e-books – between publishers and library needs

E-books – between publishers and library needs

Ksenija Mincic-ObradovicCataloguing Manager

k.obradovic@auckland.ac.nz

NZLLA Symposium6 September 2012

This presentation

• E-book formats and standards• Impact of e-books on library services

– Purchase models– Bibliographic records– Communication from vendors/publishers– Monitoring e-book usage– Preserving access to paid and free material

What is an e-book?

A monograph available in electronic format

E-book Formats

29

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Comparison_of_e-book_formats

Desktop

E-book Readers

Available via link, or downloaded

Stand-alone Reading Device

Mobile Phone

If you are confused, remember you are not the only one confused.

http://assets.bizjournals.com/cms_media/images/ebookuniversel.png?site=techflash.com

2011 Aptara e-book publishers survey

Available from http://www.aptaracorp.com/resources/

2011 Aptara e-book publishers survey

Available from http://www.aptaracorp.com/resources/

Explore the options and limitations to know what devices to match with what content.

The face of publishing is changing

• Continuous increase in:– e-book production – eFirst– Publishing On Demand

• From 2012 most publishers sell more e-books than print books (Amazon, Springer, Barnes & Noble…)

Who are e-book publishers?

• Commercial publishers• Non-commercial publishers (e.g. governments)• Individuals• Aggregators• Google Books• Libraries• …

Critical elements in e-book publishing

• Copyright - access to e-books is global, while copyright laws vary from country to country.

• DRM (Digital Rights Management) - E-book publishers exercise varying degrees of control over access, sharing and lending of intellectual property.

A few more problems …

• Vendors/publishers do not advise on ceased or superseded titles

• No communication between publishers of free books and libraries

• Some publishers/providers do not see libraries as customers at all

• Message about what libraries need varies too

It is not realistic and not appropriate to expect print and e-books to be the same.

Influence on libraries

• Huge number of e-book licencing models• Interlibrary loan is not normallyallowed• Printing, downloading and copying and pasting

activities are limited

Business models and acquisition methods

• Collections offered by vendors/publishers via various platforms:– subscription (e.g. ebrary) – ~80%– single purchase (e.g. EBSCOhost)– combination of these two (e.g. Safari)– patron driven acquisition (e.g. EBL)

• Individual books from publishers• Free e-monographs (e.g. Law Commission

publications, Project Gutenberg)

Library catalogues

• Searching all library material, print and eletronic monographs

Publishers/vendor databases

• Full text searches

Discovery

Access to the three most popular e-book collections at the University of Auckland Library in 2009

Patron preferred access in the ebrary’s Global eBook Survey (2007)

http://www.ebrary.com/corp/collateral/en/Survey/ebrary_eBook_survey_2007.pdf

“The e-book is only as good as its metadata.” Wouter van der Velde Springer ANZ Summit

30-31 August 2012

SpringerLink usage at UoA

Year Titles Section requests Titles with usage

2007 34532 11834 2564

2008 34532 51375 6315

2009 37037 75011 8842

Unfortunately …

• Libraries have bibliographic records for 72.5% of their e-books (Library use of ebooks, 2011 edition)

• Not all vendors and publishers provide records• Quality of bibliographic records varies

significantly• Updates of records are not timely

Internet access or Downloading?

• 24/7 access• Requires internet access• Full text searches across

whole database• Additional features:

dictionaries, links to other resources, YouTube, Wikipedia…

• Limited period of time• Issues with format/standard

compatibility• Portable• Users love their e-book

reading devices• Not all publishers/vendors

allow downloading• E-readers are fragile and too

expensive

Make sure your users know what you have available for them and how to use it.

Usage Statistics

• We need them to be able to make informed decisions (e.g. opt for subscription or DDA; review an agreement)

• Provided only by some vendors/publishers, and in various ways

Permanent access

• Persistent URLs (particularly big problem with free e-books)

• Preservation (LOCKSS, CLOCKSS)

Lots of Copies Keep Stuff Safe

Controlled LOCKSS

Areas for improvement

• More standardisation (purchase models, formats, ways of access, statistics)

• High quality metadata for discovering e-books

• Collaboration - vendors, publishers, LIS developers, libraries should work closely together and further explore best practices, workflows, and business models

Cons Pros

Additional features

Full text searches

24/7

Gap between functionality and usability

Need a designated

reader

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=pQHX-SjgQvQ

Are e-books worth it?

Thank you

k.obradovic@auckland.ac.nz