difficulties accessing eBooks. The document discusses efforts at one library to increase eBook usage by purchasing eBook reading devices and making course-required textbooks available in digital format. Usage statistics are presented comparing print books and eBook usage.

1. Promoting eBooks to Students
in an Academic Library
Maria Savova
Collection Management
& Digital Integration Librarian
April 23, 2013

3. • Five undergraduate
colleges
• Two graduate
universities
• ~ 7000 students
• One Library
• ~ 1,000,000 print books
• ~ 400,000 e-books
• ~ 70,000 e-journals
• Graduate university -
Eleven faculties and
eleven schools
• ~ 38,000 students
• One Library with 12
branches and collections
• ~ 3,600,000 print books
• ~ 876,000 e-books + over
1 million e-theses
• Close to 90,000 e-journals

4. Reasons Why Students Had Not Used an
E-Book
Gregory C.L. 2008. “’But I want a real book’: An
investigation of undergraduates' usage
and attitudes toward electronic books”.
Reference and User Services Quarterly. 47
(3): 266-273.

5. 1. Awareness
"Never heard of them."
"Just found out about them."
2. Preference for Print
"Traditional books are more
reliable."
"Books are more convenient."
3. Eyestrain
"Staring at the computer is
uncomfortable."
"Don't like reading off
computer screen."
4. No Need
"I have just never really had a
reason or needed to use an e-
book."
"If it's not required, I probably
won't use it."
5. Ease of Access
"Hard to access."
"Easier to get a book instead of
sitting in front of a computer or
printing a lot."
Top five categories, listed by frequency
followed by example responses

6. 1. Awareness
"Never heard of them."
"Just found out about them."
2. Preference for Print
"Traditional books are more
reliable."
"Books are more convenient."
3. Eyestrain
"Staring at the computer is
uncomfortable."
"Don't like reading off
computer screen."
4. No Need
"I have just never really had a
reason or needed to use an e-
book."
"If it's not required, I probably
won't use it."
5. Ease of Access
"Hard to access."
"Easier to get a book instead of
sitting in front of a computer or
printing a lot."
Top five categories, listed by frequency
followed by example responses

7. Any item owned by the Library from any course materials’ list is identified
in the Course Reserves sub-catalogue.
Expanded Course Reserves Service at McGill

8. Course Adopted Books service at
Claremont Colleges Library
Required and recommended
readings list provided by
faculty to the Campus
Bookstore.
Spring 2013 list contained
approx. 2400 titles
70% were already owned
30% were purchased
96 (~4%) titles duplicated as
e-books
68%
2%
26%
4%
Owned in print
Owned as e-book
Purchased in print only
Purchased in both print and as e-book

9. E-book CABs
141 Course Adopted Books in electronic format
88 from EBL
(~60% of all EBL e-books)
53 from Ebrary
(0.08% of all Ebrary e-books)
17
71
Available only as e-book
Available also in print
28
25
Available only as e-book
Available also in print

10. Usage of CAB e-books
# of sessions
# of section requests
Browsing - # of users
and minutes
Reading online - # of
users and minutes
Downloading - # of
users and days

11. 48 (55%)
7 (12%)
55 (37%)
40 (45%)
53 (88%)
93 (63%)
0
10
20
30
40
50
60
70
80
90
100
CAB non-CAB All EBL e-books
EBL e-books usage Jan-Mar 2013
used not used

12. 3.60
9.84
3.65
257.21
4.31
18.41
1.71
0.86
1.00
0.00
1.50
1.50
0.00 50.00 100.00 150.00 200.00 250.00 300.00
Browse - average user count per book
Browse - average min per book
Read online - average user count per book
Read online - average min per book
Download - average user count per book
Download - average # of days per book
Comparison in usage of CAB and
non-CAB EBL e-books
non-CAB (7) CAB (48)

13. 28%
98% 98%
72%
2% 2%
0%
20%
40%
60%
80%
100%
120%
CAB (53) non-CAB (65,103) Total (65,156)
Ebrary e-books usage Jan-Mar 2013
not used used

14. 6.42
123.66
2.14
39.48
0
20
40
60
80
100
120
140
Average # of sessions per book Average # of section requests per book
Comparison in usage of CAB and
non-CAB Ebrary e-books
CAB (38) non-CAB (1328)

15. 24%
14%
21%
42%
Comparison in usage of print and e-CABs
Not used Only p- Only e- Both p- and e-

16. 63%
55%
38%
45%
0%
10%
20%
30%
40%
50%
60%
70%
80%
90%
100%
e-CABs usage p-CABs usage
Comparison in usage of print and e-CABs
Used Not used

17. Comparing usage of print and e-
books

18. Comparing usage of print and e-books
Print books:
o length of loan
period
o # of circulations
in days
o # of renewals
o # of times the
book is re-
shelved – i.e.
internal use
E-books
• Ebrary
o # of sessions
o # of section requests
• EBL
o Browsing - # of users and
minutes
o Reading online - # of users
and minutes
o Downloading - # of users
and days

19. Number of users borrowed / accessed print
and e-CABs – average per used title
0.49 0.75 0.71
52.53
5.37 4.62
0.00
10.00
20.00
30.00
40.00
50.00
60.00
Link+ requests Total Checkouts Total Renewals Browse online
(# of users)
Read online
(# of users)
Download
(# of users)
PRINT BOOKS E-BOOKS

20. Usage of print and e-CABs –
average per title
26
11
196
15
0 50 100 150 200 250
Average number of days borrowed (incl. Link+)
Average # of days download
Average number of min reading online
Average number of min browsing online

21. 1. Awareness
"Never heard of them."
"Just found out about them."
2. Preference for Print
"Traditional books are more
reliable."
"Books are more convenient."
3. Eyestrain
"Staring at the computer is
uncomfortable."
"Don't like reading off
computer screen."
4. No Need
"I have just never really had a
reason or needed to use an e-
book."
"If it's not required, I probably
won't use it."
5. Ease of Access
"Hard to access."
"Easier to get a book instead of
sitting in front of a computer or
printing a lot."
Top five categories, listed by frequency
followed by example responses

22. • "I would rather have the book on hand."
• "Would rather read in bed or on the couch or
on the beach - not at a computer.“
Gregory C.L. 2008. "'But I want a real book': An investigation of
undergraduates' usage and attitudes toward electronic books".
Reference and User Services Quarterly. 47 (3): 266-273.
Why students prefer print books

23. • Purchased 5 Sony Readers in Jan 2010
• Launched Pilot project in Mar 2010
 Available to McGill students, faculty and
staff
 Equipment, rather than content
• Purchased 100 more devices in May 2010
• Launched the full service in Sep 2010
• Preloaded selected Public domain
content, but open for loading any of the
compatible library e-book content.
McGill’s E-Readers Loan Service
Photo credit: Klaus Fiedler

24. or
• McGill Library chose a device that is compatible with already
owned content
• The Library started purchasing more content compatible with
the e-readers
http://office.microsoft.com/en-
us/images/results.aspx?qu=hen&ctt=1#ai:MP900180494|mt:2|
http://office.microsoft.com/en-
us/images/results.aspx?qu=egg&ctt=1#ai:MP900314021|mt:2|
Targeted collection development

25. Turnover of OverDrive e-books at McGill
0
500
1000
1500
2000
2500
3000
3500
4000
Sep 2009 Feb 2010 Mar 2010 Apr 2010 May
2010
Aug 2010 Sep 2010 Oct 2010 Nov 2010 Dec 2010 Sep 2011 Sep 2009-
Sep 2011
363 379 403 406 406 423 432 491
963 1008 1142 1142
134 130 143 89 119 126 179 169 185 183 187
3892
E-books owned Checkouts
0.00
0.50
1.00
1.50
2.00
2.50
3.00
3.50
Sep 2009 Feb 2010 Mar 2010 Apr 2010 May
2010
Aug
2010
Sep 2010 Oct 2010 Nov
2010
Dec 2010 Sep 2011 Sep
2009-Sep
2011
0.37 0.34 0.35 0.22 0.29 0.30 0.41 0.34 0.19 0.18 0.16
3.41Turnover rate
(checkouts/e-books owned)

26. Sara Lowe & Char Booth (2012),The Claremont Colleges Library
Student Library & Technology Engagement Survey Summary Report

27. Rise of e-reading devices
4%
12%
10%
19%
26%
3%
8%
10%
25%
31%
6%
17% 18%
33%
40%
0%
10%
20%
30%
40%
50%
May-10 May-11 Dec-11 Nov-12 Jan-13
Ebook reader Tablet Has either tablet or Ebook reader
Presented to: American Library Association
Midwinter Conference, January 26, 2013

28. Sara Lowe & Char Booth (2012),The Claremont Colleges Library
Student Library & Technology Engagement Survey Summary Report

29. Sara Lowe & Char Booth (2012),The Claremont Colleges Library
Student Library & Technology Engagement Survey Summary Report

30. Library e-Content on the go:
Research with Mobile Devices
Maria Savova
Collection Management and Digital Integration Librarian

32. Mobile Reading Devices
• Internet capable
2G/3G/4G data plans vs. Wi-Fi only
Smartphones Tablets iPod Touch Some e-readers
• Not Internet capable
Sony Reader Kobo B&N Nook Cybook iLiad Libre

33. Connecting to library e-resources off campus
• Institutional Wireless Network
• Virtual Private Network (VPN)
• Web-based Proxy authentication

34. Accessing e-Content
Direct download – view offline Download and transfer – view offline
View online

35. Electronic Formats
Online Only vs. Downloadable
VS.

36. Reflowable e-Book Formats
EPUB – format standard for
digital publishing
Compatible with almost every device
but the Amazon Kindle
AZW Kindle Format
Compatible with the Amazon Kindle
(device and reading apps)

37. Converting PDFs into
e-Reader Friendly Formats
Application on ScienceDirect Free ebook management software

38. http://office.microsoft.com/en-ca/images/results.aspx?qu=lock&origin=FX010132103#ai:MP900433153|
DRM - Digital Rights Management

39. Step 1: Create a free Adobe ID

40. Direct download of DRM-protected e-books

42. Organizing Ebrary content online

43. E-books research guide

44. http://scholarship.claremont.edu/
Savova, M. and Garsia, M. (2012). McGill Library makes e-books
portable. E-readers’ Loan Service in Canadian academic library.
portal: Libraries and the Academy, 12 (2), 205-222.
Canuel, R., Crichton, C. & Savova, M. (2012). Chapter 6: Tablets
as Powerful Tools for University Research. Teaching the Relevant
Skills. Library Technology Reports, 48(8), 35-41.

45. THANK
YOU!
“Kali, Avatar of the eBook” by Javier Candeira
http://www.flickr.com/photos/hiperactivo/3644097750/sizes/o/in/photostream/
maria_savova@cuc.claremont.edu