[tt] CHE: Research Libraries Embrace E-Books

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Research Libraries Embrace E-Books
http://chronicle.com/wiredcampus/article/3047/research-libraries-embracing-e-books?utm_source=at&utm_medium=en
Blog for May 30, 2008

Sixty-nine percent of university research libraries plan to increase 
spending on e-books over the next two years, according to a recent study 
published by Primary Research Group Inc. This finding and others were 
based on a survey of 45 research libraries in countries around the world, 
including the United States, Canada, Australia, Germany, and Japan.

Clearly e-book technology has improved dramatically in a short period of 
time. Only a year-and-a-half-ago college librarians were saying that 
e-books were not ready for the campus environment.

The study shows that the larger the library the more interested it is in 
purchasing e-books. And it also shows that foreign libraries are more 
attracted to e-books, than libraries in the U.S.--Andrea L. Foster
Posted on Friday May 30, 2008

Comments


1. A dream come true-- no special reserves, no waiting lists, no relying 
on inadequate indexing, 24/7 availability, quicker accessibility upon 
publication, what’s not to like?
--Robert Killoren    Jun 2, 07:57 AM

2. We should keep in mind that some types of books--encyclopedias, 
dictionaries, other reference books--seem to be more "friendly" as e-books 
than monographs, novels, etc.
--Dick Grefe    Jun 2, 08:31 AM

3. Novels are very friendly as e-books. I’ve read lots of them on my 
e-book reader. There’s really no type of book that isn’t e-book friendly. 
Users want more options.
--Stephen Leary    Jun 2, 08:43 AM

4. Books are tactile, so they provide comfort for people with nothing 
better to hold. As the physical library become increasingly irrelevant, it 
may not be long before the physical campus is important to anyone.
--Doug    Jun 2, 09:13 AM

5. One reason that academic books have not made the transition to 
electronic form more rapidly is the problems publishers encounter in 
clearing digital rights for third-party copyrighted material, especially 
art images and especially those that are "orphan works" where the owners 
cannot be readily identified or located. There is no easy fix to these 
problems, so don’t expect a flood of academic e-books anytime soon, 
particularly in image-intensive fields.
--Sandy Thatcher    Jun 2, 10:12 AM

6. As a Librarian at a state university one issue that we face is COST. 
Most publishers are charging substantially more for the e version of 
books, especially Reference books, than they charge for the print copy. No 
paper or binding costs, no shipping costs, once the book is formatted the 
expense of the book should go down, right??? When considering a multi 
volume reference set costing several thousands of dollars in print the 
doubling of the price for the e version can be prohibitive. Another issue 
is content some titles loose content as they are transfered into an e-book 
because of copyright issues. Do you go online with a trusted historical 
run of a title and loose up to 30% of the content because of a dispute 
over the copyright of some essays. Most Libraries can not afford in these 
cases to buy both. I understand the value of 24/7, I understand the value 
of multiple user access (some publishers restrict access to one user at a 
time just like the print version) but--sometimes twice the cost of print. 
What gives?
--cb    Jun 2, 03:12 PM

7. Are those libraries in the larger academic world buying these [more 
expensive] e-books providing "e-reader" units for the patronage? That’s an 
added expense for us in smaller institutions. Our patronage, too, seems 
still weary of reading "on the screen." I’ve read a few novels on my Palm 
and find it not an unpleasant experience, but when I mention that I do 
read in those things I get a puzzled look.
--Andrew A.    Jun 2, 03:49 PM

8. And what happens when a major e-book vendor goes out of business? Will 
the libraries own the digital content in a format that allows them to 
continue to offer access without the support of the vendor?
--eb    Jun 3, 12:36 PM

9. We recently did a survey of ebook usage on our campus, and there was a 
demand for versions that download to e-readers, but do academic vendors 
allow that?
--Gwen    Jun 3, 02:05 PM