A Comparison and Analysis of Mobile Accessibility and Use for eBook Platforms Jean Gudenas, MLIS (jgudenas@luc.edu)

Loyola University of Chicago Health Sciences Library

Ebrary Ebsco Elsevier Inkling McGraw-Hill STAT!Ref

Hosts over 400 publishers in a variety of

subject areas

Institutions can buy or rent eBooks

(depending on publisher)

Option to download for off-line use and

“check out” eBooks

Concurrent or unlimited users (depending on

publisher)

One-time purchase

No copyright restrictions as long as Fair Use is

followed

App very limited compared to website

Hosts over 100 publishers in a variety of

subject areas

Option to download for off-line use and

“check-out” eBooks

Concurrent or unlimited users (depending on

publisher)

One-time purchase

No copyright restrictions as long as Fair Use is

followed

Must download BlueFire app for mobile

accessibility

Does not work in Mobile browser

Pageburst is the app developed by Elsevier

for Elsevier published titles

App also utilized by the aggregators Kno

and VitalSource

Pricing is only for individual purchase—no

institutional subscription available

Option to buy or rent eBook

Interactive (self-assessment, hide-and-

reveal, media, etc.)

No copyright restrictions as long as Fair

Use is followed

Both the app and aggregator

Web version available for institutional subscription

As of right now, mobile browser does not

always connect to institutional subscriptions

Institutional subscription pricing based on

concurrent users (1 eBook = 1 user)

Yearly institutional subscription or one-time

individual purchase

Interactive (self-assessment, hide-and-reveal,

media, etc.)

Copyright restrictions—must contact Inkling for

any use

Collections consist of mostly McGraw-Hill

publications

Mobile-specific site limits what is available

through normal website

Can view website through mobile browser, but

not completely optimized

Media cannot work without a special flash app

or browser

Institutional subscriptions based on

concurrent or unlimited users

Hosts health science publishers

Has both an app and the website is optimized

for mobile use

Many references hyperlinks to outside

publications (articles link to PubMed citations)

Institutional subscriptions based on

concurrent users for each eBook

No copyright restrictions as long as Fair Use is

followed

Some eBook platforms are only available on certain devices

and not all features are available on every platform. In fact,

eBook platforms can even differ between the desktop and

mobile device. These three charts displays what features are

available on each platform, what devices the platform is

accessible from and the comparison between the desktop

and mobile versions.

The chart of the left displays the pricing and subscription

models while the chart on the right visualizes the copyright

allowances for each platform