E-book Acquisition Research Articles

Use of Newly Acquired Materials: An Analysis of Print and E-book Acquisitions

Use of Newly Acquired Materials: An Analysis of Print and E-book Acquisitions

Do you love them now? Use and non-use of academic ebooks a decade later

This survey of graduate students' and faculty's use and non-use of ebooks is a follow-up to the data captured in 2011 from the same mid-sized public university in southeast Texas. In addition to providing a change comparison of faculty and graduate students' ebooks usage over the past decade, the study also aims to contribute to the growing ebook literature examining faculty and graduate students' perception and use of ebooks for different academic activities. Survey results showed that while the proportion of respondents who are library ebook users had increased significantly over the past decade, both ebook users and non-users' attitude towards e- and print books remained consistent. Most ebook users appreciated features such as keyword searches and copy and pasting, but the majority also valued the option to print out pages and chapters. Respondents' format preferences also shifted based on their academic needs, although some of the feature limitations that prompted some users to switch from or avoid library ebooks were caused by DRM restrictions that could be removed by publishers. The findings have implications beyond the institution for academic library ebook acquisition and communication with local user populations. Other marketing and future research implications of the findings are also discussed.

Shifting Priorities: A Look at a Course Adopted Text (CATs) e-Book Program and How Its Success Realigned One Library’s e-Book Collection Priorities

Like many academic librarians, St. Norbert College collection librarians have been trying to find the right configuration of e-book acquisition strategies to meet our users’ needs. Since 2017, St. Norbert’s strategy had been a combination of a subscription to a large vendor package, multiple evidence-based acquisition (EBA) programs, and one-time orders of e-books purchased as a part of faculty departmental requests. In Fall 2018, St. Norbert Library started a partnership with the campus bookstore, began receiving the list of course adopted texts (CATs), and launched a new and parallel e-book strategy of purchasing unlimited access e-books for CATs. This study provides data on the reach and growth of St. Norbert Library’s CATs e-books program, including the number of courses and types of courses affected by library supplied CATs e-books, and the types and publishers of library supplied CATs. As the CATs program grew so did the costs to support it and St. Norbert determined to investigate the usage of the CATs e-books compared to its concurrently licensed EBA content and evaluate the compatibility and sustainability of its CATs and EBA programs. Discussions detail why St. Norbert came to value CATs e-books over EBA e-books, how, despite the potential for symbiosis, St. Nobert’s determined its EBAs to be incompatible with its CATs program, and why the St. Norbert Library decided not to continue both the EBA and the CATs programs. Conclusions discuss CATs e-book successes and how developing, sustaining, and continuing to evolve the CATs e-book program has been integral to St. Norbert Library’s collection moving in new strategic directions.

Causes and consequences of unauthorized use of books: readers, authors, and publishers' perspective

PurposeThe current study aims to identify and explore causes and consequences of unauthorized use of books from readers', publishers', and authors' points of view. The case of Lithuania also assessed, especially historical background (banned alphabet, book smuggling, theft as the social norm in Soviet times) of the country.Design/methodology/approachAiming for more understanding why readers, authors and publishers are using or not using technology for unauthorized access of books, technology acceptance model approach was used, a total of 30 respondents (publishers, authors and readers) were interviewed in semi-structured face-to-face interviews and thematic analysis of collected qualitative data was conducted. Interviews were coded in English with coding software for further analysis.FindingsFindings indicate that the main cause for the unauthorized use of books is a lack of legal e-book titles and acquisition options. This mainly points at publishers, however, instead of using unauthorized sources as opportunities for author promotion or marketing, they rather concentrate on the causes of unauthorized use of books which they are not in control of, including access to unauthorized sources, habits and economic causes. Some publishers believe that the lack of legal e-book titles is the consequence of unauthorized use of book rather than its cause.Originality/valueThis research contributed to the body of knowledge by investigating unauthorized use of books from readers', publishers' and authors' points of view which renders to have a better understanding of the causes and consequences of such behavior, as well as differences between these roles. The authors suggest that these causes lead to the intention to use and actual use of technology which is easier to use and which gives more perceived advantages – technology for unauthorized downloading and reading of books vs legal e-book acquisition options.Peer reviewThe peer review history for this article is available at: https://publons.com/publon/10.1108/OIR-03-2021-0133.

Demand-Driven Acquisition for an Academic Architecture Library Collection:

Libraries employ various methods of collection development that incorporate in-case and in-time models for acquisitions to maintain a balance of collection growth and access. Acquisition of e-books, especially within design disciplines, remains an ongoing area of development. In addition to subscription packages and firm orders, demand-driven acquisition (DDA) programs for e-books offer a method for growing collections. Although they appear to limit the role of the librarian in the process, use of these programs can serve to enhance librarian-centered acquisition practices.

LIBRARY ONLINE SERVICES DURING COVID-19: THE EXPERIENCE OF LIBRARIES IN CROATIA AND UKRAINE

The purpose of the article is to identify activities in providing online services during forced quarantine on the example of public libraries’ activities in Croatia and university libraries in Ukraine. The study aimed to identify, analyse, and characterise online services offered by libraries to establish remote customer service during the forced quarantine. The results of the study are presented in three sections. The first analyses the work of Croatian public libraries; the second, presents the experience of Ukrainian libraries; in the third, there is the case of the Scientific Library of Kyiv National University of Culture and Arts is displayed. The scientific novelty of the article is to identify practices for providing online services by libraries in Croatia and Ukraine during the COVID‑19 pandemic. The study shows that Croatian public librarians, as well as Ukrainian librarians, have demonstrated they can quickly adapt and use digital technologies on behalf of their supporters. Libraries went from developing imaginative practices to create online spaces in a matter of weeks. The result was a massive amount of produced content like workshops for children and adults; streamings of online events, organisation of virtual exhibitions, and collecting verified reference sources for research and learning. Another one of the impacts of this crisis was the accelerated development of digital library services, including online membership registration and the acquisition of e-books by public libraries. Public response was more significant than ever, including following, commenting, and sharing digital content created or shared by public libraries. The study found that the challenges of the COVID‑19 pandemic have intensified the digitisation of Ukrainian libraries and led to changes in activities. University libraries quickly adapted to remote work, offering their users a variety of remote services. The authors hope that the considered practices will contribute to disseminating better experience of libraries during quarantine in general and online services in remote maintenance in particular.

If Time and Money Matters: EBook Program Challenges in Tallinn University of Technology Library

ABSTRACT The subject of electronic book (eBook) acquisition and cataloging time and cost management are an unexplored field in Estonia, and based on the information known to the author, there are no similar studies using a “time-driven activity-based costing” (TDABC) methodology for analyzing costs of activities related to eBooks. The purpose of this paper is not to compare the advantages and disadvantages of eBooks. The purpose of the current paper is to verify, by using the Time-Driven Activity-Based Costing method, that the process of purchasing and cataloging eBooks is significantly cheaper, less time-consuming, and ultimately more cost-effective than the process of purchasing and cataloging printed books (pBooks); and to determine whether eBooks streamline the acquisition and cataloging process for books. The results of this study were compared with the results of a previous study on the acquisition and cataloging of print books (pBooks) that was conducted at Tallinn University of Technology (TalTech) Library in 2012–2013.Methodology.The data used in this paper are based on a review of relevant literature in order to survey the different problems and challenges in the library sector that slow down the success of the eBook management process. Through a case study conducted at TalTech Library, a time-driven activity-based costing (TDABC) method was used, such that all activities related to acquisition and cataloging of individually purchased eBooks were identified, recorded in detail and analyzed. More specifically, the study concerned eBooks offered in the Ebook Central platform and covered acquisition processes (such as receipt of purchase requests, communication with patrons, making a purchase, and feedback to the patron).Findings. On the basis of the current study it can be said that the activities related with eBooks take remarkably less staff time and finances than pBooks. The efficiency of staff increases due to electronic retrieval, processing, and delivery of collections. This study led to an understanding that many activities between different units or departments, especially in a large library, actually duplicate each other, and work could be organized in a more effective way if duplication is avoided, which in turn saves time and money. The results of this study suggest that some acquisition of eBooks can eliminate duplication of effort in both the acquisition and cataloging processes.

Progress and Pitfalls in Consortial eBook Acquisitions: The Orbis Cascade Alliance Experience

Progress and Pitfalls in Consortial eBook Acquisitions: The Orbis Cascade Alliance Experience

Investigating the Effects of Interactive E-Book towards Academic Achievement

Universities are trending towards electronic books (e-books) as instructional materials, displacing traditional printed books. The rapid acquisition of e-books has changed the way information is presented and one of the improvements is to make e-books interactive. However, there is an incomplete body of knowledge on how interactive e-books affect students, particularly in the learning of statistics. This paper aims to examine the effects of interactive e-books on academic achievement. This paper adopted an experimental approach to test the causal effect of two types of e-books, namely Traditional E-book (TE) and Interactive E-book (IE) on a sample of undergraduates enrolled in an introductory statistics unit. The experimental results indicated that students who learn statistics through IE produced higher scores in academic achievement than students who learn through TE. The findings of the study first extend the existing theory by showing that TE and IE can account for the variations in academic achievement. The study implied that e-books should not be static and e-book publishers and educators can choose to design their e-books using interactive formats with animation components depending on available resources. The study offers new insights on how academic achievement of students can be better managed through the design of e-book types.

Ebooks in Academic Libraries

The number of ebooks continues to grow in academic libraries. Ebooks have many advantages that make them attractive as a library resource. However, ebooks also have restrictions. These include use and sharing restrictions, license restrictions, and technological barriers. Some students also prefer print books for specific tasks. The following articles examine many aspects of ebooks in academic libraries, including student preference, overall ebook use, and the advantages and disadvantages of various ebook acquisition models.

An assessment of e-book collection development practices among Romance language librarians

Purpose The purpose of this paper is to describe the collection development practices regarding e-books among librarians who manage French, Italian, Portuguese and Spanish (Romance) materials. The authors aim to describe factors that influence acquisition of e-books for Romance language collections to confirm librarians’ perception that humanities researchers prefer print and library administrators’ attitudes toward e-books. Design/methodology/approach This study collected data using a mixed-method approach of a survey and focus groups. Findings This study confirms that user preference is the primary consideration of Romance librarians in selecting e-books. Contrary to librarians’ perceptions, this study found that humanities faculty and students are not averse to using e-books for specific purposes such as searching, targeted reading and course materials. While restrictions on lending e-books are a concern, Romance librarians are focused primarily on serving the needs of their core constituencies. Research limitations/implications The practice of adding call numbers to individual e-books varies among institutions. Individual e-book titles in large packages do not necessarily get added to the catalog, thus making it very difficult to compare e-book collections between institutions. Originality/value This study endeavors to unify the anecdotal narratives and factors that influence the acquisition of e-books by Romance librarians.

Competing eBook acquisition models: which model best serves a community college library?

PurposeAcademic libraries continue to invest in eBooks to ensure access to content in various formats. This paper aims to examine eBook acquisition models, including patron-driven acquisitions, one-time purchases, focused collection subscriptions or large-scale subscriptions, to better understand how users engage with this content based on usage data.Design/methodology/approachUsage data provide insights into eBook acquisition and how access models influence use. This study defines the acquisition model for each eBook purchase. Data were examined to determine usage by acquisition model and cost-per-use.FindingsThis paper finds that for a large suburban community college, a large-scale subscription model has the lowest cost-per-use and serves the largest portion of students. Focused collection subscriptions supported small, specialized programs in the Allied Health, Emergency Services, and Nursing fields.Originality/valueThis paper examines how eBooks are acquired to determine which model best serves an academic library community, specifically a community college library, which is currently underrepresented in the literature.

The Big Picture: A Holistic View of E-book Acquisitions

The merging of two departments into the Acquisitions and Collection Development Department afforded Loyola Marymount University an opportunity to rethink existing workflows, with the acquisition of electronic books (e-books) being identified as a critical task to review. Process mapping was used to show the complexity of different tasks being performed in the department and to provide a visualization mechanism for staff to see how their work fit into a sequence of actions as part of a larger workflow. The authors listed the types of acquisition models used at their library for e-books and constructed process maps for the following six major types: 1. Firm order e-books; 2. Firm order e-book collections; 3. Approval order e-books; 4. Demand-driven e-books; 5. Standing order e-books, and; 6. Subscription e-book database. The authors merged the individual process maps into a single visualization to view the entirety of the acquisition process as a whole and to show how the different e-book acquisition models relate and diverge from one another.

Ebook Rate of Use in OhioLINK: A Ten-Year Study of Local and Consortial Use of Publisher Packages in Ohio

This paper examines publisher ebook package use in the OhioLINK academic library consortium between 2007 and 2017 alongside use of the same titles at individual institutions. With nearly 100,000 titles acquired over 10+ years from three publishers and available to users at more than 90 institutions, the picture of ebook use this study presents is unique in its breadth and scope. The data show that, consortiumwide, close to 100 percent of titles were used, with their initial use overwhelmingly taking place within one year of their publication date. At individual institutions, the rate of use was far lower and never exceeded the rate of use of print books at the author’s own institution. These findings have important implications for how institutions approach ebook acquisition to maximize rate of use of ebook collections.

Criteria for adoption of e-books in libraries in the context of the paradigm of cloud computing

PurposeThis paper aims to propose criteria and indicators for the adoption of e-books in libraries in the context of the cloud computing paradigm.Design/methodology/approachThis paper carried out bibliographical and documentary research and the application of a questionnaire. Sampling focused on five library managers and five e-book vendor managers.FindingsA proposal is presented containing a set of three criteria and their respective indicators. The technology platform criterion consists of seven indicators: patron data privacy, patron data security, availability of services, accessibility of information in e-books, interoperability of the technology platform, digital preservation and portability of e-books. The criterion for the acquisition of e-books involves three indicators: forms of commercialization, acquisition models and selection of e-book titles. The criterion for the circulation of e-books is divided into two indicators: unlimited and limited use. In the unlimited use mode, there are no limits on the use of e-books. In limited use, there are 11 levels of permissions: available copies, number of loans under each license, duration of the license, interlibrary loan, reading only in digital format, reading online via streaming only, download on the patron’s device, content printing, loan according to the patron’s identity, reservation services and renewal services.Practical implicationsThis paper provides a set of criteria and indicators that can aid in the construction of policies and the development of collections, programs and projects directed toward the use of e-books in libraries.Originality/valueThis paper contributes socially by presenting a proposal that can support policies of evaluation and development of collections, projects, programs and actions around the adoption of e-books in different types of libraries.

Relationship between Utilisation of Electronic Books and Users’ Satisfaction in University Libraries in North East Zone, Nigeria

Electronic books (e-books) are vital information resources in every university library as they are utilised by users in search of information for conducting research activities, teaching, learning and assignment. This study investigated the relationship between utilisation of e-books and users’ satisfaction in university libraries in North East Zone, Nigeria. Correlational research method was used. The population of the study comprised of five thousand three hundred and seventy nine (5,379) registered library users spread across the five sampled university libraries under study. Stratified random sampling technique was used in drawing the samples and the sample size for this study was one thousand three hundred and seventy two (1,372) registered library users drawn using Krejcie and Morgan (2006) table. Questionnaire was used as the research instrument. Data collected were analysed using descriptive statistics to answer the two research questions, while, inferential statistics of Pearson Product Moment Correlation Coefficient (PPMC) was used to test the formulated null hypothesis at 0.05 level of significance. Findings from the study revealed that users’ utilisation of e-books and users’ satisfaction with utilisation of e-books for research, learning, assignment and information in university libraries in North East Nigeria were generally moderate. The study also established that there was significant relationship between utilisation of e-books and users’ satisfaction in university libraries in North East Zone, Nigeria. The study recommended teaching of information literacy for library users, acquisition of adequate and relevant e-books in the university libraries as well as discouraging users from using information obtained from online sources such as Google and other search engines as they are mostly ineffective for their research activities, teaching, learning and assignment.

Browsing the Intangible: Does Visibility Lead to Increased Use?

ABSTRACTLibrary collections have become fractured as increased acquisition of ebooks has created hybrid print and digital collections. These developments have implications for user awareness of the most current items in the collection and their ability to understand their relationship to print collections, due to ebooks’ absence in the physical library space. At the William M. White Business Library at the University of Colorado, Boulder, collocated displays are deployed in the print stacks to promote awareness of ebook collections and enable browsing and serendipitous discovery. This project revealed the difficulty of assessing ebook collections and their promotion when many platforms are involved.

Doing More with Less: Adoption of a Comprehensive E-book Acquisition Strategy to Increase Return on Investment while Containing Costs

Brigham Young University, willing to experiment and pilot new e-book models, has established a comprehensive e-book strategy that includes demand-driven acquisitions, short-term loans, evidence-based acquisitions, subscription packages, purchased packages, and title-by-title purchases. This broad approach has reduced the number of titles purchased under the general domestic approval plan. At the same time, it has added value by providing access to more content, increasing usage, and lowering cost per use while maintaining the same annual expenditure.

To Lead to Learning, Not to Madness: E-Books and E-Serials at the Library of Congress

ABSTRACTBuilding a library’s collection requires more than collecting print materials and shelving them in the stacks. The growth of e-books and e-serials over the past decade has been phenomenal. Given the scope of its collection building, the Library of Congress (LOC) has been required to actively pursue the acquisition and management of e-books and e-serials in its permanent collection. This article surveys how the LOC has taken advantage of existing structures and how it has pursued new paths to succeed in this undertaking. Finally, it lays out some of the outstanding problems that the LOC faces as it attempts to build a digital equivalent to its print collection.

Comparison of E-Book Acquisitions Strategies Across Disciplines Finds Differences in Cost and Usage

A Review of:
 Carrico, S.B., Cataldo, T.T., Botero, C., & Shelton, T. (2015). What cost and usage data reveals about e-book acquisitions: Ramifications for collection development. ALCTS, 59(3). Retrieved from https://journals.ala.org/lrts/article/view/5752/7199
 
 Abstract
 
 Objective – To compare e-book cost-usage data across different acquisitions styles and disciplines.
 
 Design – Case study.
 
 Setting – A public research university serving an annual enrollment of over 49,000 students and employing more than 3,000 faculty members in the Southern United States. 
 
 Subjects – Cost and usage data from 15,006 e-books acquired by the Library through packages, firm orders, and demand-driven acquisitions. 
 
 Methods – Data was collected from publishers and vendors across the three acquisitions strategies. Usage, cost, and call number information was collected for the materials purchased via firm order or demand driven acquisitions and these were sorted into disciplines based on the call number assigned. Discipline, cost, and use were determined for each package collection as a whole because information on individual titles was not provided by the publishers. The authors then compared usage and cost across disciplines and acquisitions strategies. 
 
 Main Results – Overall, e-books purchased in packages had a 50% use rate and an average cost per use of $3.39, e-books purchased through firm orders had a 52% use rate and an average cost per use of $22.21, and e-books purchased through demand driven acquisitions had an average cost per use of $8.88 and 13.9 average uses per title. Package purchasing was cost effective for science, technology, engineering, and mathematics (STEM) materials and medicine (MED) materials. Demand driven acquisition was a particularly good strategy for humanities and social sciences (HSS) titles. 
 
 Conclusion – There are differences between the acquisitions strategies and disciplines in cost and use. Firm orders had a higher cost per use than the other acquisitions strategies.